The Possessions of a Lady

Hardcover | 1 September 1996

Sorry, we are not able to source the book you are looking for right now.

We did a search for other books with a similar title, however there were no matches. You can try selecting from a similar category, click on the author's name, or use the search box above to find your book.

Ejected from Thekla Paumann's fashion show, peerless antiques divvy Lovejoy knows he's in trouble. Thekla has been paying all his bills and soon utilities and even food will vanish. Invited to dinner at the town's eatery by the enticing but insane, Faye, she promptly lands him in it with the local constabulary. Worse: Lovejoy has acquired a double, a rival divvy who beats him to the punch on every priceless antique, and his fake Norwich School Painting won't even sell in Norwich. Tinker's cousin's girl is missing Lovejoy has to find her and expose a donty - insider trading at an auction, (expression coined by one Lovejoy, 1992, ). No one is innocent in antiques is his only conclusion, as he flees North to get the antique that will stave off his creditors. Then his second dictum Never go back comes into play as, following a path of murder and attempted murder (his own), he is once more in the childhood streets of his memory. Brief fame follows as he conducts an auction, finds the girl and cracks the case. Throw in the infamous Berkley horse flagellation frame, enough fake prehistoric to construct a respectable Neanderthal family and you have a irresistable romp through the magical world of antiques with the most roguish dealer of them all.

Industry Reviews

Yet another chapter (the 19th) in the up-and-down life of Lovejoy - antiques expert supreme; magnet for attractive women; and dud at everything else (The Grace in Older Women, 1995, etc.). This latest installment finds him penniless, homeless, and mystified. Who's buying the underpriced, unrecognized treasures he has spotted before he can get to them? Even sodden old Tinker Dill, his longtime friend and barker, comes under suspicion, although Lovejoy continues to look for Tinker's runaway teenaged Australian niece Vyna. Meanwhile, Lovejoy's affair with fashion expert Thekla is over, but somehow he winds up back north, in his hometown near Manchester, running an antiques auction that's to be followed by Thekla's fashion show starring a procession of the local museum's priceless Victorian clothes. Along the way, Lovejoy discovers his old pal Spoolie (a vintage-film expert) murdered in his bathtub; almost gets charged with the bashing of hospitalized designer Viktor Vasho; and barely misses being wiped out by a firebomb hurled from a car. The untidy resolution to these puzzlers, and a dozen more, is frenzied, bloody, and near-nonsensical. The good stuff is history and antiques lore from CroMagnon caves to late Wesleyan chapels; lessons in scams and fakery; a string of picaresque characters, and Lovejoy's slangy, stream-of-consciousness style. Great fun in its inimitable, rollicking, often frustrating way - but not for everyone. (Kirkus Reviews)

Shipping

	Standard Shipping	Express Shipping
Metro postcodes:	$9.99	$14.95
Regional postcodes:	$9.99	$14.95
Rural postcodes:	$9.99	$14.95

Orders over $79.00 qualify for free shipping.

How to return your order

At Booktopia, we offer hassle-free returns in accordance with our returns policy. If you wish to return an item, please get in touch with Booktopia Customer Care.

Additional postage charges may be applicable.