jennyreadsalot 's review for:

Lord John and the Private Matter by Diana Gabaldon

2.0

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I picked this book up because I have totally fallen in love with the Outlander series. This story is a spin off of one character who we as readers got to know quite well in the third book Voyager. Having said that you do not necessarily need to have read the Outlander series to understand what is taking place in this book, part from the odd reference here and there to characters from that other series it stands as its own novel. The plot was interesting enough, a murder mystery that hits close to home set in the late 1700’s. While it was an interesting story I found that Ms. Gabaldon’s writing style is not so well suited to this short mystery novel; while the historical fiction of the Outlander series gave her the room to stretch out and breathe and write beautiful long sequences, in this shorter novel her writing felt cramped and rushed. While I will be continuing this Lord John Grey series it will not be because I particularly enjoyed this novel, which to be honest I only found to be mediocre, instead it will be because I have been told that later in the Outlander series some things don’t make sense unless you have also read the John Grey books. Overall an okay read but could have been better.