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3.6 AVERAGE
3.6 AVERAGE
adventurous
dark
mysterious
relaxing
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Intrigue, mystery, Lord John and his thoughts. What more could you want? The actual mystery (or multiple mysteries) is a tangled puzzle that you won’t understand till the end, and even then I had to concentrate really hard on the story to understand, so it’s not satisfying like a simple whodunit is. But it does have a lot of character and charm, and a lot of characters with charm. And Lord John of course, who’s point of view is fascinating if you have read only the early main outlander novels and are new to his solo books. I’m reading his novels and novellas in order for the fun of it and it’s putting some things together in my mind. And they’re just fun. The narrator of the audiobooks, Jeff Woodman, is so good. He does unique voices for all the characters which makes the world extra colorful and come alive. I really love the characters of Tom Bird and Harry Quarry, and Lord John’s mother! Highly recommended!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Blood, Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Death, Domestic abuse, Homophobia, Vomit, Murder
Minor: Child death, Chronic illness, Infidelity, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Medical content, Outing
3.5 stars
Diana Gabaldon is actually a good writer, I wish she would stray from the Outlander universe a little
I would say this novel is her "Robert Galbraith" moment. I loved following Lord John around and meeting new characters and different history, but the "mystery" was not at all compelling, I was just along for the ride of the background, much like every Outlander novel, ever.
Diana Gabaldon is actually a good writer, I wish she would stray from the Outlander universe a little
I would say this novel is her "Robert Galbraith" moment. I loved following Lord John around and meeting new characters and different history, but the "mystery" was not at all compelling, I was just along for the ride of the background, much like every Outlander novel, ever.
Having listened to all eight of the currently released Outlander novels on Audible last year, I thought I would swiftly move on to the Lord John spin-off books, which I understand are to be read in the following order (in case this is useful):
•Lord John and the Hellfire Club, a short story.
•Lord John and the Private Matter, a novel.
•Lord John and the Succubus a novella,
•Lord John and the Brotherhood Of The Blade, a novel.
•Lord John and the Haunted Soldier, a novella.
•Lord John and the Custom of the Army, a novella.
•The Scottish Prisoner, a novel.
•Lord John and the Plague of Zombies.
I will admit that the Hellfire Club short story didn't exactly set my world on fire, but I love the character of Lord John in the Outlander books so I wasn't about to give up on him. Plus I'd already bought this next one - The Private Matter - on Audible, and so I was going to listen to it either way.
I'm glad to say I much preferred this one to the Hellfire Club. Obviously being that The Private Matter is a novel whereas Hellfire was only a short story, there is a lot more plot in this one, and a lot more character development. It's nice to see Lord John outside of the confines of the Outlander books and finding out what he does when he's not pining over Jamie and rescuing Brianna from being married off to someone her Aunt has set her up with.
I must say I was really quite shocked and surprised at the negativity in the other reviews - mainly revolving around the fact that Lord John is a gay character. People saying they don't want to read stories where gay men are the leads. In 2021 I am very shocked that this is the case. I mean hello people, there's nothing wrong with having some diversity in the characters you're reading about. If I only read stories about straight white women my choice of reads would not only be boring as hell but also rather limited to cheesy rom-coms. Please, for the love of literature as a whole, broaden your horizons a bit!
I for one already liked Lord John as a character and am glad to see that The Hellfire Club was not the extent of his character development, or an indication of the plot-lines in his stories to come. I thoroughly enjoyed this tale of murder, double crossing and intrigue. And if this is what the rest of the books are going to be like, I'll be more than happy to keep reading and recommending them.
•Lord John and the Hellfire Club, a short story.
•Lord John and the Private Matter, a novel.
•Lord John and the Succubus a novella,
•Lord John and the Brotherhood Of The Blade, a novel.
•Lord John and the Haunted Soldier, a novella.
•Lord John and the Custom of the Army, a novella.
•The Scottish Prisoner, a novel.
•Lord John and the Plague of Zombies.
I will admit that the Hellfire Club short story didn't exactly set my world on fire, but I love the character of Lord John in the Outlander books so I wasn't about to give up on him. Plus I'd already bought this next one - The Private Matter - on Audible, and so I was going to listen to it either way.
I'm glad to say I much preferred this one to the Hellfire Club. Obviously being that The Private Matter is a novel whereas Hellfire was only a short story, there is a lot more plot in this one, and a lot more character development. It's nice to see Lord John outside of the confines of the Outlander books and finding out what he does when he's not pining over Jamie and rescuing Brianna from being married off to someone her Aunt has set her up with.
I must say I was really quite shocked and surprised at the negativity in the other reviews - mainly revolving around the fact that Lord John is a gay character. People saying they don't want to read stories where gay men are the leads. In 2021 I am very shocked that this is the case. I mean hello people, there's nothing wrong with having some diversity in the characters you're reading about. If I only read stories about straight white women my choice of reads would not only be boring as hell but also rather limited to cheesy rom-coms. Please, for the love of literature as a whole, broaden your horizons a bit!
I for one already liked Lord John as a character and am glad to see that The Hellfire Club was not the extent of his character development, or an indication of the plot-lines in his stories to come. I thoroughly enjoyed this tale of murder, double crossing and intrigue. And if this is what the rest of the books are going to be like, I'll be more than happy to keep reading and recommending them.
This book took forever to read. LJG is my favorite secondary character in this series and I really wanted to like it but I just did not. I felt the story jumped around to much and I had trouble piecing it together.
Probably my least favorite of the LJG series. But couldn’t bring myself to give it less than 3 stars because I’ll do anything to stay in the world of Outlander.
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Come potevo non comprare un romanzo sul mio personaggio preferito di Outlander? Ammetto di non aver mai letto la saga madre (deliberatamente) ma amo la serie tv e ignoravo del tutto l'esistenza di una serie laterale dedicata al mio amato Lord John Gray, shame on me.
Romanzo davvero piacevole, ben scritto, si vede che la Gabaldon fa davvero tante ricerche storiche per i suoi romanzi. Non mi aspettavo poi questa impronta da giallo, molto carino anche se la risoluzione del caso è piuttosto scontata e si fa seguire più per Lord John e per la magnifica descrizione dell'ambiente omosessuale della Londra settecentesca che per la voglia di sapere chi è il colpevole (sgamatissimo)
Romanzo davvero piacevole, ben scritto, si vede che la Gabaldon fa davvero tante ricerche storiche per i suoi romanzi. Non mi aspettavo poi questa impronta da giallo, molto carino anche se la risoluzione del caso è piuttosto scontata e si fa seguire più per Lord John e per la magnifica descrizione dell'ambiente omosessuale della Londra settecentesca che per la voglia di sapere chi è il colpevole (sgamatissimo)
That was enjoyable and easy to read. I'll probably check out more John Grey books.
adventurous
medium-paced