an improvement over "private matter" I entered this book with a bit of trepidation; while I loved the charatrer of Lord John Grey from the Outlander novels, I did not particularly like the first novel with him as the main character, [[ASIN:0385337485 Lord John and the Private Matter (Lord John Grey Novels)]].
I was really happy that this one was much more interesting.
Lord John is an honorable and intelligent army major for Britain, the younger son of a disgraced duke. He is also gay in a time and place where that can be a death sentence.
There are many many subplots in this novel, and I was wondering how the author could possibly knit them all together into a coherent whole - but she does manage to do just that, without leaving anything hanging.
I was also pleased with the way that she dealt with the one major gay sex scene - it was well written and not too terribly graphic and the emotional intimacy following that scene (where the two men tell each other secrets)is quite important to the plot.
Very pleased. I will read any additional Lord John books.
Good Job, Gabaldon. I enjoyed this Lord John novel far more than the first one. Gabaldon finally wrote a book worthy of her Outlander series for John Grey. There are bits of Jamie Fraser in this book, too, but I warn other potential readers that they are very brief and a bit unsatisfying if you are a big Jamie fan like I am. Still, a glimpse is better than nothing and the rest of the story is very interesting to read. I can't wait until the author returns to her original characters, though. They are far more fascinating and I've reread 'A Breath of Snow and Ashes' far too many times waiting for the next story.A clever gay mystery Diana Gabaldon takes the gay mystery genre in a new direction with this historical look at what it was like to be a homosexual in the 18th century. Lord John Grey is an appealing character, and Gabaldon's insight into what it must have been like for a man like Grey to live in his times is often quite moving. Though it's a thick book, the pages flew by as the story unfolded.
Neil Plakcy, author of [[ASIN:1593500076 Mahu Surfer: A Hawaiian Mystery (An Alyson Mystery)]]
