Lord John and the Hand of Devils

September 10, 2007
The indefatigable Gabaldon, who has made the British 18th century her own, offers a trio of novellas about Lord John Grey, whose minor role in the Outlander novels (concerning Jacobite Jamie Fraser and including A Breath of Snow and Ashes
) has become a major fictional spinoff (Lord John and the Brotherhood of the Blade
, etc.). The three mystery-adventure novellas of this volume span 1756 to 1758, in settings packed with dark secrets—and therefore dangers—for the soldier-hero with secrets of his own. The first novella finds Lord John swearing vengeance in London for a murdered government official, leading him to a deconsecrated abbey where members of the political elite indulge their basest desires. The second pits Lord John against a succubus that plagues his Prussian encampment, and combines humor with military strategy and supernatural myth. The third, most complex narrative finds Lord John investigating the cause of a cannon explosion in the English countryside that results in a fellow officer’s death. Gabaldon brings an effusive joy to her fiction that proves infectious even for readers unfamiliar with her work or the period. A foreword and introductory notes add background on the book’s evolution.

April 1, 2008
Gabaldon's latest Lord John Grey offering is a collection of three novellas. In "Lord John and the Hellfire Club," John is asked for help by a distressed diplomat, but the man is murdered before they can meet to discuss the particulars. John's investigation into the murder leads to a debauched secret society. John must search out a night-hag and solve a murder while dealing with a treacherous gypsy in "Lord John and the Succubus." Back in England, in "Lord John and the Haunted Soldier," our hero faces an inquiry into why the cannon he manned while fighting abroad mysteriously exploded. Gabaldon again proves she has mastered the English 18th century: the flowery elegance of its aristocratic language, elaborate social customs, and darker sexual underside. She makes the novella formatcalled by Stephen King in Different Seasons, "an ill-defined and disreputable literary banana republic"work here, depicting both a man's private sexual demons and his bland public countenance. Actor Jeff Woodman brings an experience of dialects and accents to this narration; his elegant diction for Lord John is a clever contrast to his Cockney-flavored rendering of John's valet. Recommended for historic mystery collections. [Gabaldon won the 2006 Quill Award for A Breath of Snow and Ashes.Ed.]David Faucheux, Louisiana Audio Information & Reading Svc., Lafayette

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