From Publishers Weekly
Perpetually bereft of funds, the rascally Lovejoy once again relies on charm, guile and luck to replenish his supply of groats, make "smiles" with various women and keep from getting interfered with by the Plod. Beautiful young Irma Dominick, trained by Lovejoy to steal, gets arrested by the Plod for trying to lift a jug from an auction house. And Irma's aunt Jocina wants Lovejoy to identify antiques that will be sold supposedly to fund a failing prioryAwhose prior, Lovejoy believes, is "making smiles" with Jocina behind her husband's back. That same prior wants Lovejoy to identify antiques that he can sell to support his gambling debts. Reconnoitering the abbey with his pal Gesso, Lovejoy finds a valuable painting that he nicks and disguises. Then, traveling incognito as the famous impresario Jonno Rant, Lovejoy trails Jocina and the prior to the Channel Islands, all the while pretending to set up an entertainment spectacular. But the project is usurped by the real Rant, and Lovejoy's life is threatened by more than one group interested in the painting. With this dervish of comic activity and a romp that ends in a circuslike venue, Gash is in top form. Fans will celebrate Lovejoy's 20th outing (after The Possessions of a Lady, 1996) as a welcome return of one of the most unusual characters in mysteryland. Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.


From Library Journal
Lovejoy appraises the antiques of Albansham priory, whose prior has gambled away its funds?and maybe done worse.Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.


From Kirkus Reviews
Once again (for the twentieth time) we plunge into the seamy life of charming rapscallion Lovejoy (Different Women Dating, 1997, etc.), a whiz at recognizing the true antique and at knowing everything about it but a miserable failure at most anything else. This time, he's involved with one Irma Dominick, who, with Lovejoy's coaching, has stolen an antique Buckingham jug from Gimbert's Antique House. Turns out the jug belongs to Irma's aunt Jocina Crucifex, whose brother is the Reverend George Metivier, head of the Albansham Priory and reputed to be deeply mired in gambling debt. Metivier wants Lovejoy to assess, secretly, the Priory's antique treasures, and Lovejoy enlists Gesso, his longtime friend and professional thief, to help. Within days, Gesso has disappeared and Lovejoy fears the worst. A search for any clue to Gesso's whereabouts leads Lovejoy to the Channel Island of Guernsey where he winds up running a show for famed impresario Jonno Rant, trusting all the wrong people but at last learning Gesso's fate and the secret of Albansham Priory. With a new character, a new bedmate, and a new scam on almost every page, the plot is evanescentto be enjoyed for Lovejoy's unapologetic chutzpah and for his author's breezy narration and vast knowledge, willingly shared, of the antiques world. -- Copyright ©1999, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.


Book Description
Lovejoy's search for a missing painting and a missing friend--Gesso the cat burglar--takes him on a wild adventure to the Channel Islands. He hopes to keep a low profile by masquerading as Jonno Rant, an island local, but that plan backfires when the local police start to keep tabs on him and the real Jonno Rant shows up. Can Lovejoy stay one step ahead of Rant and the police? Soon, just staying alive becomes a juggling act for the irrepressible Lovejoy.

"A welcome return of one of the most unusual characters in mysteryland."-- Publishers Weekly (starred review)


About the Author
Jonathan Gash is the author of twenty Lovejoy mysteries and of Different Women Dancing and Prey Dancing, from his new Dr. Clare Burtonall series. He lives in Colchester, England.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

This could only happen to Lovejoy. One minute a beautiful young girl is asking him how to steal a cheap Edwardian necklace; the next he's jetting off to the Channel Isles, posing as a showbiz impresario organizing "The Gamble of the Century" - and avenging a murder. It all begins when Prior George Metivier and his sister Marie ask for Lovejoy's help. The ancient Albansham Priory is in deep financial trouble, owing to George's heavy gambling debts, and they would like Lovejoy to suss out the priory's valuable antiques. For research purposes, of course, Lovejoy and his friend Gesso the cat burglar break into the priory in the dead of night. Gesso is caught but Lovejoy for once is lucky (or so he thinks) and escapes with a rare Roderick O'Conor painting. But despite frantic nocturnal attempts to conceal it, by morning the canvas has vanished from his derelict workshop. Only hours later Gesso disappears, the priory suddenly closes, and Prior George and his flock are gone. Worse still, at the now eerily quiet Albansham Priory, Lovejoy finds evidence that Gesso has been murdered. Soon, just staying alive becomes a juggling act for the irrepressible Lovejoy.

FROM THE CRITICS

Marilyn Stasio - The New York Times Book Review

...Lovejoy is still a love and the the joy he brings to his work is undiminished.

Kirkus Reviews

Once again (for the twentieth time) we plunge into the seamy life of charming rapscallion Lovejoy (Different Women Dating), a whiz at recognizing the true antique and at knowing everything about it but a miserable failure at most anything else. This time, he's involved with one Irma Dominick, who, with Lovejoy's coaching, has stolen an antique Buckingham jug from Gimbert's Antique House. Turns out the jug belongs to Irma's aunt Jocina Crucifex, whose brother is the Reverend George Metivier, head of the Albansham Priory and reputed to be deeply mired in gambling debt. Metivier wants Lovejoy to assess, secretly, the Priory's antique treasures, and Lovejoy enlists Gesso, his longtime friend and professional thief, to help. Within days, Gesso has disappeared and Lovejoy fears the worst. A search for any clue to Gesso's whereabouts leads Lovejoy to the Channel Island of Guernsey where he winds up running a show for famed impresario Jonno Rant, trusting all the wrong people but at last learning Gesso's fate and the secret of Albansham Priory. With a new character, a new bedmate, and a new scam on almost every page, the plot is evanescent—to be enjoyed for Lovejoy's unapologetic chutzpah and for his author's breezy narration and vast knowledge, willingly shared, of the antiques world. .