The Thumbnail Book Reviews
by John Q McDonald --- 16 March 2023
by Jonathan Gash
This is the first book in a series of Lovejoy novels that were later made into a popular British cozy mystery series. Indeed, the episode based on this 1977 novel was first aired February 7, 1986. Twenty-four books spawned 71 series episodes. From the point of view of story-telling, it can be instructive to turn back to the original novels if your gateway to Lovejoy was a streaming BritBox rerun. Depending on the project of the author, a book may or may not closely resemble the plot of its subsequent TV episode. In this case, the first book in the series became a later episode of the TV show and the two closely resemble one another.
Lovejoy (just Lovejoy), is a rogueish antiques dealer in semi-rural England. He has a natural ability to identify a genuinely valuable antique and he has a personality that seems to have sprung from a gritty Raymond Chandler novel. Indeed, when the 21st-century reader reaches page nine and finds Lovejoy giving his girlfriend a firm but friendly slap on the face, he or she may cringe at this character's (and indeed the author's) outmoded (non-woke?) view of relationships. But that's the kind of noir-ish Chandler-esque character Lovejoy is. Instead of the Maltese Falcon and its great antique value, the book is littered with countless antiques and the author's great joy at describing their value, as well as his detailed exposition on the antiques business as conducted by independent dealers combing the countryside for great discoveries. Lovejoy, more than most, has an eye for the good stuff, and sufficient appreciation that he keeps a private hoard of his favorite pieces.
As the story opens, there's already one antiques enthusiast dead, killed mysteriously while supposedly examining a pair of antique duelling pistols known as the Judas Pair. This is the 13th pair of pistols created by Durs Egg, and so are known as rare and valuable, but also potentially mythical. So, when the brother of the victim hires Lovejoy to locate the guns, he is at first skeptical, but can't resist taking the bait. In any case, this leads Lovejoy down a lethal path of antiques dealing, greed and murder. How can the author sustain this vividly descriptive novel, with its esoteric details on antiques along with complex tales of evading murderers and survival? It's hard to say. Overall, the tone and propulsive force of the writing keeps us interested, though some of the digressions slow us down a bit. Just the first in a series, Gash (pseudonym of an English physician) has a lot of antiques research ahead of him, along with tales to sustain the series of books and a long-running TV series (rumored to be ready for a remake).