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| Plot Summary of Lord John and the Private Matter |
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Delacorte, Oct 2003, 23.95, 320 pp.
ISBN: 0385337477
In 1757, Major John Grey, an aristocrat concludes he must end his cousin Olivia's engagement to John Trevelyn because he knows the man suffers from the pox. After consulting on the delicate matter with his military superior, Colonel Quarry also assigns John to investigate stolen ordnance requisitions, which unless recovered will force the English armies on the continent to make costly relocations to avoid massacres.
John begins his inquiries with the homicide of soldier Timothy O'Connell who is the prime suspect. Evidence takes John to a whorehouse and subsequently to a gay gentleman's house, Lavender House that he knows intimately from five years ago. He continues to follow the trail that leads to a small specialty wine shop and from there to the murder of a wine maker wearing a dress. As he closes in on the military case, he makes major progress on the personal matter too, but does not realizing the two connect. John forces the end of Joseph's engagement to Olivia, but also is drugged by the man.
Though readers need to understand that this is not a romance and the likable hero has a gay encounter, the novel still is the typical Gabaldon book. The insightful Georgian espionage mystery is rich with a taste for the era, but not just the typical kind found in mid eighteenth century novels. John, who has appeared in previous novels such as THE FIERY CROSS, is a delightful hero and the support cast adds depth to the era and to the suspense including a rather surprising heterosexual love story.
Harriet Klausner
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Harriet Klausner, Resident Scholar
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"Lord John Grey is an officer in the British military in 1757, at home in London for a brief bit of leave before reassignment. Things start out badly when in a public restroom with Joseph Trevelyan, his cousin's fiancé, Grey glimpses evidence that Trevelyan has contracted syphilis. If Trevelyan indeed has syphilis, Grey can't allow him to marry his cousin, but Grey needs to be absolutely certain of what he has seen before doing anything rash like ending the betrothal.
Grey goes to his friend and fellow military officer, Harry Quarry, for advice and help in investigating the matter. In exchange, Quarry asks Grey for help in investigating a possible spy among their military division. But things get much worse--and much more complicated!--when the spy turns up dead without the military documents which he stole and Trevelyan is seen sneaking out of a brothel dressed as a woman! Grey must figure out who killed the spy and what happened to the military documents, as well as what kind of man Trevelyan really is!"
Eucalia, Resident Scholar
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| Review Analysis of Lord John and the Private Matter |
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Our unique search engine provides a wealth of detail about books by breaking them down into many different literary elements, all of which are searchable (click here).
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Ratings are on a 1-10 scale (Low to High)
Plot
Composition of Book
descript. of violence and chases - 10%
Planning/preparing, gather info, debate puzzles/motives - 45%
Feelings, relationships, character bio/development - 25%
How society works & physical descript. (people, objects, places) - 20%
Tone of story
- suspenseful (sophisticated fear)
Time/era of story:
- 18th century
Spying/Terrorism Thriller
Yes
Cloak & Dagger Plotlets:
- stopping a saboteur/spy
Kid or adult book?
- Adult or Young Adult Book
War-time military intelligence mission?
Yes
Main Character
Gender
- Male
Profession/status:
- government investigator
Age:
- 20's-30's
How much violence does he/she use?
- a little
Ethnicity/Race
- British
How sensitive is this character?
- sensitive to others' feelings
- hard edged
Sense of humor
- Mostly serious with occasional humor
Intelligence
- Smarter than most other characters
Physique
- very athletic
Main Adversary
Identity:
- Male
Age:
- 20's-30's
- 40's-50's
Profession/status:
- spy
- small businessman
How much of work is main antagonist actually present in:
- a little/some
- a moderate amount
Motive of antagonist
- money/treasure
- power
How sensitive is this character?
- hard edged
- middling sensitive to others' feelings
Sense of humor
- Cynical sense of humor
- Mostly serious with occasional humor
Intelligence
- Smarter than most other characters
Physique
- very athletic
- average physique
Setting
Europe
Yes
European country:
- England/UK
Style
Person
- mostly 3rd
Accounts of torture and death?
- generic/vague references to death/punishment
How many deaths?
- 2
Sex
Yes
What kind of sex:
- vague references
- use of artificial tools
- descript. of breasts
- descript. of male nudity
- homosexuals doing their thing
Amount of dialog
- significantly more dialog than descript
- roughly even amounts of descript and dialog
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Diana Gabaldon Resident Scholar Profiles
TOP SCHOLAR:
 Eucalia
SCHOLARS:
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Note: the views expressed here are only those of the reviewer(s). | |
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