This time I decided to try a mystery series written by a man with a man, Lovejoy, as the main character. Lovejoy is always hard up for money, quite an expert at antiques, rather a ladies' man in his scruffy, unwashed way, and a con man (though of course he doesn't see it that way).
There's a long set-up as Lovejoy moves from person to person, trying to get a meal, sex or a [con] job. He's frustrating and loveable, and in his first person narrative, he's quite a teacher of the antique business, both legit and forgeries. When his friend Tryer is murdered, Lovejoy tries to help the man's girlfriend (well, sometimes). He eventually thinks he knows who killed Tryer, but meanwhile, he's also arranging a huge exhibition of forgeries at great cost to others, while promising to pay up soon. His vetting of the forgeries for the exhibition is quite a production in itself. The action is nonstop.This British author's writing is colorful, but there were times when I thought I'd need a "British-colloquial-English" to "American-standard-English" translator! I wasn't at all surprised to learn that there were 73 episodes of a Lovejoy mystery series on British television, as entertaining as these characters are.
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