The Fall of the House of Thomas Weir

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!

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.

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

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.

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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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.

It took me a while to get into this book and I was very confused by what was happening in it until about halfway through the book. I have never read a book quite like this before and enjoyed it thoroughly. It was very well written and I think anyone who loves books that make you think.

Good stuff!
Quite a few things tick off the boxes for me: historic fiction, Scotland (it takes place in Edinburgh), element of dark fantasy, I even sense a little bit of Anne Rice influence (I might be wrong but I do feel a slight echo from Vampire Chronicles).
Well paced, well researched book with a twist.
Also, it seems it's the first in the series, so I am now looking forward to the second one!

Historical fiction mixed with misery and thriller! What more could I want! The gloomy setting is everything! Highly recommend!