A review by rickyschneider
Lord John and the Hand of Devils by Diana Gabaldon

5.0

John Grey is my spirit animal. I am such a fan of this series! Lord John Grey intrigued me while watching Outlander, and when I found out he had his own spin-off series I had to read it. Little did I know, it would become one of my favorite series ever. The characters are colorful, lovable and rich. At this point, I have such affection for all of them and I smile when I see their familiar names pop up on the page. The slightly gothic mysteries Lord John solves suit my taste to a T. These books read like an 18th century, military Sherlock with a gay flourish and I live for it! This is the third installment but it is actually three novellas that increase in length as the book progresses. They are effectively episodes 0.5, 1.5, and 2.5 of the series. They are brilliantly paced and I cannot wait to continue on to the final (for now) novel, The Scottish Prisoner, especially after reading the teaser excerpt included at the end of this one. My favorite of the three stories has to be Lord John and the Succubus but they are all great fun and vividly written. Reading Diana Gabaldon's descriptions of 1700's London is the closest I've come to legitimate time travel. Grey continues to frustrate me in his unwavering obsession with Jamie Fraser like that friend you have that can't quite quit someone they know is never going to be right for them. We meet several other suitors that serve as distractions for Lord John but his thoughts of Fraser are unrelenting. There are some great side-characters that make welcomed returns (someone give Tom Byrd a metal already!) but it is Grey, himself, that is the most engaging, enigmatic, and fascinating to follow. I am so excited to join him on his next exceedingly entertaining, sexy and mysterious adventure.