Reviews

Lord John and the Private Matter by Diana Gabaldon

rebeccatc's review against another edition

3.0

This is a book featuring a side character from the Outlander series, Lord John Grey, as the protagonist involved in trying to avoid a family scandal and solve the murder of a military spy at the same time. I enjoyed the 18th century London setting, since none of the Outlander novels are set in London. And I like John Grey -- he is smart, witty, loyal and resourceful, and he approaches life with a sense of humor. In fact, he's a lot like Claire. The mystery itself took too long to unfold though and I lost interest.

starmans's review against another edition

adventurous funny mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

If only for Lord John's inner monologue this is worth the read. Plot is the main focus and I found it to be intriguing and enjoyable to untangle the web along with John. Towards the end its was slightly hard to follow (though probably a lot easier to follow in book form as opposed to listening to it). But I thought the resolution was satisfying. Aside from Lord John the characters of Harry Quarry and Tom Byrd were standouts and enjoyed every minute they appeared. The setting was immersive and felt like I was transported to 18th century london. The book is heavy with mystery and light on romance, so if you are picking it up purely based on enjoying the Outlander series and want more of that, this is very different. But in my opinion very much worth it. 

ebil's review against another edition

2.0

I have now done my due diligence attempting to like Diana Gabaldon. :I

stefanilw's review against another edition

1.0

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.

trudecal's review against another edition

4.0

Another great one from Gabaldon! Loved this, very entertaining. Lord John gets more and more interesting!

marleer's review against another edition

4.0

4.5 stars
This book was exactly what I wanted it to be. It was clever and well-written, just like Diana Gabaldon's Outlander books, but a lot shorter, which was refreshing for once. Even though the book was pretty short, it had a really solid story and there was even some great character development. However, I don't know if you should read this book if you haven't read the Outlander series, because you don't get a lot of introduction to Lord John as a character. But I would definitely recommend this book to anyone who likes the Outlander series.

csmall73's review

funny informative mysterious tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

dragon_lion64's review against another edition

2.0

What a snooze-fest!

kmfeeney's review against another edition

2.0

After about 100 pages it became more of a chore than a pleasure to read. I loved what I've read so far of Outlander series and Lord John Grey in it and I was looking forward to reading this series but it was lacking something for me.

alexrenee's review against another edition

adventurous emotional mysterious slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

This felt too long. It could have been a lot shorter. I got bored.