annieb123
Written on Nov 1, 2021
The Fall of the House of Thomas Weir is a historical mystery and the first book in a new series by Andrew Neil MacLeod. Released 4th July 2021 by Burning Chair, it's 246 pages and is available in paperback and ebook formats. It's worth noting that the ebook format has a handy interactive table of contents as well as interactive links and references throughout. I've really become enamored of ebooks with interactive formats lately. For Kindle Unlimited subscribers, this book is currently included in the KU subscription library to borrow and read for free.
Historical mysteries woven around a framework of real history and featuring real historical characters are one of my very favourite subgenres. This one features Dr. Samuel Johnson and friend Scottish diarist and attorney James Boswell against shadowy secret organisations, skullduggery, administrative corruption, and the forces of evil. The story is fictionalized but written around a real historical framework and intertwined so skillfully that it's not always easy to tell where real history shades over into fiction.
The denouement and resolution are well done and satisfying. There is a *strong* horror element and I would personally place it in that genre first, and historical mystery second. Readers looking for a nice Georgian costume mystery will be getting more than they bargain for. There are many scenes of graphic gore and horror. It was honestly much scarier and more graphic than I was comfortably equipped to handle. It is very well written and plotted however, and the author clearly knows his craft.
It's the first book in a series, so it works very well as an introductory stand-alone.
High quality historical horror mystery. Four stars.
Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.