Customer Reviews

Every Last Cent

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This is the usual Lovejoy formula, as the amiable, amorous antiques dealer blunders his way through a mystery where everyone but him knows what's going on. Unfortunately, this one really is formulaic, and the formula isn't working very well. The plot is incoherent and it's difficult to keep track of the large cast of characters and their place in the plot. The usual Lovejoy asides to the reader about antiques, women and life still have charm, but they're getting tired and are not enough in themselves to sustain interest. This one can still provide a few hours of entertainment for long-term fans, but I'd recommend that new readers start with one of the earlier books. They're better, and don't require previous knowledge of the series to be able to follow what's going on.

Fans of the tv show should also note that the tv series cleaned the characters up quite a lot, and the original book versions of Lovejoy and some of the secondary characters are much darker. There's a lot more sex and violence, and a much higher corpse count. I prefer the book version, but the shift in characterisation could be a shock to those used to Ian MacShane's version.

I've read all of Gash's Lovejoy novels. The problem with using the same character over and over is the author becomes so familiar with the character that description almost becomes a cliche. In this novel, the reader has the plot of a short story, interlarded with bits and pieces of art/antiques/scam history, plus descriptions of Lovejoy's ecomomic history, womanizing, and world view.

Most of us already know everything about Lovejoy, except the plot of the novel. I believe Gash should concentrate more on the plot. Still, if the book has Lovejoy as the character and Gash as the author, I buy the novel!

I have all of the Jonathan Gash Lovejoy series in my library and have read and enjoyed each a number of times over the years. Not so Every Last Cent. This 22nd entry in the series is a tired rehash of Lovejoyisms and situations. The scam plot was muddy are was the character development of newly introduced people. Including Mortimer, Lovejoy's son. I hope that wasn't a plot device to begin a new series based on him, that would be a snoozer for sure.

Save your time and cash, this book isn't worth it. My copy is already donated to the local library sale, no keeper this.