Outlander and Lord John as Crime Fiction

Fans across the globe are familiar with Diana Gabaldon’s bestselling Outlander series and the Starz television series that adapts it. Combining science fiction time travel and historical romance, the Outlanderuniverse has captivated millions with its detail and complexity. However, few readers or viewers realize how large an influence the mystery genre has had on Gabaldon’s plots, characters, and writing style. Her Lord John series of novels and short stories is obviously rooted in the crime fiction tradition, although it doesn’t play by all of the traditional generic rules. Even the larger Outlandernovels, though, contain at least one mystery in every book. This inclusion of the murder-mystery and other crimes is no accident: the author has stated her love of the genre and her deliberate use of it many times.
This collection of scholarly essays delves into the many connections between the world of Outlander and the world of crime fiction. It analyzes in depth, for the first time, the ways that crime and punishment, vigilante justice, and murder and mystery are represented in both the Outlander and Lord John series. Moving beyond the stereotypical romantic focus, this book demonstrates the variety and complexity of Gabaldon’s universe.

Erin E. MacDonald is a professor of English at Fanshawe College’s School of Language and Liberal Studies in London, Ontario. She has published books on Ed McBain and Robert Downey Jr., and her mystery companion book on Ian Rankin was nominated for an Edgar Award from the Mystery Writers of America. Her articles have appeared in the Journal of American and Comparative Cultures and Clues.

Edited by Erin E. MacDonald
Format: softcover (6 x 9)
Pages: 261
Bibliographic Info: notes, bibliographies, index
Copyright Date: 2025
pISBN: 978-1-4766-8915-9
eISBN: 978-1-4766-5398-3
Imprint: McFarland

Acknowledgments vi

Preface 1

Introduction: Outlander as Crime Fiction?

Erin E. Macdonald 3

The Numinous Corrupted: Supernatural Framings of Crime in Diana Gabaldon’s Lord John Stories Compared to Outlander

Kari Sawden 11

Epistemophilia and Landscapes: Claire Randall as Metaphysical and Literal Sleuth in Outlander

Katrina Younes 26

Fixing Those Uppity Witches: Witchcraft and Healing as Crimes of Femininity in Outlander

Racheal Harris 38

“A Fugitive Green”: Outsiders at Play with Convention

Roy Geiger 60

Living a Crime: Double Consciousness Follows Lord John as a Closeted Detective

Valerie Estelle Frankel 77

Lord John and the Age of Reason: Gabaldon’s Atypical Rationalist Detective

Erin E. Macdonald 93

The Personal and Political Motivations for Crime and Crime Fighting in the Lord John Series

Erin E. Macdonald 112

Crime Solving “Gays”: Anti–Stereotypical and Powerful Portrayals of Queer Sexualities in the Crime Fiction of Victor J. Banis and Diana Gabaldon

Süleyman Bölükbaş 130

Disguising the Gay Hero as He Combats Crimes of the British Empire: Slavery and Colonialism in the Lord John Series

Lisa Elwood-Farber 146

Yi Tien Cho: Chinese or Criminal? Race and Criminality in Diana Gabaldon’s Voyager

Justine Trinh 159

Crime, Trauma, and the Ethics of Jamie Fraser

Racheal Harris 175

Open Wounds: Decentering the Televisual Rape/Recovery Crime Narrative in Outlander

Jason Davids Scott 200

When Murder Isn’t a Crime: Exploring Vigilante Justice in the Outlander Television Series

Jaclyn Smith-Wilson 215

“As you’ve never seen it before”: Diana Gabaldon, Hoang Nguyen, and the Graphic Crime Novel

Suzanne Manizza Roszak 232

About the Contributors 245

Index 247