Product Description

Lovejoy cannot be said to have clean hands and a pure heart, flitting bee-like as he does from one flower of womanhood to the next, and straining the truth when necessary. But when it comes to the relics of history, be it a silver tea service or the gold buttons from Lord Nelson's second-best uniform coat, he cannot be topped. In The Ten Word Game, Lovejoy is hiding out from the law in a port city far from London. By a ruse, he is shanghaied aboard a luxurious cruise ship on its way to Russia. There a group of schemers feed him well, but hold him prisoner because they need his talents for their daring plan. They intend to steal Russia's legendary 'amber room,' wall panels and all, and sell it for ransom back in the U.K.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1216329 in Books
• Published on: 2004-01-21
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 288 pages

From Booklist
Mystery writing doesn't get any better than Gash's Lovejoy series, in which a clever rogue, whose morals and antics are straight out of Restoration comedy, makes his way as an expert and sometime forger in the British antiques world. As Lovejoy explains in numerous asides to the reader, this world is crawling with crooks who prey upon the gullible public. This makes a perfect setup for a series (this is the twenty-second Lovejoy novel) in which the hero repeatedly outcons the cons, relying always on his expertise and rare gift of "divvying," i.e., experiencing the physical sensation of dizziness or queasiness (or both) in the presence of genuine antiques. The title here refers to Gash's mental habit of trying to reduce complex situations to a precis of 10 words. The situation he finds himself in this time, however, defies any sense-making formula (also making it a fantastic, nonformulaic read). Lovejoy is on the lam (for stealing his own Rembrandt forgery from a stately home) when he is lured aboard a cruise ship. Lovejoy's kidnappers want him, as the only surviving "divvy," to sniff out and steal priceless treasures from St. Petersburg's Hermitage Museum. Lovejoy, lover of art and antiques and hater of art thieves (forgery is tolerable), has his hands full trying to escape and outwit his captors. As always in this series, readers will learn much about art and antiques along the way. A beautifully written, riveting mystery romp. Connie Fletcher
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Review
"Mystery writing doesn't get any better than Gash's Lovejoy series . . . A beautifully written, riveting mystery romp."
-- Booklist (Booklist )

From the Inside Flap
"Lecherous, crooked, filthy but loveable... smashing."
-- The Times (UK) on A Rag, a Bone, and a Hank of Hair

"Deviously plotted and brimming with the most delicious inside details about the antiques trade."
-- The New York Times Book Review on A Rag, a Bone, and a Hank of Hair

"Sparkles with Gash's characteristic energy and wit."
--Publishers Weekly on A Rag, a Bone, and a Hank of Hair

"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."
--Kirkus Reviews on The Rich and the Profane

"A very stylish entry in the series... [Gash is] a master of top-notch narrative skill. On the evidence of this outing, the literary Lovejoy franchise is in no need of vitamin supplements."
--Crime Time on The Rich and the Profane

"That lecherous Lothario Lovejoy is at it again in yet another highly entertaining adventure involving murder, antiques, and beautiful women."
--Booklist on The Possessions of a Lady

Customer Reviews

The words are what it's about
I would read this book just for the words - words I've never seen before, juicy new words, almost none of which appear in my dictionary since they turn out to be British slang. I fall for British writers the way some people fall for accents. "Black hair fungated above his straining belt." "Benjie would marmalise me if I so much as looked at Gloria." "Once a boxer, he looks a real gent and wears a monocle, very Brigade of Guards, waistcoated, suit, George boots, a toff." "Rob the Hermitage, join this gaggle of duckeggs enacting a crazy Priscilla-of-the-Lower-Third dream?" "A crocodile of passengers," "I wittered, a perfect prat," "a mingy three pieces of toast ... a manky plate of toast," "I said, gormless," "scarpering through undergrowth...." How can you not like a book abounding with such charms?

The book has even more pleasures, chief among them antiques and art forgery. Lovejoy is a "divvy," someone who can divine true antiques by nearly fainting when he's in their presence. He's used this talent for a career just sort of definitely almost barely (his words) this side of the law. He is drawn against his will into a mysterious caper involving the Hermitage and a shipful of antique enthusiasts, almost none of whom can recognize a real antique from a fake. The mystery never completely resolves, a flaw that can be overlooked since it's secondary to the local color in the book. Occasional forays into the history of amber, pottery, wicker chairs and other antiques are a lot of fun, and Lovejoy is quite a storyteller. Is it true that Elvis once entered an Elvis impersonator contest and lost?

What a smasher of a book!
This book is a real smasher. We have Lovejoy at his very best here. And the setting that Gash has set this book in is quite wonderful. And the women! Lovejoy has a whole string of quite wonderful women in his orbit this time. Lovejoy is on the lam again, and while he's hiding out in Southampton he gets hijacked onto an ocean cruise to Russia that includes all points north. He's living the high life on the cruise, and he meets all kinds of weird and wonderful people, but it takes him a while to determine why he was shanghaied and what this group of crooks need him for. But never fear. The irrepressible Lovejoy lands on his feet and he'll be around to deal with other outrageous adventures.

Lovejoy Takes A Cruise
Here's another wonderful entry in the long running, always entertaining Lovejoy series. Once again the "lovable rogue" - I know, it's a hackneyed phrase, but also most appropriate - Lovejoy, the antique specialist with questionable ethics, is up to his old tricks in his usual inimitable style.

Lovejoy is on the move, as usual the reason for this is to avoid capture, finding passage on a luxury liner for what could have been a very relaxing voyage. Of course, Lovejoy being Lovejoy, nothing is ever easy and a constant stream of unusual events soon enlivens the trip. These events shape his movements, backing him into a corner that puts him at his most imaginative in his bid to get out from under.

The Lovejoy books are completely amusing and provide clever mysteries and this one lives right up to that billing.