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.

This book started off being promising, with a creepy tense feeling to it, but as the story built there was so much going on with the plot that it got convoluted and felt over done.
The characters were really well built and it had the potential to be a really good captivating read but fell short with an overwritten plot.

What a gem! This book took me completely by surprise. A genre defying historical gothic horror adventure fantasy. With it's very Victorian opening and sedate matter of fact, but highly intelligent narrative I almost felt a little bit like I was going on a mystery with Sherlock Holmes in the beginning (and I guess this could have been a little bit The Hounds of the Baskerville's had the hound really turned out to be a hellhound:)...but from there my friends we leave all polite society behind and descend into a gothic masterpiece filled with monsters, mayhem, and murder, all expertly done by a clever wordsmith and elegant craftsman. **Thank you so so much to both NetGalley and Burning Chair Publishing for an eARC of this book in exchange for my honest review!**

Do not be fooled by the mundane here, this is no ordinary historical mystery, but a macabre nightmare full of otherworldly lovecraftian horrors, secret societies and esoteric theologies, and a very fast-paced countdown to the last minute plot. Also excellently executed and told from several different characters POV to give you a better idea of all that is going on here in what starts out as a deceptively benign portrait.

This was a perfectly delivered descent into the chaos of a very real feeling apocalyptic nightmare on the streets of Edinburgh in the Age of Reason. I LOVED it and cannot wait for the next adventure of Johnson and Boswell (the parts told from Boswell's wife POV in this one were particularly harrowing, and when I first realized nothing was going to go as planned in this story).

Even though I was granted the eARC of this, I still ordered it in physical form the day I started it knowing it was going to be a keeper, I also short listed it into my store. Highly recommend for fans of intelligent and imaginative historical fiction, especially for those who love a good dose of classic or gothic horror, or those who are looking for a little something different.

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I am always on the lookout for a story set in Edinburgh, its my favourite city and I am fascinated by the ghost stories of the 'Auld Toon'.

This is a fantastic start to a new series. I obviously loved the setting and the way the city is described. I really enjoyed the characters and I look forward to reading more about Dr Johnson and Mr Boswell (and Mrs Boswell).

Not only was this creepy and atmospheric it was also a fun read, I wonder if the author got a bit carried away, but I really enjoyed it.

I look forward to the next in the series!

Thank you to @netgalley and Burning Chair Ltd for allowing me to review the book.

I adore Edinburgh as a setting. I’ve never been there, but maybe one day. And it does seem a perfect place for the supernatural to bump heads with the rational.

It’s the 1770s and Dr. Samuel Johnson has come to Edinburgh to visit his friend, James Boswell, for a tour of the city and holiday in the Highlands. Hearing reports of ghouls haunting the Old Town, and about a series of burglaries in the houses of noblemen, Dr. Johnson can’t resist getting involved. Of course, Dr. Johnson is knowledgeable and experienced in occult and supernatural phenomena.

We get a story of secret societies, conspiracies, and hideously deformed people living in the tunnels below the city. The story moves along at a good pace. The characters are well-drawn. Both Johnson and Boswell are likable in their own ways, but not without faults. Secondary characters are brought to life well, even if they have smaller parts. Edinburgh is described well: the sights, sounds, people. And MacLeod does a good job weaving historical figures, in addition to Johnson and Boswell, into his narrative, making changes when necessary.

The plot. We’ve got a lot. Deformed humans, secret societies, interdimensional demons, kidnappings, human sacrifice. There was so much and so many connections/coincidences that it began to feel overdone, almost silly. I wanted it to be scary and suspenseful and it was up to a point, but then he added the corrupt nun, and it was like, “really?” There are only two hundred sixty-some pages. I didn’t get the chance to feel the tension or the horror after a while because just so much of it is crammed in.

All that being said, it did have promise. The writing flowed well, the descriptions captured the time and place, the characters felt real. It’s a first novel. I’ll probably give the second in the series a chance when it comes out. With a little more focus, this could have been mysterious and terrifying. As it was, it felt like a mediocre movie.

Highly entertaining, gripping and creepy. It's a good historical fiction and I hope it's the start of a new series.
I liked what I read and hope to read other books featuring these characters.
The descriptions of Edinburgh are fascinating and the historical background vivid.
Recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine

Thanks to Netgalley for an ARC of this book. When I started this book I was reminded of the fantastic Frey and McGray books by Oscar 'de Muriel. However this book was slightly harder going than those are. Although I enjoyed the book, I felt it was just missing something, the characters are fine and the relationship between the characters was well described, the using of an abducted child added to the storyline, I was left just wanting something else. It may be that this will be addressed in the next in what appears to be a new series. I will still look for and read the next in the series, and hope the characters grow more.

This book was not at all what I thought it was going to be. To me, this book was more Lovecraftian than I prefer.

The story is set in the 1770's in Edinburgh. Focusing on two men, Doctor Samuel Johnson and his lawyer friend, James Boswell. Johnson has come to visit his dear friend after hearing reports of ghouls and ghosts haunting the area of Old Town. Johnson and Boswell team up to help some local noblemen with some burglaries as well and are thrust into more than they bargained for when they discover the supernatural stories are in fact true. The tunnels underneath "new" Old Town hide a hideous sect of creatures that are set on destroying the city and eventually taking over the world.

While I enjoyed parts of the story like the setting descriptions and even the characters of Johnson and Boswell the story just fell flat for me. They story felt all over the place and had some nods to some of todays "conspiracy" type stories. Statements like "fear makes the blood so much richer" (adrenochrome) and "abolishing princes and nations in favor of a one world order". Both of these things along with the talk of lizard like people was very much like what is talked of today amongst those who believe such things.

All in all I think it had the makings of an interesting story but it just wasn't for me. If you like Lovecraft type stories then this is probably a book you will enjoy.

This book is everything i wanted and more, it is gothic, dark, chilling and mysterious set in the gloomy Edinburgh of the Georgian era, I felt like i was experiencing it with them through the pages, I was completely immersed in the story.

The Fall Of the House of Thomas Weir is a thriller set in 1773 Edinburgh. It starts you off on the right foot by opening in a cemetery and just gets creepier from there. Dr. Johnson and Mr. Boswell follow the ghosts and ghouls to the depths of Edinburgh's tunnels. There are some issues with some of the scientific aspects of the book, things that wouldn't have been discovered at that time. However, an interesting book. Thank you #NetGalley for allowing me to give my honest and voluntary opinion of #TheFallOfTheHouseOfThomasWeir.

A very interesting thriller really, it was really really good I genuinely devoured this. I love it when authors are able to partner up a good mystery with thriller aspects and that’s exactly what this book had. So I was extremely pleased and content with the outcome of course!

A strange book in one aspect, but a nice addition to the numerous tales of the goings on in the Scottish capital in bygone days. Perhaps it was not entirely 100% to my liking when it comes to reading, I still enjoyed it, as I am familiar with the city and its underground history.

Possible spoilers




This was an incredibly fun read,and it's not often you can say that about a book with such a high body count!
It was grim at times,and filled with ghosts and ghouls,and set perfectly on the darkest streets of Edinburgh.
I raced through it,and already look forward to another installment from the trio.
I say trio,as Mrs Boswell definitely held her own in this book.