The Vatican Rip

Things are finally looking up for Gash's so-so Lovejoy series - because this new case for seedy, sexy narrator-hero Lovejoy, the savviest antique dealer in East Anglia, shows marked improvement in two vital areas: Lovejoy himself is for the first time more engaging than obnoxious; and his lectures on antiques have now become an integral part of the story, not extraneous interruptions. The setup: an enigmatic toughie named Arcellano blackmails/threatens Lovejoy into undertaking a near-hopeless-mission: he's to steal a Chippendale rent table (supposedly Arcellano family property) from. . . the Vatican! Impossible - even with the crash-course in Italian which Arcellano forces Lovejoy to take. But Lovejoy knows he'd better come through or else - because soon after he gets to Rome, his contact turns up dead in the Colosseum (apparently killed by Arcellano's thugs). So the caper is on: Lovejoy gets himself a base of operations by working for a comically intrigue-ridden antiques shop; he gets street-wise help from local thief Anna (who masquerades as an old crone); and the heist involves a faked medical emergency in a cafeteria near the Vatican Museum, a fake Chippendale constructed by Lovejoy, and considerable acrobatics. Plus: a not-really-surprising twist (who is Arcellano really?) waiting at the end. All in all, the best Lovejoy yet: not very plausible - but active, amusing, lightly informative, and without the snarling/macho posing which has been such a turn-off in previous outings. (Kirkus Reviews)