Ishmael Jones is as he has always been. The problem is that he’s been the same, absolutely unaging, for 60 years now. And he doesn’t remember who – or more likely what – he was before that. Before 1963, when his alien space ship was blown out of the sky over Earth and crashed in a field near the tiny village of Norton Hedley.

Which doesn’t seem to have changed much either in the intervening 60 years.

A situation that is quite a bit more worrying than Ishmael’s own unchanging face, because he at least knows why THAT’s happening. Or not, as the case may be.

But Norton Hedley, a place where people come and go and live in hope for a good tourist season every year, seems to be a haven for the uncanny. After all, that’s what has brought Ishmael and his partner Penny to the village.

Because Ishmael and his unchanging appearance began – at least as far as his memory goes – with the crash landing of his alien spacecraft in the woods surrounding Norton Hedley in 1963. He’s returned because his previous two cases, Night Train to Murder and The House on Widows Hill, have provided him with some scattered but ominous clues about who and what he used to be.

And he needs to know. Because he needs to know if he’s a danger to Penny. Or anyone else on Earth who doesn’t deserve it.

In his research about Norton Hedley, or the research the coyly named black ops group, the Organisation, has done on his behalf, he – and they – have learned that Norton Hedley has been weird central for years. Not just the years since his ship crashed in 1963, but for centuries. Millenia even.

Something in, on, or more likely under – like the thing that was under The House on Widows Hill – has been creeping its creepy way along into the lifeblood of the town for eons uncounting. It might have the answers he’s been searching for for decades.

And it might not want to let him know.

Escape Rating B: This series has been one of my Halloween reads since I first discovered it, so it seemed appropriate to finish it up this Halloween. As I’ve already read the final book in the series (so far), I’ll have to pick something else horror-adjacent next year.

The author is an acquired taste – one that I acquired decades ago. It’s the snark. It’s always been the snark no matter what the ostensible genre or subject of ANY of his many series might be. If you like his voice, then when you’re in that mood nothing else will do. But if you’re not, you bounce off, and bounce hard. Your reading mileage may vary.

The concept of this particular series throws a whole bunch of speculative fiction tropes into one hell of a blender. The series began, back in The Dark Side of the Road, as English country house mysteries where the supernatural agencies turn out to be merely human – but with a touch of the paranormal or extraterrestrial for spice and added bodies.

Over the course of the series it has turned into Ishmael’s quest to learn enough about who or what he used to be to figure out just how he can continue to stay one step ahead of all the various secret agencies that would like to use him up in one way or another. Even more important, he’s thoroughly invested in keeping Penny safe – if necessary from himself.

At first, what made this series work as well as it does – at least for this reader – was the revelation in each case that no matter how weird things got – often very – that the enemies were always human after all.

What has kept me going this far have been the questions about Ishmael’s past and Penny’s future. While Ishmael has been unchanging for 60 years, the series has been set in a sort of ‘perpetual now’. Days and weeks pass but seemingly not years. This entry in the series is one of the first that confronts head on the problem of Ishmael and Penny’s relationship.

Not that they have problems, but that together they have a problem. Penny is an ordinary human, she will age, and Ishmael will not. Short of a deus ex machina – and not that there haven’t been plenty of powerful machina around over the course of the series – this can’t end happily. Howsomever, I already know that it does not end in the next book, Haunted by the Past. And in spite of the ominousness of that title, it doesn’t dive nearly as deeply into Ishmael’s past as Night Train to Murder, The House on Widows Hill and Buried Memories have done.

So, I have begun to wonder if the author is planning to end this series at all. I wonder even more whether or not he should. I’d rather just think of Ishmael and Penny in that perpetual now, continuing on their quest to find evil humans at the heart of supernatural hoaxes, raging together against the dying of their light.

Ishmael Jones and Penny Belncourt travel to Norton Hedley to contact the other survivor of the spaceship crash. But when they arrive in town, they are greeted with news that the survivor, Vincent Smith had just died. Then more bodies started piling up, the townsfolk were acting really, really weird and members of Black Heir and The Organization kept showing up. Ishmael and Penny finally get to the core of the weirdness and solve the murders. A very nicely paced mystery centered in a very strange location that closes out an arc in the Ishmael Jones story. It will be interesting to see where the pair will head next!

I am a huge fan of Simon R Green’s Nightside series. I hadn’t read any other books or series. This was my first book in the Ishmael Jones series. I was a bit worried since it’s far from the first book, but this can be read as a standalone novel.

I really enjoyed this book. I loved Ishmael and Penny’s relationship. It wasn’t over the top romance by any means. But the couple was genuine and I liked their banter back and forth.

This was a little bit of everything; horror, sci-fi, murder mystery. I’ll be reading more from the series.

I like the Ismael Jones series, however, the very first books were the best. Probably because by now, if you like me have read many of the books or all so far published have noticed that they are pretty much the same. Ismael Jones and Penny go away to some isolated town, house, train etc. and try to find out what the heck is going on. On the plus-side, I do enjoy the books because of that, They are quite fun to read and I like that Ismael is an alien who has forgotten his past and is trying to remember it The book was good, an interesting mystery and we learned more about Ismael.

A Giant Leap Forward

These books were getting fairly repetitive, with slight individual stories, and little movement forward on the larger mystery surrounding Jones. Well, after the usual opening recap, this book takes a substantial leap forward on the questions surrounding Jones' identity and background. Lots of surprises and clever twists. We may be getting close to the end of the series; maybe not. But at least we've picked up the pace and added a little more juice to the project.

This book didn't keep me engaged. The way the story was told was a little hard to follow. I struggled to read more then 3 chapters. I had higher hopes but in the end I put it down before finishing the entire book.

This was the next step in the story that I've been waiting for. When you read a series like this there's always the little tidbits that each story tells about the greater story behind it. With each story you get closer and closer to the grand story. But there is usually one part that fills in the story more then the previous ones. This was that story for this series. While I've been reading this series since it's beginning it's given the reader a little taste with each novel. Finally with this book we have a story that focused on the larger mystery of who the lead character is. It didn't solve the mystery, yet, but it did show that it's going to do so someday.

Ishmael is pursuing his buried memories with Penny in a small English town where there have been UFO sightings and mysterious disappearances. People start dying. Ishmael finds an author who supposedly died is still alive and everything falls apart. What is behind all the mysterious events? Can Ishmael and Penny survive?
Good supernatural horror.

The latest Ishmael Jones book from Simon R. Green is, in some ways, a coming home story for Ishmael. After some developments in recent cases, he has learned more about his background here on earth and now believes there may be another being like him to be found. To accomplish this, he has called in favors from The Organization who have provided a dossier on Norton Hedley, the village of his earliest earth memories. An what a dossier it is, reflecting a village that outshines the country in sheer weirdness, in odd events. And somehow has eluded discovery by the major government and private agencies.

In that village, lives a man that Ishmael suspects may be able to give him information on his origins so, together with his constant companion, Penny Belcourt, he takes off to explore this village and, hopefully, his past. The rest is such a good story you should read it for yourself.

This episode was the most exciting so far, with virtually nonstop developments on the weirdness or action level. Ishmael and Penny are such a tight knit duo at this point. I would recommend beginning earlier in the series to learn more about Jones and The Organization and Jones’s work, as well as his growing relationship with Penny. If you should begin here, Green does provide some back story which will help guide you along.

Highly recommended along with the series as a whole. Be open to the “other.”

A copy of this book was provided by Severn House through NetGalley in return for an honest review.

Buried Memories is the 10th book in the Ishmael Jones series. I've been a big fan of this series since book one, and definitely onboard for more books! In this newest adventure, Ishmael is delving into his strange history. He has no memories prior to 1963 when his ship crash landed and made physical changes to him so he could blend in on Earth. He wants to know more....who and what he is, where he came from, and what he was doing when he crashed. He travels to Norton Hedley, a village where one person might have some of the answers he seeks. But when he arrives, there has been a murder....and he ends up being the main suspect.

Great new story in this series! I started reading my digital review copy....then snagged a copy of the audiobook on release day. I started over again to listen to the entire story! The audio, narrated by Gildart Jackson, is just over 7 hours long. Jackson does a great job of voice acting. It was an entertaining listening experience.

I love this series....it's creepy, suspenseful and unusual. Simon R. Green is one of my favorite authors. Never disappointed! Can't wait for the next Ishmael Jones story!

**I voluntarily read a digital review copy of this book -- and bought the audiobook. All opinions expressed are entirely my own.**

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Marred By Murder…
Ishmael Jones is back and he’s seeking answers but when his latest investigation is marred by a murder long buried secrets begin to emerge. Another worthy instalment in this long running, well written and imaginative series with likeable protagonists and an always well drawn plot populated with a colourful cast of characters.

I thoroughly enjoy Green’s clever mix of real tension and creepiness, along with touches of dark humour that at times have me laughing out loud. Ishmael is not human – he’s an alien that crashed to Earth in 1963 and has been trying to stay under the radar ever since. This has very much affected his choice to work for a number of shady organisations and consequently he mixes with some very dangerous people. These books could have been gritty and bleak – but Ishmael has been lucky enough to fall in love with the adorable Penny, who is now his sidekick and her company considerably lightens his violent adventures. Their teamwork and snarky interchanges particularly brightened things up during this creepy exploration into Ishmeal’s past. I was especially pleased to pick this one up, as Buried Memories addresses Ishmael’s origins on Earth. Due to the damage sustained by his spaceship, his memories of that time are very fragmentary. But he now believes that he wasn’t the only survivor and feels impelled to try to find his companion and learn more of why they visited Earth in the first place.

I think it’s really clever to have left his origin story so late in the series, as I’m now thoroughly invested in dear old Ishmael and Penny. So I was brimming with curiosity to discover exactly where he came from and why. It also is a nifty entry point if you haven’t had the pleasure of the previous adventures, which is always helpful for readers in a long-running series. I thoroughly enjoyed this one. As well as the spooky parody of the idyllic English village, peopled with some nicely eccentric characters, I very much appreciated the additional insights into what makes Ishmael tick. Recommended for fans of quirky paranormal creepiness that doesn’t take itself too seriously. While I obtained an arc of Buried Memories from the publishers via Netgalley, the opinions I have expressed are unbiased and my own.
9/10

Another hit it out of the park as usual for Simon Green! I love the world of Ishmael Jones, and wonder if this is the series finale? Ishmael seems to come full circle in this book, and IF it was going to end here, it wouldn't be a bad place to do it.

While this is the 10th book in the Ishmael Jones series, Simon R. Green shares enough backstory - with a delicate touch and not an infodump in sight - that you can absolutely read this one without having read the rest of the series. This might actually be a closer for the series, as Ishmael comes full circle back to his beginnings… the alien ship which crash-landed outside a small town in England in 1963.

Norton Hedley was weird even before a UFO crashed there, and it hasn’t gotten any less strange in the last half century. From the moment Ishmael and his partner Penny arrive, they can sense Something watching them… and then the bodies start turning up.

Ishmael is occasionally a bit too smug to be likeable, and the murderer was very strongly telegraphed - seriously, there was nobody else left standing - but Green tells a ripping yarn and I can forgive a great deal for the sake of his gorgeous, descriptive prose. I’ll be honest and say I hope this does wrap up the series and Green moves on to focus on the Gideon Sable series instead because I am in love with that series, but honestly I’ll gladly read anything he writes. Five stars.

Long buried memories are beginning to search in Ishmael Jones' mind. He is remembering who he was before he was human, when his spaceship crashed to Earth in 1963. He remembers the ship burying itself after changing him into a human replicant. He travels to the mysterious town of Norton Hedley, where strange things have been happening for a very long time. Ishmael discovers he was not the only survivor of the crash and there may be a way to return to his planet. But does he really want to return and leave Penny behind? I enjoy this series because of the dry wit with which Ishmael deals with the human world. Always an enjoyable read.

Buried Memories by Simon R. Green, another installment in the Ishmael Jones series. A creepy town, and a lot of mystery, what more can Penny and Ishmael ask for when searching for answers to his past?

Buried Memories is the 10th book in the Ishmael Jones SF mystery series by Simon Green. Released 5th Oct 2021 by Severn House, it's 192 pages and is available in hardcover, audio, and ebook formats. It's worth noting that the ebook format has a handy interactive table of contents as well as interactive links. I've really become enamored of ebooks with interactive formats lately.

This is a humorous and well written mystery with a strong SF element (the titular protagonist is an alien in more or less human form). His sidekick and partner is a human espionage agent and despite the occasional necessary badassery and alien tech (and weapons), they drink tea, eat scones, and reprimand baddies with the best traditional classical sleuths. If readers can stretch to imagining a mashup where Agatha Christie's Tommy & Tuppence are set down in Stross' world of the Laundry Files by a cinematographer from the X-Files, they'd come remarkably close.

I've been impressed with Green's masterful control of the tension arc in his other books and this one is no exception. He has a wonderful way of making the most mundane occurrences seriously *creepy*. I devoured this installment in one sitting. All of the books work well as standalones (there's an intro back-story to get readers up to speed). Some of the main plot points in this book are dependent on back history from previous books, so there will be some pretty major spoilers if read out of order, but readers won't be lost or have trouble following along if they choose to read them that way.

The dialogue is often sarcastic and slyly humorous. The book is populated by weird and bizarre characters (and some of them are even human). I found myself grinning often and chuckling out loud a few times. The denouement and resolution were exciting and satisfying and I am really really looking forward to What Comes Next.

Four stars. SF mystery weirdness at its creepy best.

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes

“I think something very bad and very dangerous has come to your little town, Inspector . . .”

My thanks to Canongate Books Severn House Publishers for an eARC via NetGalley of ‘Buried Memories’ by Simon R. Green in exchange for an honest review.

This is Book 10 in Green’s Ishmael Jones series of paranormal mysteries. Ishmael is an alien, who has hidden among humans for decades. Until recently he has had no memory of his former life. He currently works for The Organisation, solving inexplicable mysteries with his partner, Penny Belcourt.

Following the events of Book 9, Ishmael travels to Norton Hedley, the small town close to where his ship had crash-landed in 1963. He is in search of answers. Yet Norton Hedley is no ordinary town and for centuries has a reputation of inexplicable events including apparitions, disappearances, and sightings of unusual beasts. Is there a reason that his stricken spaceship had landed there?

Ishmael is especially keen to speak with local author Vincent Smith, the one man he believes may have some answers. He and Penny are only just settling in when there is a murder. No further details in order to avoid spoilers.

‘Dead Memories’ was a chilling mystery with some interesting twists. Its thrills were tempered with wry humour. I am hoping that the series continues.

This has proved a consistently outstanding series in which Green skilfully combines science fiction, supernatural horror, and classic Golden Age Detective mystery tropes. In addition, Green is very good at providing concise background details for new readers to the series.

They was quite a short novel and so I was able to read in a single sitting.

4.5 stars rounded up to 5.

I haven't read much science fiction mysteries so far, but I found the whole idea for this story very interesting. The main character, Ishmael Jones, is an alien locked in the body of a human who tries to discover what happened to him and how he came to Earth. To do this, together with his partner Penny, they go to the small town of Norton Hedley, where his spaceship crashed and where his story began.

The author very efficiently gives us all the information we need to understand this world. And there are quite a few of them. The story is well thought out and coherent. We find some interesting twists and turns. The ending fits the whole story very well, although I wasn't surprised by it. But I liked how the mysteries were explained.

The atmosphere of mystery and danger, as well as the fact that no one can be trusted and everything you see and know may turn out to be untrue, has been perfectly captured. Especially the forests around the town make a really scary impression. The author did an excellent job of building a creepy atmosphere.

The main characters, Ishmael and Penny, make a very good pair. I liked the dynamics of this duo. I think they have a lot of potential. I really appreciated their intelligence, personality, and the way they deal with problems.

This book is rather on the verge of what I usually read, so I was surprised by how much I really liked it. I would describe its genre as a science fiction mystery with elements of fantasy and horror. This is a very successful mix. I definitely recommend it to anyone who wants to go a little beyond what they usually read and try something new in the mystery genre. I will for sure keep an eye on this author's other books.