A couple from Jonathan Gash and his long-running Lovejoy series.
I've never read any of the books (24 in all), but can recall the TV show, which featured Ian McShane as the lovable rogue. It was entertaining and enjoyable, but not the sort of show that you would cry about if you missed it. Was it the 80s or the 90s when the show was on? Both.
I'm keen to see how I get on with a couple of the books. Gash has written about 10 other books - 5 standalone novels and 5 in a series featuring, Dr Clare Burtonall. I'll stick with the rogue for now!
The Judas Pair (1977)
Not so long ago, like any other antiques dealer worth his salt, if you had asked me to find the Judas Pair, I would have laughed till I fell down. Everybody knew that they simply didn't exist.
The antiques business is riddled with myths and this supposedly exquisiste unique pair of 18th century duelling pistols was one of the greatest. Even when a thoroughly respectable new client offered me hard cash to track them down, I had to tell him that the pistols were a fantasy.
But he knew different. The Judas Pair you see, had been used to murder his brother ...
Pearlhanger (1985)
The Other Side had instructed him to help blonde, pretty, Donna Vernon find her missing dealer husband (antiques don't die, but dealers do...). A natural cynic and truth seeker, Lovejoy also knows a job is a job and East Anglia's scruffiest antique dealer needs to earn a crust.
But by the time he catches up with Vernon, it's too late for pearls of wisdom...
'Definitely one of the happiest creations of recent crime fiction'
OXFORD MAIL
I'm glad to see these, Col. The Lovejoy series isn't to everyone's taste, and Lovejoy himself isn't at all a perfect character. But there is a lot to recommend about the series, and I'll be interested in what you think of the novels when you get there.
ReplyDeleteMargot, I think you referenced one of the books recently in a blog psot, which got me thinking .... It's all your fault! :-)
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