''The Judas Pair'' is a

crime novel Crime fiction, detective story, murder mystery, mystery novel, and police novel are terms used to describe narratives that centre on criminal acts and especially on the investigation, either by an amateur or a professional detective, of a crime, ...

Jonathan Gash John Grant (born 1933), professionally known under pen name Jonathan Gash, is a British doctor and writer, best known as the author of the Lovejoy series that was adapted to television by Ian La Frenais He has also written under the name of Grah ...

. It is the first book in the Lovejoy series. The story was first published in 1977 and won a John Creasey Award. The story was adapted by

Ian La Frenais Ian La Frenais (born 7 January 1937) is an English writer best known for his creative partnership with Dick Clement. They are most famous for television series including ''The Likely Lads'', ''Whatever Happened to the Likely Lads?'', ''Porridg ...

for the BBC television series ''

Lovejoy ''Lovejoy'' is a British television comedy-drama mystery series, based on the novels by John Grant under the pen name Jonathan Gash. The show, which ran to 71 episodes over six series, was originally broadcast on BBC1 between 10 January 19 ...

'' starring

Ian McShane Ian David McShane (born 29 September 1942) is an English actor, producer and director. He is known for his television performances, particularly as the title role in the BBC series ''Lovejoy'' (1986–1994), Al Swearengen in '' Deadwood'' (2004 ...

. The episode "The Judas Pair" first aired on 7 February 1986 as episode 5 of season 1.

Plot summary

Antiques An antique ( la, antiquus; 'old', 'ancient') is an item perceived as having value because of its aesthetic or historical significance, and often defined as at least 100 years old (or some other limit), although the term is often used loosely ...

dealer Lovejoy is commissioned to hunt down what he considers to be a

mythical Myth is a folklore genre consisting of narratives that play a fundamental role in a society, such as foundational tales or origin myths. Since "myth" is widely used to imply that a story is not objectively true, the identification of a narrat ...

object, the

Judas Judas Iscariot (; grc-x-biblical, Ἰούδας Ἰσκαριώτης; syc, ܝܗܘܕܐ ܣܟܪܝܘܛܐ; died AD) was a disciple and one of the original Twelve Apostles of Jesus Christ. According to all four canonical gospels, Judas betraye ...

pair, the supposed

thirteenth In music or music theory, a thirteenth is the note thirteen scale degrees from the root of a chord and also the interval between the root and the thirteenth. The interval can be also described as a compound sixth, spanning an octa ...

pair Pair or PAIR or Pairing may refer to: Government and politics * Pair (parliamentary convention), matching of members unable to attend, so as not to change the voting margin * ''Pair'', a member of the Prussian House of Lords * ''Pair'', the Frenc ...

duelling pistols A duelling pistol is a type of pistol that was manufactured in matching pairs to be used in a duel, when duels were customary. Duelling pistols are often single-shot flintlock or percussion black-powder pistols which fire a lead ball. Not all f ...

, an 18th-century flintlock made by the famous

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

gunmaker

Durs Egg Durs Egg (1745–1822) was a Swiss-born British gunmaker,Campbell, Gordon. "Egg, Durs." ''Grove Art Online.'' 22 Oct. 2008; Accessed 9 Nov. 2022. https://www.oxfordartonline.com/groveart/view/10.1093/gao/9781884446054.001.0001/oao-9781884446054- ...

. After two

murder Murder is the unlawful killing of another human without justification (jurisprudence), justification or valid excuse (legal), excuse, especially the unlawful killing of another human with malice aforethought. ("The killing of another person wit ...

s Lovejoy is certain that the pistols do exist, and are now in the hands of the murderer. Lovejoy solves the mystery by drawing from his comprehensive knowledge of the antique world, poring on the backgrounds of materials so that past and present deceit and criminality are revealed.

Publication history

* ''The Judas Pair'', Jonathan Gash, Collins Crime Club, 1977, , hardcover * ''The Judas Pair'', Jonathan Gash, Harper & Row, 1977, , hardcover * ''The Judas Pair'', Jonathan Gash, Dell Publishing, 1981, , paperback * ''The Judas Pair'', Jonathan Gash, W. F. Howes, 1999, ,

audiobook An audiobook (or a talking book) is a recording of a book or other work being read out loud. A reading of the complete text is described as "unabridged", while readings of shorter versions are abridgements. Spoken audio has been available in sc ...

cassette * ''The Judas Pair'', Jonathan Gash, W. F. Howes, 2000, , audiobook CD

References

External links

* 1977 British novels English novels British crime novels Picaresque novels Collins Crime Club books {{1970s-crime-novel-stub