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miramanga's review against another edition
3.0
Lovejoy is a git, a womanizer and occasional abuser but this introduction to him is still a satisfying read.
muggsyspaniel's review against another edition
3.0
If you are thinking of reading this because you loved the series then, 1. What took you so long and 2. Don't.
Don't get me wrong it's a decent enough mystery but this isn't lovable Sunday night Lovejoy, this Lovejoy hits women, swears, and kills people. (bad people but still)
Tinker isn't the amusing drunk, he's a sad alcoholic. Eric doesn't feature (don't know if he does in later books) and Lady Jane Felsham isn't a Lady (though she is a lady) she's a dealer (antiques not drugs) and she doesn't feature very much. What it does do is shows just how well Ian La Frenais did adapting/totally rewriting the characters for the screen. He has managed to keep book Lovejoy's voice intact despite making him palatable for a Sunday evening slot on the BBC.
All that aside it's a page turner and with plenty of genuine sounding info on the world of antiques.
Don't get me wrong it's a decent enough mystery but this isn't lovable Sunday night Lovejoy, this Lovejoy hits women, swears, and kills people. (bad people but still)
Tinker isn't the amusing drunk, he's a sad alcoholic. Eric doesn't feature (don't know if he does in later books) and Lady Jane Felsham isn't a Lady (though she is a lady) she's a dealer (antiques not drugs) and she doesn't feature very much. What it does do is shows just how well Ian La Frenais did adapting/totally rewriting the characters for the screen. He has managed to keep book Lovejoy's voice intact despite making him palatable for a Sunday evening slot on the BBC.
All that aside it's a page turner and with plenty of genuine sounding info on the world of antiques.
emmalg's review
4.0
I really didn't like this to begin with. My view of Lovejoy had been affected by the TV series and the initially unlikeable character really wasn't what I expected. I have to say that Jonathan Gash has actually written one of the best characters I've read, Lovejoy is at once horrible and vulnerable as well as extremely cunning.
I will keep my eyes open for more books in the series but they aren't at the top of my to read list.
I will keep my eyes open for more books in the series but they aren't at the top of my to read list.
offmessage's review
2.0
Loved the TV series as a kid, so was delighted to discover that there were books. And then I realised why no one talks about them anymore... The unrelenting and unrepentant misogyny flowing through the book is almost unbearable to a modern reader. As an artefact of its time this would probably be worth 5*, but it's so hard to ignore its flaws. Which is a shame, because the plotting, writing and overwhelming passion for the antiques trade make it a great read. You just have to ignore every third paragraph... and one of the main plot points...
gengelcox's review
3.0
I finally found the first Lovejoy mystery–not that it is necessary to start reading these wonderful books here, but for the anal retentive like me who must read things in order, it’s dreadfully important. The series starts off wild and wooly, too, quickly establishing both the method of Lovejoy’s madness (an almost insatiable love for antiques) and his obvious mastery and gift for it. It also establishes what is to become the heart of the books, that wise-cracking attitude of Lovejoy’s, direct to the reader, in which he doesn’t hesitate to tell you his and the antiques world’s trade secrets. Lovejoy isn’t afraid to pass this info on because he knows it is of no matter– the public (i.e, the reader, you and me) is still so dumb that even knowing how things work, we’ll still be rubes.
For people whose only experience of Lovejoy is from the A&E series, the books may come as sort of a jolt. While some of the same characters are here, the tone and the interactions are very different (I’m reminded of the difference between Spenser: For Hire and the [a:Robert Parker|7789447|Robert Parker|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1510521743p2/7789447.jpg] novels). In this book, Lovejoy has a nervous breakdown, is almost burned and buried alive, and fights a duel with flintlocks in one of the most surprising endings of a mystery novel that has come along in a while (well, this was written in 1977, and I missed it then, so let’s just say that it’s one of the most surprising endings that I’ve read in a while).
I feel the urge upon me–read these books!–an urge that hasn’t hit me in many years. It’s the same urge that put me on to reading all of the [a:Rex Stout|41112|Rex Stout|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1201136975p2/41112.jpg] and [a:P.G. Wodehouse|7963|P.G. Wodehouse|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1198684105p2/7963.jpg] books. Lovejoy would be pleased–it’s the urge of the collector.
For people whose only experience of Lovejoy is from the A&E series, the books may come as sort of a jolt. While some of the same characters are here, the tone and the interactions are very different (I’m reminded of the difference between Spenser: For Hire and the [a:Robert Parker|7789447|Robert Parker|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1510521743p2/7789447.jpg] novels). In this book, Lovejoy has a nervous breakdown, is almost burned and buried alive, and fights a duel with flintlocks in one of the most surprising endings of a mystery novel that has come along in a while (well, this was written in 1977, and I missed it then, so let’s just say that it’s one of the most surprising endings that I’ve read in a while).
I feel the urge upon me–read these books!–an urge that hasn’t hit me in many years. It’s the same urge that put me on to reading all of the [a:Rex Stout|41112|Rex Stout|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1201136975p2/41112.jpg] and [a:P.G. Wodehouse|7963|P.G. Wodehouse|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1198684105p2/7963.jpg] books. Lovejoy would be pleased–it’s the urge of the collector.