I had a slight sense that Gash wasn't sure about if a series would take off, so the first, The Judas Pair, may have been intended as a one-off with room for expansion. And, well, it seems to have expanded.
Lovejoy's world is a bit more fleshed out, with more friends, girlfriends, and an apprentice we never heard about the first time. This time around, he comes across a very obviously faked painting, but there's something about it that intrigues him....the faker took great care and could have gotten away with it, except he used a very obvious modern pigment that could be spotted a mile away.
Something's up, and as Lovejoy finds out the identity of the faker, and comes across more items from the same person, he suspects there are clues being laid. But to what? The faker is dead, and his daughters compete for his effects. What's going on?
With the help of his friends, Lovejoy pieces together that the faker had discovered a cache of Roman gold on the Isle of Man. However, there's a very determined villain out for it, willing to kill any man or beast that gets in their way...
As with any Lovejoy mystery, there's lots of good information about the antiques trade, how things are faked, how to spot the genuine, and the tricks of the trade. The story and the mystery are pretty well done.
What didn't I like? There's little sense of continuity with The Judas Pair. Lovejoy's cottage, burned down in the first book, is perfectly fine in this one. (Yes, he could have moved, but there's no mention of a previous house burning down, and both have a hidden chamber in the cellar.) Is this meant to be a prequel? Or was The Judas Pair a rough draft, and this the start of a "real" continuity? Leslie Charteris did the same with The Saint. Also, Lovejoy has a pair of pet budgies in this story, never referred to before.
Still, I enjoyed it, and that's the important thing.
Gold by Gemini is out of print, but is likely available at libraries and may be cheaply purchased at your local friendly used-book emporium.
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