The Adventures of Lord John Grey

[bibliogramma]

Lord John and the Private Matter, Diana Gabaldon

Gabaldon’s Lord John series is a spin-off from her very successful Outlander series, about Claire Randall, a woman from the 20th century who travels back in time and falls in love with a minor Scottish laird named Jamie Fraser. The Outlander series is set during and after the battle of Culloden. After Culloden, Jamie Fraser, as a Jacobite leader, is held in captivity by the English, and during this period develops an unlikely friendship with one of his English jailers, Lord John Grey.

Lord John is a recurring character in the Outlander series, and has evidently become such a favourite character that Gabaldon has given him a series of his own, detailing his various exploits during the large parts of his life that are not woven into the story of Claire and Jamie.

Certainly, I’d have to agree that Lord John was one of my favourite supporting characters, and I quite thoroughly enjoyed this first episode in the adventures of Lord John. At the opening of the novel, Lord John becomes privy to some disturbing information – his cousin’s fiancé, Joseph Trevelyan, appears to be infected with syphilis – and it becomes a matter of utmost urgency that he find a delicate way of derailing the marriage without causing scandal. While Lord John is worrying about this very private matter, his commanding office asks him to undertake an investigation into the murder of the primary suspect in a case of suspected espionage involving stolen ordnance requisitions. Lord John’s investigations take him into the darkest corners of London’s sexual underground – a place that, as a gay man in a time where his sexual preference is punishable by death, he is already somewhat familiar with – as he finds to his surprise that there is a connection between his private matter and his official investigation.

The novel is less of a standard mystery story, with clues, unsuspected villains and innocent accused than it is a historical novel of suspense and, in a most unlikely turn, romance. Lord John makes a very likeable hero, The portrayal of the rigid class system, and of the vast differences in economic and social conditions between rich and poor was far more realistic than in many historical novels. As well, I thought that Gabaldon painted a very strong picture of the life of a man who, by class and occupation, should be one of the insiders, the elite of his society, but who must live a life of misdirection, deception and vigilance lest his secret be revealed – a story of an honourable man who is, as he ought to be, respected for his actions – but only as long as he succeeds at passing and preserves his reputation.