Right, I need to explain something here, lest you other users of Good Reads think I am some sort of ne'er-do-well. I have rated this book one star higher than the last Lovejoy escapade that I read. In the review for that one I mentioned that, aside from a thought about it in paragraph two, Lovejoy did not strike a woman. In this book, he belts one and knocks her clean out.I am not basing my star ratings on Lovejoy's abusive fists. I just preferred the story of this one. The last one bored the bejesus out of me and seemed a bit all over the place. This one was better. Definitely better. I mean, there's little or no continuity given that Lovejoy was going to prison for murder at the end of the last one, but that just fits in nicely with the fact that no-one ever mentions the fact that his cottage was burnt to the ground in the first one or how there are still any antique dealers in East Anglia that he hasn't accidentally murdered. And any number of other ridiculous inconsistencies across the books. I just find it easier to imagine each story is set in a slightly different universe. Albeit a different universe in which Lovejoy is consistently quite an unlikeable bell-end.
There is Lovejoy minding his own business enjoying post coital bliss late at night in a church when some "collegues in the trade" attempt to rob the church of its valuables. When Lovejoy attempts to stop the robbery he ends up in hospital and being a suspect of the robbery, since the real robbers were friendly enough to leave one damning piece of evidence behind in his cottage (of course the cheapest piece of the stolen goods). Whne Lovejoy gets released from hospital he gets an alibi from an unexpected but unknown lady. The price: of course his talents as a divvie. Which means in thr antiques trade his skill of being able to feel a true antique. This is just the start of a new adventure of Lovejoy.I generally enjoy the Lovejoy books even if they do contain more violence than the very tv series with Ian Mcshane playing Lovejoy. But in both perons he is a charming rogue that gets into a lot of trouble.well and intelligently written with the odd explanation about the world of antics thrown in for information.
