GOLD BY GEMINI

by Jonathan Gash ‧ RELEASE DATE: July 11, 1979

The return of Lovejoy, the seedy, macho, chatty English antique dealer who was introduced in The Judas Pair (1978). This time he's in greedy search of a reputed cache of ancient Roman coins apparently found by a dotty old painter (now dead) on the Isle of Man--which seems odd to Lovejoy, since he knows the Romans never settled there. Nevertheless he's off and lurking: tracking down the dotty old painter's relatives; looking for some sort of treasure map in code (another antique dealer, who seems to have gotten hold of this code, is murdered in a hit-and-run); getting beat up by villains; creating dandy forgeries when he runs low of cash; and finally making it to the Isle. . . for perilous treasure-hunting. Along the way, he beds a few married women and--the only real attraction here--dispenses a good deal of gritty info on antiques (the forgery of a d‚coupage is the highlight). To get this curio-shop atmosphere, however, readers will have to put up with Lovejoy's annoyingly cute narration and a pedestrian plot; many will prefer to stick with Antiques magazine.

Pub Date: July 11, 1979

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Harper & Row

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 1979

Categories: FICTION