Lovejoy is a series of picaresque novel

Picaresque novel

The picaresque novel is a popular sub-genre of prose fiction which is usually satirical and depicts, in realistic and often humorous detail, the adventures of a roguish hero of low social class who lives by his wits in a corrupt society...

s by John Grant

John Grant (Lovejoy)

John 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....

 (under the pen name

Pen name

A pen name, nom de plume, or literary double, is a pseudonym adopted by an author. A pen name may be used to make the author's name more distinctive, to disguise his or her gender, to distance an author from some or all of his or her works, to protect the author from retribution for his or her...

 Jonathan Gash) about the adventures of Lovejoy, a British antiques

Antiques

An antique is an old collectible item. It is collected or desirable because of its age , beauty, rarity, condition, utility, personal emotional connection, and/or other unique features...

 dealer and faker based in East Anglia

East Anglia

East Anglia is a traditional name for a region of eastern England, named after an ancient Anglo-Saxon kingdom, the Kingdom of the East Angles. The Angles took their name from their homeland Angeln, in northern Germany. East Anglia initially consisted of Norfolk and Suffolk, but upon the marriage of...

, a less than scrupulous yet likeable rogue. Lovejoy has a reputation in the antiques trade as a "divvie" (possibly derived from "diviner" although several of the books question this), meaning one with an almost supernatural talent for recognising exceptional items as well as for distinguishing fakes or forgeries from genuine antiques. Lovejoy's first name is never mentioned in the books. In the TV series based on the novels, he insists on being addressed by all solely as "Lovejoy".

Television adaptation

From 1986 to 1994 a television adaptation of the books was produced airing 73 episodes in total. The first series, aired in 1986 remained close to the books while from the second series onwards it began to develop its own identity.

Series

• The Judas Pair
  The Judas Pair
  The Judas Pair is a crime novel by Jonathan Gash, author of the Lovejoy series of novels. The story was first published in 1977 and won a John Creasey Award....
  
  (1977)
• Gold from Gemini (1978), U.S. edition: Gold by Gemini (1979)
• The Grail Tree (1979)
• Spend Game (1981)
• The Vatican Rip (1981)
• Firefly Gadroon (1982)
• The Sleepers of Erin (1984)
• The Gondola Scam (1984)
• Pearlhanger (1985)
• The Tartan Ringers (1986), U.S. edition: The Tartan Sell (1986)
• Moonspender (1988)
• Jade Woman (1988)
• The Very Last Gambado (1989)
• The Great California Game (1991)
• The Lies of Fair Ladies (1992)
• Paid and Loving Eyes (1993)
• The Sin within Her Smile (1993)
• The Grace in Older Women (1995)
• The Possessions of a Lady (1996)
• The Rich and the Profane (1998)
• A Rag, a Bone and a Hank of Hair (1999)
• Every Last Cent (2000)
• Ten Word Game (2001)
• Faces in the Pool (2008)