Ripley Under Ground was published by Doubleday in 1970, fifteen years after The Talented Mr. Ripley introduced one of the most unsettling figures in modern fiction. In the intervening years, Tom Ripley has prospered. He lives in a comfortable house called Belle Ombre in Villeperce, a fictional village in the Île-de-France, married to Heloise Plissot, a wealthy young Frenchwoman who asks no difficult questions. He tends his garden, plays the harpsichord, and profits from an art forgery ring that markets fake paintings by a (supposedly) dead artist named Derwatt.
The Novel
The scheme is elegant. Philip Derwatt, a genuine painter of some reputation, has been dead for years — but his associates (Bernard Tufts, who paints the forgeries, and two gallery owners, Jeff Constant and Ed Banbury) continue to produce and sell “new Derwatts,” splitting the profits. Tom serves as a silent partner and occasional facilitator.
The crisis arrives in the form of Thomas Murchison, an American collector who has purchased several Derwatts and has begun to suspect they are not all by the same hand. He travels to London demanding to meet the artist. When the conspirators can find no other solution, Tom impersonates Derwatt — complete with a beard and a cultivated artistic eccentricity — to deflect Murchison’s suspicions.
But Murchison is not deflected. He persists. And Tom, with his characteristic blend of improvisation and ruthlessness, escalates from impersonation to murder.
What distinguishes Ripley Under Ground from conventional crime fiction is Highsmith’s refusal to frame Tom’s actions as tragic or self-destructive. Tom murders Murchison with no more moral anguish than he might feel swatting a fly. He buries the body in his own garden, plants flowers over the grave, and returns to his pleasant life. The horror is not in the violence but in its casualness — in the ease with which a cultivated, charming man incorporates murder into his daily routine.
Themes
The novel extends Highsmith’s exploration of the relationship between art, authenticity, and identity. The Derwatt forgeries raise questions about what makes a painting “real” — if Bernard Tufts paints as well as Derwatt, and the paintings are indistinguishable from genuine Derwatts, does the attribution matter? Highsmith is clearly interested in how value systems (artistic, moral, economic) depend on agreed-upon fictions.
Tom’s impersonation of Derwatt mirrors his earlier impersonation of Dickie Greenleaf in The Talented Mr. Ripley. Both performances succeed because Tom understands that identity is primarily a social construct — a matter of confidence, costume, and context. People believe you are who you say you are because the alternative (that the world is full of impostors) is too disturbing to entertain.
Bernard Tufts, the forger, serves as Tom’s moral counterweight. Unlike Tom, Bernard suffers. The act of producing false art under another’s name is destroying him psychologically. His eventual breakdown and death represent what happens to someone who commits Tom’s kind of fraud without Tom’s constitutional amorality.
Publication and Reception
The first edition was published by Doubleday, New York, in 1970. First printings are identified by:
- Doubleday imprint and logo on title page
- “First Edition” stated on copyright page
- Price of $5.95 on dust jacket front flap
- Brown or beige cloth binding
The novel was well received in Europe, particularly in France (where it is set) and Germany. American reviews were more mixed — some critics felt Highsmith was glorifying a sociopath, while others recognised the book’s formal ambition and psychological depth.
The UK edition was published by Heinemann (London, 1971).
A film adaptation was released in 2005, directed by Roger Spottiswoode, starring Barry Pepper as Ripley. It was poorly received, capturing little of the novel’s psychological subtlety.
Collecting Ripley Under Ground
First edition (Doubleday, 1970): Fine copies in dust jacket bring $300–$800. As the second Ripley novel, it benefits from the overall Ripley market but commands less than The Talented Mr. Ripley.
Signed copies are scarce. Highsmith lived in France and Switzerland during the 1970s, limiting signing opportunities for American editions. Signed firsts bring $1,500–$4,000.
UK first edition (Heinemann, 1971): $150–$400 for fine copies.
The complete Ripley set (all five novels in first edition) is the prize for Highsmith collectors, and Ripley Under Ground is typically the most difficult to find in fine condition after the first novel.
The Ripley novels have appreciated significantly since Matt Damon’s 1999 film adaptation of The Talented Mr. Ripley and Andrew Scott’s 2024 Netflix series, which drew from the full sequence of novels. All five Ripley titles are strong collectibles and rising.