Peter Buckman
Peter Buckman is an English writer and literary agent. He has been involved in the publishing industry for many years; he was on the editorial board of Penguin Books, and a commissioning editor for the New American Library in New York City. He has published novels, non fiction, a biography and short stories, and has also written for television and film, including an episode of Inspector Morse, three episodes of The [House of Elliot], the television film Unnatural Causes, and the television movie The Tale of Sweeney Todd, which was directed by John Schlesinger. He is currently a literary agent, having started The Ampersand Agency in 2003, notable for having discovered and represented Vikas Swarup, author of Q & A, which was filmed as Slumdog Millionaire, and also being the agent for the estate of prolific historical fiction writer Georgette Heyer.
In 2025, Buckman began to produce a series of crime novels called "The Pumpernickel Mysteries", published under his own imprint, Word of Mouth Books. By the end of 2025, seven volumes had appeared. Pumpernickel is a black poodle owned by Leo, a Soho solicitor, whose partner is a well-known therapist, Marion, and whose oldest friend, Dennis, is a hardened crime reporter. This foursome, all in their seventies, work together to solve a range of murders.
In an article in Bookbrunch Buckman affirmed: "Writing The Pumpernickel Mysteries has given me huge pleasure, because I think I've found a voice and a genre that enables me to examine the things I really care about, and people them with characters who still believe they have the potential to make things better.
Fiction
- Playground: A Game of Fiction
- The Rothschild Conversion
- Dead Early
- Dead Honest
- Dead Rich
- Dead Famous
- Dead Religious
- Dead Unpopular
- ''Dead Festive''
Non fiction
- The Limits of Protest
- Education Without Schools
- Let's Dance: Social, Ballroom & Folk Dancing
- All for Love: A Study in Soap Opera
- ''A Genial Senior's Companion to Ageing''
Biography
- ''Lafayette: A Biography''