Lord John and the Hand of Devils

Let me start this review by saying that Diana Gabaldon is my absolute favorite author. That being said, you may find it odd that this collection of three stories was the first Lord John book that I have read, even though Lord John and the Private Matter has sat on my shelf for about two years. The reason for that probably stemmed from my fear that anything from this author outside the Outlander series might not reach such magnificent success, seeing that I have read those books over and over…and over. Happily, my fears were barely realized.

Note: Though the overall sensuality rating in this book is “kisses”, characters do discuss sexual matters fairly often.

In this collection there is one short story and two novellas. There is a definite timeline for these stories and the two Lord John novels, which Gabaldon fortunately explains in detail. The first two tales have been published before in different anthologies, but the third was written specifically for this collection.