The Judas Pair

The first of a several dozen novels in the "Lovejoy" series by Jonathan Gash (pen name for John Grant). These novels have been so popular that they also spawned a long running TV series (over 70 episodes from 1986-1994). That being said, I won't go out of my way to read another because I simply did not like the character. I am interested in antique and so when I ran across some discussion of this series, I tracked down the first installment. I was immediately put off as he slapped his lover in the very first chapter and generally continued to treat her like dirt, until she was killed, and then he went for revenge.
The story line revolved around a man coming to Lovejoy to help find a legendary pair of flintlock duelling pistols, the Judas Pair. This man believes his brother bought them and was then murdered by someone who stole the guns. Initially Lovejoy thinks the man is just deluded by his grief, but as he begins to accumulate evidence, he thinks that the guns may actually exist. It's just luck that he happens upon one of the tools that he thinks originally accompanied the cased set of pistols and uses that as bait to lure the killer to him, getting his girlfriend killed in the process (not his fault admittedly). He succeeds and almost dies himself in the process. Once he has figured out who the killer really is, he goes to confront him and is, not surprisingly, challenged to a duel using the infamous pair of pistols. He doesn't die, obviously, as he figures out why the pistols are named as they are and manages to turn the tables on the killer. Lots of really interesting information about antiques and antiques' dealers, especially in England. If Lovejoy were a nicer man, I would probably read more  of these, especially since I am also such an Anglophile. The plotting was very tight and clever, so if you can see past his misogynistic nature, go for it.