The Grace in Older Women [Hardcover]

Jonathan Gash (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 1, 1995

Investigating the murder of his friend, Tryer, Lovejoy teams up with Tryer's girlfriend and a pair of wizened spinsters to discover how the torching of Tryer's mobile ""Sex Museum"" is linked to the dying village of Fenstone. 25,000 first printing. $20,000 ad/promo.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Antiques divvy and sometimes shady dealer Lovejoy is becoming a caricature of his former self: scruffier, sneakier, ruder, more pusillanimous ("I'm pathetic, always terrified, always losing, hopeless"). He's copulating with more mature ladies, and nausea has replaced the dulcet chest chimes that used to alert him to genuine art treasures. At least this adventure (following The Sin Within Her Smile) brings him back to East Anglia, ever his optimum setting. Things turn truly sour for Lovejoy when his friend Tryer, proprietor of a mobile sex museum, is murdered. As he investigates, Lovejoy tries to understand the strange decline of the village of Fenstone (formerly Middle Snorting) and to cope with a gaggle of forgettable American tourists and their British cohorts. The older women of the title have considerable charm-"'Courage, Philadora,' she said quietly. 'Lovejoy doesn't want weak-willed vicarage ladies. He needs partners of mettle.'" Interesting asides abound: discussions of "tomorrow auctions" and penis rings, startling disclosures about Bonnie Prince Charlie and John F. Kennedy and Lovejoy's preparations for his big exhibition of fakes and forgeries. The motive for all the mayhem is ludicrously limp, but the denouement is quite delightful.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

Dubious schemes and winning ways help popular sleuth Lovejoy (The Sin Within Her, LJ 2/1/94) track down the murderer of a friend and owner of a disreputable mobile "sex museum." As he investigates in the remote village of Fenstone and plans an illegal antiques auction, Lovejoy meets two old maids whose knowledge comes in handy.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 279 pages
• Publisher: Viking; First Edition edition (May 1, 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0670861286
• ISBN-13: 978-0670861286
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.8 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 2.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,602,381 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Lovejoy becomes involved with older women., August 22, 2005

By 

S. Schwartz "romonko" (alberta canada) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Grace in Older Women (Hardcover)

This book seems to be even more frenetic than some of the previous. I found it a bit confusing, and some issues never did get resolved. We still get lots of good antique information, and we learned the ins and outs of auctions for fakes, but a lot of plot strands were dropped on the way. It seems like Gash is trying to make Lovejoy even scruffier and even more scattered, and the book loses by this. I still like this series though, and will continue to read until the end. If nothing else there are usually enough surprises at the end to keep me going with the next installment.

3.0 out of 5 stars Here we go again--redux, January 19, 2012

By 

Shakepen - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Grace in Older Women: A Lovejoy Mystery (Mass Market Paperback)

In reviewing Every Last Cent, I noted that any author who does sequel after sequel must guard against making his character a cliche. Rex Stout managed to churn out Nero Wolf novels year after year and still kept his major character entertaining. The reason was his plotting. His character never became more important than the plot. In The Grace in Older Women, Gash falls into the same trap he encountered in Every Last Cent, cliches wrapped around a weak plot.

However, I'm a die-hard Gash fan. Anything he writes, I buy. So, it's cliche riddled. I like the cliches!

2.0 out of 5 stars Plot twists that go nowhere, July 30, 1998

By 

[e-mail] (Rockville,Maryland) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Grace in Older Women: A Lovejoy Mystery (Mass Market Paperback)

After reading several of Gash's novels this was one I could definitely put down. It started strong but ran too convoluted until the last few chapters when everything came to a quick solution. Not one of his better works.