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Outlander #2.5
Minervas Geheimnis: Ein Lord-John-Kurzroman
Das Paris des achtzehnten Jahrhunderts birgt mancherlei Geheimnisse … Minerva hat den Auftrag, sie zu lüften. Ein neuer Kurzroman aus der »Outlander«-Saga von Bestseller-Autorin Diana Gabaldon.
Paris 1744. Minnie Rennie hilft ihrem Vater bei seiner Arbeit, die darin besteht, die Geheimnisse anderer Menschen zu ergründen - gegen Bezahlung natürlich. Eines Tages bittet ein Kunde sie darum, nach London zu reisen, um eine Intrige aufzudecken. Die verstorbene Ehefrau des dort ansässigen Herzogs soll eine Affäre mit einem anderen Mann gehabt haben, und nun liegt es an Minnie, Beweise dafür zu finden. Bald stößt sie auf einige brisante Briefe der Toten. Doch als sie Graf Harold Meldon kennenlernt, ist ihre Aufmerksamkeit nicht mehr nur auf die Intrige gerichtet …
Der Kurzroman »Minervas Geheimnis« ist Teil von Diana Gabaldons opulenter »Outlander«-Saga. Er spielt nach dem zweiten Band »Die Geliehene Zeit«; Sie können ihn aber auch unabhängig davon lesen.
»Minervas Geheimnis« sowie sechs weitere Kurzromane der Bestseller-Autorin Diana Gabaldon finden Sie auch in dem Sammelband »Outlander – Im Bann der Steine«.
Paris 1744. Minnie Rennie hilft ihrem Vater bei seiner Arbeit, die darin besteht, die Geheimnisse anderer Menschen zu ergründen - gegen Bezahlung natürlich. Eines Tages bittet ein Kunde sie darum, nach London zu reisen, um eine Intrige aufzudecken. Die verstorbene Ehefrau des dort ansässigen Herzogs soll eine Affäre mit einem anderen Mann gehabt haben, und nun liegt es an Minnie, Beweise dafür zu finden. Bald stößt sie auf einige brisante Briefe der Toten. Doch als sie Graf Harold Meldon kennenlernt, ist ihre Aufmerksamkeit nicht mehr nur auf die Intrige gerichtet …
Der Kurzroman »Minervas Geheimnis« ist Teil von Diana Gabaldons opulenter »Outlander«-Saga. Er spielt nach dem zweiten Band »Die Geliehene Zeit«; Sie können ihn aber auch unabhängig davon lesen.
»Minervas Geheimnis« sowie sechs weitere Kurzromane der Bestseller-Autorin Diana Gabaldon finden Sie auch in dem Sammelband »Outlander – Im Bann der Steine«.
216 pages, Kindle Edition
First published June 27, 2017
439 people are currently reading
4653 people want to read
About the author
Diana Gabaldon
215 books181k followersDiana Jean Gabaldon Watkins grew up in Flagstaff, Arizona and is of Hispanic and English descent (with a dash of Native American and Sephardic Jew). She has earned three degrees: a B.S. in Zoology, a M.S. in Marine Biology, and a Ph.D in Ecology, plus an Honorary Doctorate from the University of Glasgow, for services to Scottish Literature.
She currently lives in Scottsdale, Arizona .
She currently lives in Scottsdale, Arizona .
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 244 reviews
August 28, 2022
I will admit, I was confused for a minute, but that Jamie Fraser cameo was worth everything. It’s the Paris timeline—1744, so J&C were in the thick of it in the “wine business.” Plus I really loved Hal, Lord John’s brother and Minnie’s story. Those two were something else. I’m loving my reread through the big books and reading all the side books for the first time!
March 10, 2021
4.5 stars
Originally read as part of Seven Stones to Stand or Fall anthology. Now rereading on audio of same anthology.
I've always liked Hal, Lord John's older brother, and Minnie has interested me since that moment in The Scottish Prisoner when Jamie recognizes her, so getting this novella that shows how they met and fell for each other was a treat. It's mostly from Minnie's POV, which gives us more time to spend with her and get to know her background and situation. I adore her relationship with her father, and her search to find her mother was touching as well. This also takes us back to the Paris timeline, so we get a Jamie cameo as well.
I do have to say though, my brain had issues with the audio, lol. It's Jeff Woodman again, and he's great as always. But I was expecting Davina Porter, since it's mostly from Minnie's POV. And since Woodman = Lord John to me, it took my brain awhile to accept that Lord John wasn't in this one. But once my brain caught up, I was able to enjoy the audio much more.
Originally read as part of Seven Stones to Stand or Fall anthology. Now rereading on audio of same anthology.
I've always liked Hal, Lord John's older brother, and Minnie has interested me since that moment in The Scottish Prisoner when Jamie recognizes her, so getting this novella that shows how they met and fell for each other was a treat. It's mostly from Minnie's POV, which gives us more time to spend with her and get to know her background and situation. I adore her relationship with her father, and her search to find her mother was touching as well. This also takes us back to the Paris timeline, so we get a Jamie cameo as well.
I do have to say though, my brain had issues with the audio, lol. It's Jeff Woodman again, and he's great as always. But I was expecting Davina Porter, since it's mostly from Minnie's POV. And since Woodman = Lord John to me, it took my brain awhile to accept that Lord John wasn't in this one. But once my brain caught up, I was able to enjoy the audio much more.
June 5, 2023
After almost giving up, I actually enjoyed the last hour and a half, BUT, considering this was 6 hours long, I feel cheated. The MC’s only have three scenes together, amounting to a measly 45 mins.
I’m not keen on audio the best of times, but given this was mostly from Minnie’s pov, I’d have preferred a female narrator; the Irish bodyguards also had dodgy accents - sounded more like they were from the West Country 🥴 Finally, not sure if I had a faulty copy, but a few of the earlier chapters seemed to cut out mid sentence. 2.75 Stars ✨
I’m not keen on audio the best of times, but given this was mostly from Minnie’s pov, I’d have preferred a female narrator; the Irish bodyguards also had dodgy accents - sounded more like they were from the West Country 🥴 Finally, not sure if I had a faulty copy, but a few of the earlier chapters seemed to cut out mid sentence. 2.75 Stars ✨
July 21, 2019
Having only read any stories with Jaimie & Clare, I was pleasantly surprised how much I enjoyed this story. I hadn’t read the later books with John Grey, so I could only guess how it would play out.
Recommendation on reading order:
1 - outlander (book 1)
2 - if you want, short story “Virgins” (in the book: Seven Stones to Stand or Fall). Wasn’t very good.
3 - Dragonfly in Amber (book 2)
4 - a fugitive green short story (in the book: Seven Stones to Stand or Fall)
5 - Voyager (Book 3)
Bunch of stories with John Grey
(See list in the book: Seven Stones to Stand or Fall)
Recommendation on reading order:
1 - outlander (book 1)
2 - if you want, short story “Virgins” (in the book: Seven Stones to Stand or Fall). Wasn’t very good.
3 - Dragonfly in Amber (book 2)
4 - a fugitive green short story (in the book: Seven Stones to Stand or Fall)
5 - Voyager (Book 3)
Bunch of stories with John Grey
(See list in the book: Seven Stones to Stand or Fall)
July 18, 2025
Мені здається ця новелла має розташовуватись вище в хронологічному порядку. Хоч тут час і співпадає з подіями у другій книзі, але герої нам ще абсолютно не відомі. І це збиває з пантелику. Мою увагу тримало те, що мені дуже до вподоби стиль авторки і я розуміла, що цих героїв ми ще побачимо у майбутньому. Але абсолютно не шкодую, що прочитала її зараз.
December 21, 2020
This is my favorite of the Outlander spin-off novellas. Minnie and Hal are not major characters in the main series, but their backstory here is so good! I like Hal in this story nearly as much as I like John, and that's saying a lot since John is one of my most favorite characters from the entire series. :)
November 26, 2020
This is one of my all time favorite novellas written by Herself. I wanted more of Hal and Minnie after the last page. This story made me see Hal in a whole new perspective. Didn’t care for him too much in the Big Books. I now have a new appreciation for him.
March 25, 2022
I decided to soldier on with the complete Outlander series. So, I'm reading all the big books, novels, novellas and short stories - including Lord John's mini-saga - in chronological order. The only purpose of this story is to show how Hal and Minnie first met and fell in love, and as such, it should only work as a peripheral one. As part of the extended family of Lord John Grey, they are passably relevant - at one point or another - to the lives of the main characters of the Outlander intricate and apparently unending plot. Unexpectedly this is a delicious little piece of fiction for those who, like me, love a tale full of delectable details that mostly are immaterial for the bigger picture.
This book gives the reader a reasonably good chance to better understand Hal's behaviour in previous and later books on the series, as well as showing how absolutely competent and irremediably cute is his Minerva. It also gives out a little more about the friendship between Harry Quarry and His Grace, the Duke of Pardloe, and I like Quarry a lot, as comic relief but not only. Quick and light, full of intrigue, a compelling historical background, a pinch of insipient erotica carefully inserted and voila: it's a good piece of Outlander material.
PS: If you are the kind of reader annoyed by timeline accuracy - i.e. characters' ages and chronology - there's a minor discrepancy that might "discommode" you (DG even mentions it in her end of book note).
This book gives the reader a reasonably good chance to better understand Hal's behaviour in previous and later books on the series, as well as showing how absolutely competent and irremediably cute is his Minerva. It also gives out a little more about the friendship between Harry Quarry and His Grace, the Duke of Pardloe, and I like Quarry a lot, as comic relief but not only. Quick and light, full of intrigue, a compelling historical background, a pinch of insipient erotica carefully inserted and voila: it's a good piece of Outlander material.
PS: If you are the kind of reader annoyed by timeline accuracy - i.e. characters' ages and chronology - there's a minor discrepancy that might "discommode" you (DG even mentions it in her end of book note).
July 2, 2021
A Fugitive Green is full of action and thought. A lot of things happen in a short space.
In Diana Gabaldon’s ‘big books,’ Hal isn’t a super loveable character. He’s honourable, loyal, and loves his family, but he doesn’t inspire any great emotion. A Fugitive Green gave me a greater appreciation for Hal and I really felt sympathetic towards him.
It took me a while to get used to Harry Quarry as a nice 21-year-old rather than a lecherous middle-aged man.
Minnie was such an enjoyable character to read about. She’s independent, spirited, and sassy. I liked how most of A Fugitive Green was told from Minnie’s point of view.
While Minnie’s search for her mother was touching, the story she eventually uncovered about her conception and birth was disturbing. However, Minnie’s relationship with her father was adorable.
Check out my full review at www.travellingbooknerd.com/a-fugitive...
In Diana Gabaldon’s ‘big books,’ Hal isn’t a super loveable character. He’s honourable, loyal, and loves his family, but he doesn’t inspire any great emotion. A Fugitive Green gave me a greater appreciation for Hal and I really felt sympathetic towards him.
It took me a while to get used to Harry Quarry as a nice 21-year-old rather than a lecherous middle-aged man.
Minnie was such an enjoyable character to read about. She’s independent, spirited, and sassy. I liked how most of A Fugitive Green was told from Minnie’s point of view.
While Minnie’s search for her mother was touching, the story she eventually uncovered about her conception and birth was disturbing. However, Minnie’s relationship with her father was adorable.
Check out my full review at www.travellingbooknerd.com/a-fugitive...
October 17, 2022
How does she do it every single time?! How can Diana Gabaldon take a minor character I care absolutely nothing about and make them the protagonist of their own short story and in just a few pages get me to hold my breath over their fate?
"A Fugitive Green" was a complete delight to read, like everything else Diana Gabaldon has ever written.
I can hardly wait to read the next novel/novella/whatever comes out of her pen.
"A Fugitive Green" was a complete delight to read, like everything else Diana Gabaldon has ever written.
I can hardly wait to read the next novel/novella/whatever comes out of her pen.
January 12, 2021
I think I loved this book almost the best. Hal and Minnie's story was amazing.
November 5, 2021
An incredibly boring book! If this had been my first Diana Gabaldon book, I probably never would have read the Outlander series. I'm so thankful that I didn't start with this one!
October 31, 2023
I think this was a good edition to the Outlander series as a whole, it could have been a little shorter. But in all, an intriguing read to know a little more about some side characters 😌
September 16, 2025
I've learned that Lord John got his chivalry honest. This was a nice palette cleanser. I look forward to seeing Minnie and Hal in future Outlander books. To Diana. if you're out there. I'm adding "A Wrinkle in Time" to my tbr right now.
May 13, 2022
A Fugitive Green is a novella that is sort of a spinoff of the Lord John Grey series, which is sort of a spinoff of Diana Gabaldon’s Outlander series. It tells the story of the rather strange romance of Harold Grey (Lord John’s older brother) and his second wife, Minnie.
To begin with, Minnie and her father are living in Paris where Minnie, while appearing to be just the daughter of the house, seems to be serving as something of a spy for her father. She is part industrial spy and part political spy. Most of her work involves listening to gossip and closely observing people. Occasionally she will deliver a message. And normally, that is the most dangerous thing she is involved in. One of her father’s contacts in Paris is James Frazier – this is during the early days of the Outlander series when Jamie and Claire are based in Paris. But Jamie only has a walk-on appearance here, and we don’t see Claire at all.
Anyway, Minnie’s father takes a notion to send her to London to deliver some of his information and get her to observe and see if she can find any interesting information for him. He suggests that she should try to look for an English husband while she is there.
Meanwhile, Harold Grey, Duke of Pardloe, is in all kinds of trouble. His wife has just died in childbirth. And he has just killed a man he believes to have been her lover in a duel. This action looks as if it might cost him his position in the army.
The duke – he prefers to be called Hal – has a good friend who is looking out for his interest in all of this, rather like Hal usually looks after Lord John. Lucky for him. His friend meets Minnie somewhere, learns about her spying skills, and engages her to find out where the letters are that Hal claims to have found implicating the man he has killed in the duel.
Meanwhile, we get a glimpse of how the chaperone Minnie’s father has engaged is going about trying to find a suitable match for her. This is kind of interesting, as an insight into how such things were arranged at the time, although Minnie mostly finds her arranged meetings rather boring.
In the course of meeting the man she is supposed to be delivering her father’s information to, Minnie also accidentally meets Hal – a baffling encounter. Although not as baffling as the one at his house where they actually get together as she is trying to return his stolen letters.
To begin with, Minnie and her father are living in Paris where Minnie, while appearing to be just the daughter of the house, seems to be serving as something of a spy for her father. She is part industrial spy and part political spy. Most of her work involves listening to gossip and closely observing people. Occasionally she will deliver a message. And normally, that is the most dangerous thing she is involved in. One of her father’s contacts in Paris is James Frazier – this is during the early days of the Outlander series when Jamie and Claire are based in Paris. But Jamie only has a walk-on appearance here, and we don’t see Claire at all.
Anyway, Minnie’s father takes a notion to send her to London to deliver some of his information and get her to observe and see if she can find any interesting information for him. He suggests that she should try to look for an English husband while she is there.
Meanwhile, Harold Grey, Duke of Pardloe, is in all kinds of trouble. His wife has just died in childbirth. And he has just killed a man he believes to have been her lover in a duel. This action looks as if it might cost him his position in the army.
The duke – he prefers to be called Hal – has a good friend who is looking out for his interest in all of this, rather like Hal usually looks after Lord John. Lucky for him. His friend meets Minnie somewhere, learns about her spying skills, and engages her to find out where the letters are that Hal claims to have found implicating the man he has killed in the duel.
Meanwhile, we get a glimpse of how the chaperone Minnie’s father has engaged is going about trying to find a suitable match for her. This is kind of interesting, as an insight into how such things were arranged at the time, although Minnie mostly finds her arranged meetings rather boring.
In the course of meeting the man she is supposed to be delivering her father’s information to, Minnie also accidentally meets Hal – a baffling encounter. Although not as baffling as the one at his house where they actually get together as she is trying to return his stolen letters.
January 9, 2022
Was It Me?
I am in love with the Outlander series, and picked this novella up because it was listed as part of the same. The time frame is the same, and a couple of characters overlapped. But honestly, I spent more time confused than anything else.
I didn't even really connect with these characters and almost stopped listening before the end. But I admire this author's work so much, I felt there was a good reason for this story to be placed where it was. So I continued. I'm glad I stayed with it, and I'm sure I'll appreciate this insight as the series continues. But based on its own merit, this story is a mere shadow of the depth and complexity of the other books in the series.
I am in love with the Outlander series, and picked this novella up because it was listed as part of the same. The time frame is the same, and a couple of characters overlapped. But honestly, I spent more time confused than anything else.
I didn't even really connect with these characters and almost stopped listening before the end. But I admire this author's work so much, I felt there was a good reason for this story to be placed where it was. So I continued. I'm glad I stayed with it, and I'm sure I'll appreciate this insight as the series continues. But based on its own merit, this story is a mere shadow of the depth and complexity of the other books in the series.
May 18, 2020
I think it is wonderful that Gabaldon has written short stories and novels of her minor characters from the Outlander series. This certainly enhances the reality of the stories. Even minor characters would be main characters in their OWN life, now wouldn’t they? This also enhances our visualization of life during the era of the novels. As usual, her writing captures my attention and doesn’t let go until the period of the last sentence. She has a skill that extends in many directions and doesn’t appear to become mired in the same old story line.
January 11, 2021
This book was a bore fest! Plot was promising at first, but then quickly went down hill. Way too much description about random plants, I’m pretty sure it went on for a least 10 pages! If you have read it I’m sure you remember the chapter I’m referring to! I wanted to give up on this book, but by the time I made that decision I was more than half way through. I just pushed through...
Needless to say I didn’t like it. It was just boring.
It added nothing to the Outlander Series as a whole for me. I went into this book wanting to love it, but came out on the other side of disappointing!
Needless to say I didn’t like it. It was just boring.
It added nothing to the Outlander Series as a whole for me. I went into this book wanting to love it, but came out on the other side of disappointing!
March 23, 2024
I did start off enjoying this novella more than I expected given that I didn’t think I would care about these relatively minor characters in the Outlander universe. The issue (and I can’t believe I’m about to say this about something written by Diana Gabaldon) is that it should have been longer. It should have just been a novel in and of itself. It seemed like we got some good development at the beginning, but then as soon as Hal catches Minnie in the middle of the act, everything went way too fast and felt incredibly rushed.
May 12, 2020
I LOVED reading more about Minnie and Hal, particularly because Hal is one of those characters, like his brother John, who just has things happen to him - but he's a bit more sedate about it.
My personal favourite is him walking in on Minnie in his library and politely asking her what she's doing when she's clearly doing something she shouldn't be hahah!
And a guest appearance by Himself doesn't hurt, either.
My personal favourite is him walking in on Minnie in his library and politely asking her what she's doing when she's clearly doing something she shouldn't be hahah!
And a guest appearance by Himself doesn't hurt, either.
October 19, 2021
Interesting title, though I am not sure how it relates back. There was an authors note about a character I had never heard of, though I think this one is too removed from the main story line for me to recall. Maybe they only appear in the books, which I have never read. I did appreciate the strong line of feminism that went throughout the book from the main character.
June 10, 2024
Minnie & Hal have a great story! This adds a lot of context to the main novels. The only issue I had with the audio specifically was it seemed to cut off at the end of a few chapters. It’s hard to know whether it was intentional(one of the times he fainted, so fairly sure that was intentional) without the hard copy. The author’s note is read by Diana which was awesome!
January 15, 2025
This was alright, I really liked Minnie she seems to be a lot of fun. how they ended up together seemed a bit rushed and I wanted a bit of a love story but for a side characters book its was good. I'm just obsessed with Lord John so anytime that that Hal talked about his brother I blushed a bit. Also only 1 cameo of Jamie (no Claire) for about 2 seconds.
July 26, 2019
I stood up past 2 a.m. to finish this one. Minnie is a fun, smart, and enjoyable character. I have read all the 8 main Outlander novels, so I liked reading about a younger Hal Grey, never really knew his story before. Well worth a read, and deserving of the 5 stars I gave it!
April 19, 2021
Ok, I'm not sure why I finished this novella because I was having a hard time figuring out where it fit in the Outlander series and why it was even written. Luckily I stayed with it and it was explained in the last few pages. Not sure it was needed but it was somewhat entertaining.
September 14, 2019
4.5 stars
October 24, 2023
Loved!!!!! Hal and Minnie were meant to be together! Intriguing back story!
December 12, 2023
Quick read. Got more into the story at the end, and then, boom, it was done.
August 13, 2024
This one did not vibe with me
March 17, 2022
"Ein Künstler hatte ihr einmal erzählt, dass Grün eine flüchtige Farbe war, eine Vorstellung, die sie entzückte."
"Bücher hatten immer etwas zu sagen, das über die Worte in ihrem Inneren hinausging."
Oh, Minnie. Eine der interessantesten Nebenfiguren und Mitglied der Familie Grey.
"Bücher hatten immer etwas zu sagen, das über die Worte in ihrem Inneren hinausging."
Oh, Minnie. Eine der interessantesten Nebenfiguren und Mitglied der Familie Grey.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 244 reviews