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Lovejoy #11
Moonspender
Lovejoy doesn't mind an occasional take, but the wholesale theft of national treasures is something else. So when "moonspenders"--antiques poachers with hi-tech metal detectors--start digging up his native East Anglia's ancient treasures, Lovejoy takes a stand. Martin's.
224 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1987
About the author
Jonathan Gash
93 books73 followersJohn Grant is an English crime writer, who writes under the pen name Jonathan Gash. He is the author of the Lovejoy series of novels. He wrote the novel The Incomer under the pen name Graham Gaunt.
Grant is a doctor by training and worked as a general practitioner and pathologist. He served in the British Army and attained the rank of Major in the Royal Army Medical Corps. He was head of bacteriology at the School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine for the University of London between 1971 and 1988.
Grant won the John Creasey Award in 1977 for his first Lovejoy novel, The Judas Pair. He is also the author of a series of medical thrillers featuring the character Dr. Clare Burtonall.
Grant lives outside Colchester in Essex, the setting for many of his novels. He has also been published in Postscripts.
Grant is a doctor by training and worked as a general practitioner and pathologist. He served in the British Army and attained the rank of Major in the Royal Army Medical Corps. He was head of bacteriology at the School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine for the University of London between 1971 and 1988.
Grant won the John Creasey Award in 1977 for his first Lovejoy novel, The Judas Pair. He is also the author of a series of medical thrillers featuring the character Dr. Clare Burtonall.
Grant lives outside Colchester in Essex, the setting for many of his novels. He has also been published in Postscripts.
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Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews
February 17, 2015
Fun though a bit frantic. There were enough plot lines in this entry of the Lovejoy series for about three books and, at times, I wondered if everything could get resolved in a coherent manner.
December 20, 2017
Yes of course he hits a woman and bonks plenty of them too. Perhaps the sexiest of the series between him frying anything he can get his hands on, being beaten up and his usual divvying capers...!.
February 5, 2024
Eindelijk! Uit!
Het is dat ik mezelf ooit beloofd heb om elk boek uit te lezen. Ik heb dat maar een paar keer niet gedaan, die keer dat ik de toverberg van Thomas Mann probeerde te lezen bijvoorbeeld.
Maar ik heb met dit boek toch ook moeite gehad.
Ik kocht dit boekje samen met nog wat andere boeken in een boekenwinkel in de luchthaven van Malta. Ik verwachtte me aan een plezante whodunit. Maar het bleek vooral een verwarrende chaotische whodunit.
Eerlijk is eerlijk, het kan goed zijn dat mijn gebrekkige kennis van het Engels me parten speelde. Ik kan wel wat Engels, maar ben er zeker geen uitblinker in. Als de woordenschat wat moeilijker is, heeft dat een effect op mijn leesplezier. En dat was in dit geval zeker zo: ik moest vaak dingen opzoeken (en als ik in bad zit is dat lastig en lees ik dus maar zonder vertaling verder waardoor ik er nog minder van snap).
Maar het boek bevat ook veel verhaallijnen en personages en op den duur wist ik echt niet meer wie wie was.
Ik vond het wel origineel dat het boek zich afspeelt in de wereld van de antiekhandelaars.
Ik geef het boek slechts 2 sterren omdat ik heb moeten zwoegen om het uit te krijgen en er eigenlijk geen plezier aan beleefde.
Het is dat ik mezelf ooit beloofd heb om elk boek uit te lezen. Ik heb dat maar een paar keer niet gedaan, die keer dat ik de toverberg van Thomas Mann probeerde te lezen bijvoorbeeld.
Maar ik heb met dit boek toch ook moeite gehad.
Ik kocht dit boekje samen met nog wat andere boeken in een boekenwinkel in de luchthaven van Malta. Ik verwachtte me aan een plezante whodunit. Maar het bleek vooral een verwarrende chaotische whodunit.
Eerlijk is eerlijk, het kan goed zijn dat mijn gebrekkige kennis van het Engels me parten speelde. Ik kan wel wat Engels, maar ben er zeker geen uitblinker in. Als de woordenschat wat moeilijker is, heeft dat een effect op mijn leesplezier. En dat was in dit geval zeker zo: ik moest vaak dingen opzoeken (en als ik in bad zit is dat lastig en lees ik dus maar zonder vertaling verder waardoor ik er nog minder van snap).
Maar het boek bevat ook veel verhaallijnen en personages en op den duur wist ik echt niet meer wie wie was.
Ik vond het wel origineel dat het boek zich afspeelt in de wereld van de antiekhandelaars.
Ik geef het boek slechts 2 sterren omdat ik heb moeten zwoegen om het uit te krijgen en er eigenlijk geen plezier aan beleefde.
May 9, 2022
Well, some parts of this were interesting which is typical for a Lovejoy story in that he had his hand in many pots, robbing Peter to pay Paul. This being said, I'm not quite sure I understood half of it - between the 1980's British slang and the numerous characters doing - whatever. I won't say anything about the main point of the story as it didn't come into play almost 3/4s into the story. Were all the other events related to it? Who can tell, I certainly can't.
I'm finding these books increasingly difficult to piece together for the reasons stated above, the only saving grace is the description of antiques and how to 'make' them, if you so choose to.
I may read more of this series though it will be awhile till I pick up the next in the hopes that I won't be wading through a cloud of confusion.
I'm finding these books increasingly difficult to piece together for the reasons stated above, the only saving grace is the description of antiques and how to 'make' them, if you so choose to.
I may read more of this series though it will be awhile till I pick up the next in the hopes that I won't be wading through a cloud of confusion.
August 9, 2011
I've picked up a bunch of the Lovejoy mysteries from old book stores just to fill in when I feel like reading them. They are fun and quite different. Some are better than others and it takes a little getting used to the jargon.
June 4, 2026
A quick recap of what I liked — and didn't like — in this book.
++All descriptions of 1980s East Anglia, the villages, weather, buses, and churches were very well written. Really take the reader "there". I liked them a lot.
+The characters were believable and rather original, and there were not too many to keep track of.
+The animals the titular character feeds around his cottage — splendid, funny stuff!
++There is some well-written situational humour that was unexpected and funny. It made me chuckle and works quite well pretty far into the story. This is not an easy achievement — a real plus, this one.
+The divvying moments, although there aren't many of them, are fascinating— as always!
If this was all there was to write about, this would easily be among the best books in the series I've read. At this point, my rating is already at 5-, near perfect... except that it turned out not to be the case. I had rated this book 2 stars after my first read, something like 13 years ago, but now I ended up giving it even less. Let's get to the minuses — of which there are, unfortunately, quite a few.
-The ending is a bit too short — almost like “blink and you miss it” — and the last pages repeat a pattern compared to what has happened in many of the previous volumes in the series. I mean, look: he's alone in the darkness, there's a sound, someone chases him or tries to get him, he escapes madly, something happens, and the killer dies violently. It's almost always the same. I mean, okay, it's a good format, I suppose, but it gets repetitive after something like 20 books.
-When I was reading who the murderer was, I was like, “Who on earth is this person?” I'd forgotten about the character completely by then. Also, sorry to say, the ending was not really that exciting or original by this point in the series.
-I didn't like the affair with a married woman that the titular character had. I mean, I understand the character, whom I have become acquainted with by this volume in the series, and why he does things. He is woefully incapable of any lasting relationships, despite him being such a visionary character.
His kinds of relationships are common, of course, but there's the rub: precisely because they are so common — unlike his gift, if you will, with antiques — I dislike them. Anyway, this sordid affair seems to be important to the book's plot, yet it isn't. He even beats up some poor woman... and it doesn't lead to anything. The rating dropped a bit further, to 3.5 stars — still pretty good overall.
Let's just say that while the above two are not massive as minuses go — since the book's charm is not in the ending, nor in the crime at all — story is always important to me as a reader, and I would have rounded the rating up to 4. This would still have been very good.
- Instead of “making smiles”, a euphemism for lovemaking used in the other books in the series, a less-than-savoury word has been used in this volume, which I will not repeat here. It is also used by one of the women in the book, which I found not at all likely. And, being a word that starts with 'r', it is also unpleasant to read, and made me grinch every time. At this stage, the rating became 3- stars.
- Without revealing any spoilers I can say that I really disliked, near the end of the book, how the titular character appeared ready to sacrifice an innocent female to save his own hide. This is a minus, because it made me dislike the character. So, the rating plummeted further downward, to 2 stars.
- The book, which was written in the mid-1980s, portrays witches while leaving out all expressions of religion or spirituality, and depicts them one-dimensionally as just a group of mentally ill individuals roaming in the forest. It also seemed like another pointless storyline. Later, I came to the conclusion that it could have been an attempt to represent individuals who joined cults back in the 80s as people who are easily misled by “false gurus” — or something like that. I would encapsulate my real point like this: some of the characters who could have been the most interesting remained very one-dimensional and shallow.
The rating was only 1.5 stars. At this point, I would still up the rating to two — an “okay” rating, and the one I had given this book before.
- By far the most unfortunate cause for me to lower the rating is that the story that began so interesting, tapers off around the last third of the book. I was reading the last 40 pages or so suddenly without any interest, losing track a bit and finding that I didn't care anymore. This meant a decrease of -0.5 stars. So, this was how, for me, the book ended up with just a one star rating.
Look. Antiques were there throughout the book, and the colorful characters, and I guess that is all nice. I was just disappointed after it had all begun so well and had genuinely made me laugh out loud, and then what's left is just sordid stuff. I was first like, "I wanna see more of this, more of this guy's life in East Anglia in the 80s, great!". So I don't want to sound unreasonable: the first half was quite enjoyable, funny, charming, interesting. I guess I just don't like the "sordid" parts.
++All descriptions of 1980s East Anglia, the villages, weather, buses, and churches were very well written. Really take the reader "there". I liked them a lot.
+The characters were believable and rather original, and there were not too many to keep track of.
+The animals the titular character feeds around his cottage — splendid, funny stuff!
++There is some well-written situational humour that was unexpected and funny. It made me chuckle and works quite well pretty far into the story. This is not an easy achievement — a real plus, this one.
+The divvying moments, although there aren't many of them, are fascinating— as always!
If this was all there was to write about, this would easily be among the best books in the series I've read. At this point, my rating is already at 5-, near perfect... except that it turned out not to be the case. I had rated this book 2 stars after my first read, something like 13 years ago, but now I ended up giving it even less. Let's get to the minuses — of which there are, unfortunately, quite a few.
-The ending is a bit too short — almost like “blink and you miss it” — and the last pages repeat a pattern compared to what has happened in many of the previous volumes in the series. I mean, look: he's alone in the darkness, there's a sound, someone chases him or tries to get him, he escapes madly, something happens, and the killer dies violently. It's almost always the same. I mean, okay, it's a good format, I suppose, but it gets repetitive after something like 20 books.
-When I was reading who the murderer was, I was like, “Who on earth is this person?” I'd forgotten about the character completely by then. Also, sorry to say, the ending was not really that exciting or original by this point in the series.
-I didn't like the affair with a married woman that the titular character had. I mean, I understand the character, whom I have become acquainted with by this volume in the series, and why he does things. He is woefully incapable of any lasting relationships, despite him being such a visionary character.
His kinds of relationships are common, of course, but there's the rub: precisely because they are so common — unlike his gift, if you will, with antiques — I dislike them. Anyway, this sordid affair seems to be important to the book's plot, yet it isn't. He even beats up some poor woman... and it doesn't lead to anything. The rating dropped a bit further, to 3.5 stars — still pretty good overall.
Let's just say that while the above two are not massive as minuses go — since the book's charm is not in the ending, nor in the crime at all — story is always important to me as a reader, and I would have rounded the rating up to 4. This would still have been very good.
- Instead of “making smiles”, a euphemism for lovemaking used in the other books in the series, a less-than-savoury word has been used in this volume, which I will not repeat here. It is also used by one of the women in the book, which I found not at all likely. And, being a word that starts with 'r', it is also unpleasant to read, and made me grinch every time. At this stage, the rating became 3- stars.
- Without revealing any spoilers I can say that I really disliked, near the end of the book, how the titular character appeared ready to sacrifice an innocent female to save his own hide. This is a minus, because it made me dislike the character. So, the rating plummeted further downward, to 2 stars.
- The book, which was written in the mid-1980s, portrays witches while leaving out all expressions of religion or spirituality, and depicts them one-dimensionally as just a group of mentally ill individuals roaming in the forest. It also seemed like another pointless storyline. Later, I came to the conclusion that it could have been an attempt to represent individuals who joined cults back in the 80s as people who are easily misled by “false gurus” — or something like that. I would encapsulate my real point like this: some of the characters who could have been the most interesting remained very one-dimensional and shallow.
The rating was only 1.5 stars. At this point, I would still up the rating to two — an “okay” rating, and the one I had given this book before.
- By far the most unfortunate cause for me to lower the rating is that the story that began so interesting, tapers off around the last third of the book. I was reading the last 40 pages or so suddenly without any interest, losing track a bit and finding that I didn't care anymore. This meant a decrease of -0.5 stars. So, this was how, for me, the book ended up with just a one star rating.
Look. Antiques were there throughout the book, and the colorful characters, and I guess that is all nice. I was just disappointed after it had all begun so well and had genuinely made me laugh out loud, and then what's left is just sordid stuff. I was first like, "I wanna see more of this, more of this guy's life in East Anglia in the 80s, great!". So I don't want to sound unreasonable: the first half was quite enjoyable, funny, charming, interesting. I guess I just don't like the "sordid" parts.
November 20, 2020
In my opinion the weakest of the first eleven Lovejoy novels with our hero on his uppers and forced take a job as a land manager for a wealthy business. Appearing on a television show brings to light a fake from ancient burial site followed by a murder in the same site it was found. Lovejoy's tasked to watch for the "moonspender", a local metal detectorist who is plundering gold. I found the pace of the book too slow and despite Lovejoy working in his own fake in to the plot the story involving local corruption is a tad boring.
August 6, 2019
I have to admit that I only read the first half of this book. I struggled to get that far. This is one of the worst mysteries that I've ever read. I didn't know what the mystery was until I got to page 60. In those first 60 pages Lovejoy either spent his time in bed with some married woman or was running for his life because he was afraid of some gangsters and crime bosses. I didn't enjoy this.
July 19, 2018
Far too many plotlines and a huge amount of side characters. There are about 40-50 and I genuinely lost track of who was who. There's a Lize, a Liz and I think a Lisa too and though I've just finished the book, I'm not even sure if they were different people or not.
July 26, 2021
My favourite in the series so far. Another world
April 17, 2022
fun read with lots of tips on antique fakery. Lovejoy is lovable, hence a parade of women who love him.
November 8, 2014
I felt this was one of te better of this series, plot lines were interesting and less predictable than some and he didn't agonize over aspects of the story that can feel like filler in other books in this series.
October 5, 2010
One of the better Gash novels. Typical last few pages finish.
July 13, 2014
Enjoyable read and slightly more complex than previous Lovejoy titles. Lots of layers and subplots swirling around but most if not all of your questions will be answered.
May 6, 2015
Oh my, such language, such plot. Like a Cockney P.G. Wodehouse.
July 6, 2015
Was hard for me to follow as was written the way British speak and with terms they use. Some things I had to guess what they were talking about or meant.
Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews