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.

November 1, 2007
Gabaldon continues her series featuring the eighteenth-century nobleman and soldier Lord John Grey in this trio of two previously published novellas and one brand-new tale. In Lord John and the Hellfire Club, Greys promise to avenge the murder of a fellow regimental soldiers cousin leads him to a dangerous club in the English countryside. While serving in Germany as an English liaison to a company of Hanoverians, Grey finds himself investigating the death of a soldier by a demon in Lord John and the Succubus. In Lord John and the Haunted Soldier, an official inquiry into cannon explosions on the battlefield sends Grey to Sussex and a group of powder mill owners, includingGreys own half brother, Edgar DeVane. In sum, a captivating collection of tales featuring richly detailed historical settings, splendidly nuanced characters, and expertly crafted plots rendered extra suspensefulby the clever use ofsupernatural elements.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2007, American Library Association.)