BOOKS / In the lists

IT'S a shame to waste a nice little earner, so when Virginia Andrews, the American queen of such spooky child-in-peril blockbusters as Flowers in the Attic, died in 1986, her astute executors decided on the most practical memorial possible - they hired someone to take her place. 'The New Virginia Andrews' (identity a closely guarded secret) began by hoovering up the unused plots and characters the prolific Andrews had left overflowing from her pending tray, then, having got the hang of the late author's very peculiar art (compellingly lurid romances featuring adolescents physically, sexually or emotionally abused in macabre settings) was emboldened to branch out with all-new stories such as Ruby, no 6 in this week's Overseas Authors' list, which perpetuates Andrews's special brand of fictional 'lies, madness and cruel torment'.

There's no intention to deceive - Ruby's cover comes clearly labelled as repro and with glowing endorsements from the deceased writer's family - and, judging by the massive sales of other 'New Virginia Andrews' novels, readers certainly don't mind the imposture. But just how uniquely gifted is a 'unique and gifted storyteller' who proves so readily replaceable?