THE VERY LAST GAMBADO

NY, NY: St Martins Press, 1990. 1st edition, September 1990, with complete number line beginning with 1. Fine in fine dust jacket, not price clipped, with protective mylar cover. "A gambado is a scam on a magnificent scale, and as such is irresistible to the devious, delightful Lovejoy, Gash's lover/dealer/forger of antiques... Hollywood comes to East Anglia as Lovejoy is drawn into a high-paying consulting project for a movie spectacular about a theft from the British Museum. Complications are introduced by an aged Russian countess whose collection of family heirlooms sets Lovejoy's divvying heart a-pounding; by a local heavy reportedly sending containers loaded with antiques to America; by the death of an eminent neighborhood forger; and by the disappearance of a dealer. In irreverent, lively prose, Gash leads Lovejoy through an intricate plot that will challenge even the closest readers. Devoid of compunction or scruple, the appealingly unconventional hero leaps from bed to bed, from scheme to scheme, into a final, highly moral victory complete with shoot-out, smokescreen and resounding defeat for the real bad guys. As always, Lovejoy's calamitous path is strewn with priceless bits of antiques lore.. First Edition. Hardcover. Fine/Fine. Book.