Venus with Pistol — Gavin Lyall

Lean and literate suspense' Guardian

It seemed like money for old rope. All Kemp had to do was arrange the smooth passage of a Cezanne across the border to Switzerland, and anything was preferable to London in January.

But on awaking in a Zurich park with a bump the size of a burial mound on his head, minus the priceless work he'd been carrying, he reckons he may have underestimated the situation. Running into Harry Burroughs at the airport the next day can't be a coincidence, as Burroughs is a fine art dealer, and an even finer crook. If he is mixed up in all this, Kemp knows that from now on he will have to earn his money the hard way.