Title: A Rip Through Time
Author: Kelley Armstrong
Genre: Historical Fiction, Mystery
Published: May 31, 2022
Publisher: Minotaur Books
Source: Kindle
Length: 352 pages.
Series: A Rip Through Time
Goodreads Synopsis:
A modern-day homicide detective finds herself in Victorian Scotland—in an unfamiliar body—with a killer on the loose.
May 20, 2019: Homicide detective Mallory is in Edinburgh to be with her dying grandmother. While out on a jog one evening, Mallory hears a woman in distress. She’s drawn to an alley, where she is attacked and loses consciousness.
May 20, 1869: Housemaid Catriona Mitchell had been enjoying a half-day off, only to be discovered that night in a lane, where she’d been strangled and left for dead . . . exactly one-hundred-and-fifty years before Mallory was strangled in the same spot.
When Mallory wakes up in Catriona’s body in 1869, she must put aside her shock and adjust quickly to the reality: life as a housemaid to an undertaker in Victorian Scotland. She soon discovers that her boss, Dr. Gray, also moonlights as a medical examiner and has just taken on an intriguing case, the strangulation of a young man, similar to the attack on herself. Her only hope is that catching the murderer can lead her back to her modern life . . . before it’s too late.
My Rating: 4 Stars
Mallory, a detective from Canada has travelled to Edinburgh, Scotland to be at her dying grandmother’s side. While out getting fresh air and take a break, she finds herself in an alleyway after hearing the sounds of someone calling for help, seeing glimpses of a girl. The next thing she knows she’s being attacked, waking up one hundred and fifty years in the past, in the body of the woman she saw in the alleyway.
Kelley Armstrong combines the genres she excels at in this book, a combination of Historical fiction, Fantasy, and Mystery. This was such a refreshing story to read. I’m a little mad at myself for how long it took me to finally read it. It has been sitting in my TBR for a few years now.
Her writing style as always is complex enough to describe the settings and actions taken by the characters well, but easy enough to follow so you can picture it. Every character is distinctive. I quite enjoyed our main character, Mallory, doing her best to try and blend in and pretend to be Catriona, and not quite succeeding, constantly having to blame her near death experience for her mishaps. Dr. Gray grew on me too. He has a certain charm that just makes you want to smile. His sister Isla is also quite fun.
“Still, hard work never killed anyone, right? By midday, I decide that whoever coined that phrase never toiled as a nineteenth-century housemaid.”
― Kelley Armstrong, A Rip Through Time
There were a lot of character introductions in this book, so it took awhile for anything of true significance to happen. Mallory learning piece by piece about Catriona, who she was, the type of life she led, and how she treated those around her took up the majority of the book. Mallory is trying to find a way back home, back to her time. Her best option is to try and solve the murder that has been presented to Catriona’s employer, Dr. Gray, an undertaker. Once Mallory finds a clue that she can act on in more than just an information gathering attempt, things really start moving.
I did also enjoy the little tidbits of information about Scotland during this time period, both informative and entertaining. Each piece fitting in with what’s going on seemlessly.
Without giving too much away, one thing that bothered me, is how readily certain characters accepted ‘Catriona’s’ explanation that she wasn’t Catriona but rather Mallory, from the future, trapped inside Catriona’s body. We learn that these particular characters are more open-minded than most people, which is great, but even the most open-minded person would struggle a bit with the concept. So I would have liked to see these characters struggle with that notion a bit more. It seems a bit convienant I suppose.
That being said the story overall is really well done and so that can be forgiven. It is fiction after all. I’m looking forward to reading more in this series and how the characters develop and if we learn about anything that happened in the modern world while Mallory is stuck in the past. If we will learn anything more about how any of this is possible in the first place.
Have you read this book?
What were your thoughts on it?
Are there any books you would recommend for me to read based on this book review?
Leave a comment below and let me know.
Happy Reading!
Other Reviews for this Author can be found here:
First Sign of Danger by Kelley Armstrong
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