Tag Archives: Victorian Era

Novella review: Kirkyards & Kindness (A Rip Through Time, #4.5) by Kelley Armstrong

Posted in Book Reviews by

Title: Kirkyards & Kindness
Series: A Rip Through Time, #4.5
Author: Kelley Armstrong
Publisher: KLA Fricke Inc
Publication date: December 2, 2025
Length: 158 pages
Genre: Historical fiction / mystery
Source: Purchased
Rating:

Rating: 4 out of 5.

Mallory Mitchell and Dr. Duncan Gray take a break from investigating murder to find the most famous dog in Victorian Scotland.

A year ago, twenty-first-century detective Mallory found herself in 1869 Edinburgh, in the body of Catriona Mitchell, a housemade working for Dr. Duncan Gray, pioneer in forensic science. Shortly after she arrived, she made the unfortunate acquaintence of Catriona’s former criminal mentor, Davina, an entanglement that nearly got Mallory killed. Now she’s about to meet Davina again.

Greyfriars Bobby has disappeared. The little terrier is already a legend, and Davina has made a tidy living showing him off on graveyard tours…while picking the pockets of her guests. When the elderly dog vanishes, Davina calls in a favor from her old student. Mallory agrees to help find Bobby in return for the one thing she’s been unable to get from Davina—the mysterious Catriona’s life story.

Kirkyards & Kindness is a sweet little novella that allows readers to spend time in the world of the A Rip Through Time series — without the heavy doses of murder and mayhem that take place in the full-length novels.

Quick explanation of the series: 21st century detective Mallory ends up falling through time into Victorian Edinburgh, where she inhabits the body of a beautiful but nasty housemaid. There, she works with her employer, undertaker/scientist Duncan Gray, to solve crimes while also adapting to life in this very different era and attempting to introduce forensics to Victorian crime scenes.

In Kirkyards & Kindness, Mallory and Duncan are called upon to find a missing dog — the famous Greyfriars Bobby, beloved by locals and tourists alike. The person who hires them is an old associate of the person whose body Mallory inhabits. In exchange for finding Bobby, Mallory will finally have a chance to learn important information about Catriona’s unknown past.

The mystery has a rather jaunty tone, as Mallory and Duncan traverse Edinburgh in search of witnesses and clues. While a crime is discovered and addressed, there are also some rather sweet moments, and it all comes together with a satisfyingly happy resolution.

The novellas in the series are by necessity “extras”, in that they don’t resolve any of the central storylines of the overarching series. Mallory’s future, some abiding unresolved questions, her future with Duncan — all remain to be addressed in the main books of the series. But for reader of the A Rip Through Time books, these novellas are a nice little treat that bridges the waiting time between novels, and it’s always enjoyable to spend time with these characters and enjoy their unique predicaments.

Greyfriars Bobby was a real dog! Bobby was the beloved companion of a police constable in the 1850s. After the death of his owner, Bobby refused to leave his grave, and became a permanent, much loved resident of the Greyfriars Kirkyard. A statue in Bobby’s memory was erected in 1873, and is a popular tourist photo op in Edinburgh to this day.

For more about Greyfriars Bobby: https://www.historic-uk.com/HistoryUK/HistoryofScotland/Greyfriars-Bobby/

Interested in this series? Here are my reviews for the previous books:
A Rip Through Time
The Poisoner’s Ring
Disturbing the Dead
Schemes & Scandals (novella)
Death at a Highland Wedding

Up next:

An Ordinary Sort of Evil (A Rip Through time, #5) — May 2026

Book Review: Death at a Highland Wedding (A Rip Through Time, #4) by Kelley Armstrong

Posted in Book Reviews by

Title: Death at a Highland Wedding
Series: A Rip Through Time, #4
Author: Kelley Armstrong
Publisher: Minotaur Books
Publication date: May 20, 2025
Length: 336 pages
Genre: Historical fiction/mystery
Source: Review copy courtesy of the publisher via Netgalley
Rating:

Rating: 4.5 out of 5.

Death at a Highland Wedding is the fourth installment in New York Times bestselling author Kelley Armstrong’s gripping Rip Through Time Novels.

After slipping 150 years into the past, modern-day homicide detective Mallory Atkinson has embraced her new life in Victorian Scotland as housemaid Catriona Mitchel. Although it isn’t what she expected, she’s developed real, meaningful relationships with the people around her and has come to love her role as assistant to undertaker Dr. Duncan Gray and Detective Hugh McCreadie.

Mallory, Gray, and McCreadie are on their way to the Scottish Highlands for McCreadie’s younger sister’s wedding. The McCreadies and the groom’s family, the Cranstons, have a complicated history which has made the weekend quite uncomfortable. But the Cranston estate is beautiful so Gray and Mallory decide to escape the stifling company and set off to explore the castle and surrounding wilderness. They discover that the groom, Archie Cranston, a slightly pompous and prickly man, has set up deadly traps in the woods for the endangered Scottish wildcats, and they soon come across a cat who’s been caught and severely injured. Oddly, Mallory notices the cat’s injuries don’t match up with the intricacies of the trap. These strange irregularities, combined with the secretive and erratic behavior of the groom, put Mallory and Duncan on edge. And then when one of the guests is murdered, they must work fast to uncover the murderer before another life is lost.

New York Times bestselling author Kelley Armstrong’s unique time travel mystery series continues to entertain as Mallory adjusts to life in the 1870s.

How to talk about the 4th book in a series? I’m tempted to simply say: Read this. It’s good! But no, I’ll attempt to explain why its so good, and why this is a must-read series.

Death at a Highland Wedding is the 4th full-length novel in Kelley Armstrong’s excellent A Rip Through Time series. (There are also a few novellas that serve as little side treats in between the main books).

In this series, Mallory Atkinson, 21st century homicide detective, accidentally crosses through a time anomaly and finds herself in Victorian Era Edinburgh, inhabiting the body of a beautiful but deceitful young housemaid. Four books into the series, the housemaid’s employer has accepted the weird-but-true fact that the person who looks like his maid is actually a highly trained, highly independent detective from 150 years in the future. Mallory has been “promoted” to assistant to her employer, Duncan Grey, an undertaker, trained physician, and lover of science and scientific inquiry. Because Duncan assists his best friend Hugh McCreadie with police investigations, Mallory is able to be of service — and introduces them to all sorts of 21st century forensic procedures not even dreamed of in Victorian times.

As Death at a Highland Wedding opens, Mallory has been living in this time period for about a year, and the household, along with Hugh, is taking a vacation of sorts. An old friend of Duncan and Hugh’s is getting married at his Highlands estate, and this is an opportunity for Mallory to experience yet another aspect of her new life.

At the estate, however, things quickly go off the rails. First, there’s an unpleasant groundskeeper who sets wickedly dangerous traps all over the property. There’s also some tension amongst the party attending the wedding, as former lovers and friends and connections intertwine in uncomfortable ways. The entire wedding is on the verge of cancellation once a dead body is discovered — it’s the best man, killed while out at night wearing the groom’s coat. Who was the true intended victim, what was the motive, and who could have carried out the violent act?

Hugh, Duncan, and Mallory seem like the obvious team to solve the mystery, but the young, inexperienced local constable has jurisdiction, and doesn’t want outside interference. When he bungles the process — badly — our trio undertake their own investigation on the down-low, trying to solve the murder while not letting the constable know what they’re up to.

In a house full of potential suspects and plenty of motives, Mallory et al have almost too many trails to follow. There are red herrings galore, and plenty of scandals to unearth — and naturally, the closer they get to the truth, the more they themselves are in danger.

Ah, this book is such delicious fun! First, the mystery itself is surprisingly twisted. What at first seems like a classic country house murder mystery is revealed to be that, but dialed up to eleven. I loved the fact that my guesses continually turned out to be wrong! Every time I was sure I knew who was particularly shady or dishonest or underhanded, something else popped up to steer me in a different direction. It’s a treat to read a mystery and not see the big reveals coming.

Second, and for me, the absolute best, is the ongoing delight of seeing Mallory navigate her new world. In previous books, it seemed that she’d have an option to return to her own time, but here, she’s fully convinced that she’s where she needs to be. There’s a slow-burn romance with Duncan, which is complicated for many reasons, and they’re both thoughtful enough to avoid bad decisions or letting their emotions cloud their judgment.

Then there’s the fun of Mallory using her 21st century police tactics in this setting — for example, explaining how (and why) to cordon off a crime scene or doing a rudimentary version of taking fingerprints. Seeing the cultures collide and the sharing of tactics and knowledge keeps the storytelling funny in dark moments, and gives Mallory a chance to shine and be appreciated for who she is.

As you can see, I love this series! As I’ve said in all of my reviews so far, you really must start at the beginning! Yes, this one might work as a stand-alone if you’re only interested in the murder mystery itself, but I honestly don’t think the book as a whole would make a ton of sense. The series is just so good — so dive into book #1, and keep going!

Now that I’ve finished Death at a Highland Wedding, I’ll be eagerly awaiting the next installment in the series. Highly recommended!

Purchase links: Amazon – Bookshop.org – Libro.fm
Disclaimer: When you make a purchase through one of these affiliate links, I may earn a small commission, at no additional cost to you.

For more in this series:
A Rip Through Time
The Poisoner’s Ring
Disturbing the Dead
Schemes & Scandals (novella)

Novella review: Schemes & Scandals (A Rip Through Time, #3.5) by Kelley Armstrong

Posted in Book Reviews by

Title: Schemes & Scandals
Series: A Rip Through Time, #3.5
Author: Kelley Armstrong
Publisher: Subterranean Press
Publication date: October 31, 2024
Length: 176 pages
Genre: Historical fiction / mystery
Source: Review copy courtesy of the publisher via NetGalley
Rating:

Rating: 4.5 out of 5.

It’s Mallory Atkinson’s first Christmas in Scotland. Victorian Scotland, that is. Also, as the twenty-first-century detective learns, Christmas really isn’t a thing in Victorian Scotland. It’s all about Hogmanay. But her boss, Dr. Duncan Gray, treats her to an early gift of tickets to the event of the season: a Charles Dickens reading. There, they bump into Lady Inglis—the lovely widow who has sent Gray sexy letters trying to entice him back to her bed.

Lady Inglis introduces Mallory to Dickens—the meeting of a lifetime—but in return she wants their help. She’s being blackmailed. Someone stole letters she wrote to another lover and is threatening to publish them.

Mallory isn’t sure what to make of Lady Inglis, but no woman deserves that, so she insists on taking the case with or without Gray’s help. Growing tension between them soon tells Mallory that Gray is hiding a secret of his own. She has until Hogmanay to uncover the blackmailer…and, hopefully, to put things right with Gray so they can enjoy the holiday together.

Schemes & Scandals is a holiday treat that ties in perfectly with the A Rip Through Time series. In the series, 21st century detective Mallory ends up falling through time into Victorian Edinburgh, where she inhabits the body of a beautiful but nasty housemaid. (Trust me, it makes sense if you read the series from the beginning).

Here, following the 3rd full novel in the series, Mallory is well-established within the Gray household, working as an assistant to undertaker/scientist Duncan Gray, who has a side gig consulting with the police force. Duncan and his sister Isla know the truth about Mallory, and value her modern knowledge of forensics and police procedures as they apply science to Victorian crime scenes.

In Schemes & Scandals, Mallory and Duncan agree to help thwart a blackmailer who threatens a former lover of Duncan’s. The case is clever, and provides plenty of opportunities for Mallory to explore new aspects of Edinburgh society.

As a novella, Schemes & Scandals must fit a full detective story into a condensed amount of pages, and it succeeds admirably. The mystery/crime story is lots of fun — and since this novella is holiday-themed, the mood stays mostly upbeat, without endangering our heroes or involving them in anything too sinister.

The Christmas and Hogmanay elements are nice touches, and the encounter with Charles Dickens is a highlight — especially seeing Mallory’s expectations bumping up against the reality of a sold-out Victorian-era author appearance.

I am treated — if that’s the word — to the most gonzo reading a A Christmas Carol ever.

Schemes & Scandals is a great addition to a terrific series. I suppose someone could pick up this novella as a stand-alone and enjoy it, but they’d be missing a ton of context and character development. My recommendation? Start at the very beginning, with A Rip Through Time. Trust me — you won’t want to stop.

Book Review: A Castle in the Air (A Stitch in Time, #4) by Kelley Armstrong

Posted in Book Reviews by

Title: A Castle in the Air
Series: A Stitch in Time, #4
Author: Kelley Armstrong
Publisher: Kla Fricke Inc
Publication date: October 31, 2023
Length: 306 pages
Genre: Time slip/ghost story
Source: Purchased
Rating:

Rating: 4 out of 5.

Portia Hastings has spent her life rescuing her younger sister from one scrape or another. Now, she has to step through time to do it, following Miranda from the nineteenth century to the eighteenth. Almost immediately, Portia is beset by highwaymen, which might be the most exciting thing to happen to her in a long time, even if she’d never admit it.

When one of the highwaymen is injured, Portia makes the inexcusable mistake of helping him-she is trained as a doctor after all. Her travel companions abandon her, and she’s left at the mercy of a highwayman who demands she continue tending to his compatriot’s wounds.

Portia soon finds herself at a crumbling castle inhabited by the destitute Earl of Ravensford. Benedict Sterling is in desperate need of money, and his solution is a ball, where a wealthy bride will win the title of countess, even if it does come with one thunderously ill-tempered earl.

Portia agrees to a scheme to help Benedict look like a slightly more appealing bridegroom, while she continues to search for Miranda. Then there’s the small matter of the castle, complete with a ghost intent on driving her out. But once Portia sets her mind on something, she’s not going anywhere.

There should be a word for the feeling of being satisfied and happy, yet also experiencing a parallel sense of heartbreak. Because isn’t that all of us at the end of a great book series?

As far as I can tell, A Castle in the Air concludes the 4-book series A Stitch in Time. And I don’t want it to be over! But truly, this has been a terrific reading experience, so I suppose I’ll just have to suck it up and embrace the Seuss motto:

OK, I’m done moping. Let’s talk about A Castle in the Air!

As an introduction, for those unfamiliar with the story so far, the Stitch in Time books comprise a timeslip/romance series, in which a lonely manor house on the Yorkshire moors contains a “stitch” that connects across time. In the first book, we see an unsuspecting 21st century woman cross through the stitch into the Victorian era, with all sorts of romantic and ghostly adventures in store for her.

(And yes, in addition to the timeslip element, these books are also ghost stories! A love story is at the heart of each book, but also… time travel and hauntings!)

The first book also introduces a mystery about a missing woman, Rosalind, who becomes the main character in the second book. Rosalind’s two sisters then take center stage for books three and four.

Which brings us to A Castle in the Air, starring Portia Hastings, the middle sister — unmarried, responsible, and devoted to her profession. She’s a trained physician in everything but title — Victorian women are not permitted to enter medical school, but she’s worked and learned alongside her doctor father all her life, and she’s skilled and knowledgeable in her field. To camouflage herself, she dresses plainly, hides her beauty, and tries to provide care to her patients without attracting too much notice from people who might cause trouble.

As A Castle in the Air opens, Portia’s younger sister Miranda has not returned as scheduled from a time travel quest, and Portia decides to go after her — even though Portia is the only one of the three sisters who’s never crossed through the stitch until this point. She hasn’t even been tempted — her life is just fine without time stitches to complicate things — but worry for Miranda drives her to cross over.

Upon arrival, Portia finds herself one hundred years in her past, and before long, ends up confronted by a pair of highwaymen — who are not quite what they seem. Called upon for her medical skills, she ends up at the falling-to-ruins castle of Ravensford, caring for the earl’s injured brother… and trying not to notice the beautiful eyes of the brusque, moody earl himself.

As you can imagine, underneath the broody exterior there’s a heart of gold, and before long, Portia and Benedict are much more than just reluctant companions. The plot isn’t only about the romance, however: The area is suffering through a terrible drought, dire debts threaten Benedict’s ability to keep his family’s lands intact and protect his tenants, greedy neighboring landowners threaten to swoop in, and a ghostly presence haunts the keep, posing a real threat to Portia’s safety.

Portia and Benedict have terrific chemistry, and the mystery of the ghost is a good one — plus there’s a ball to find Benedict a wealthy wife (yes, really), which is complicated by Portia’s presence, and there’s still the puzzle of the highwaymen to solve.

I loved how the plot ties together so many elements, incorporating Portia’s displacement through time with the adventure story happening in Benedict’s world. It all works very, very well, giving the characters a chance to shine while also keeping the action buzzing along.

As a wrap-up to the series, A Castle in the Air is quite satisfying (although I wish Bronwyn and Rosalind, the leads from books 1 and 2, had made an appearance). It really is bittersweet to finish this book and have no more to look forward to! Still, I’ve enjoyed each and every book in the series, and whole-heartedly recommend them all.

Interested in this series? Check out my reviews of the earlier books:

A Stitch in Time
A Twist of Fate
A Turn of the Tide

Book Review: A Turn of the Tide (A Stitch in Time, #3) by Kelley Armstrong

Posted in Book Reviews by

Title: A Turn of the Tide
Series: A Stitch in Time, #3
Author: Kelley Armstrong
Publisher: Kla Fricke Inc
Publication date: October 4, 2022
Length: 270 pages
Genre: Time slip/ghost story
Source: Purchased
Rating:

Rating: 4 out of 5.

In Thorne Manor there is one locked door. Behind it lies a portal to the twenty-first century, and nothing is going to stop Miranda Hastings from stepping through. After all, she is a Victorian writer of risqué pirate adventures—traveling to the future would be the greatest adventure of them all.

When Miranda goes through, though, she lands in Georgian England…and in the path of Nicolas Dupuis, a privateer accused of piracy. Sheltered by locals, Nico is repaying their kindness by being their “pirate Robin Hood,” stealing from a corrupt lord and fencing smuggled goods on the village’s behalf.

Miranda embraces Nico’s cause, only to discover there’s more to it than he realizes. Miranda has the second sight, and there are ghosts at play here. The recently deceased former lord is desperate to stop his son from destroying his beloved village. Then there’s the ghost of Nico’s cabin boy, who he thought safe in a neighboring city. Miranda and Nico must solve the mystery of the boy’s death while keeping one step ahead of the hangman.

It may not be the escapade Miranda imagined, but it is about to be the adventure of a lifetime.

A Turn of the Tide is the 3rd book in the A Stitch in Time series, which centers on a “time stitch” located in Thorne Manor on the Yorkshire moors. In each of the previous two books, a woman accidentally travels through the stitch and finds herself in a new world; in the first, Bronwyn travels from the 21st century to the 18th, and in the second, Rosalind does the opposite — a Victorian woman suddenly finding herself trapped in the modern era and unable to get home.

In A Turn of the Tide, Rosalind’s youngest sister Miranda takes center stage. A free-spirited nonconformist who secretly writes pirate adventures under a pen name, Miranda never met a mystery she didn’t want to unravel. When she overhears enough to understand there’s a time passage to be explored in Thorne Manor, she’s eager to try it for herself, dying to learn what life is like 200 years in the future.

Much to Miranda’s surprise, she instead ends up 50 years in the past. She’s traveled to 1790, and immediately encounters a pirate — but he’s not a stranger to her. Miranda has “the sight” and often sees and communicates with ghosts. Over the past few years, Miranda has often seen a sort of echo of this particular pirate, witnessing over and over again his death by ambush on a country road.

Miranda is convinced that this man is not a villain at all, but rather the legendary Robin Hood of the Bay, a pirate known for stealing from the wealthy in order to help the poor and hungry townspeople of York. And once she realizes that this is who she’s encountered, still very much alive, she believes it’s her mission to save him from the death she’s had visions of… whether he wants her interference or not.

A rollicking, swashbuckling adventure ensues, and naturally (or, as the French-speaking Nico would say, naturellement) a romance unfolds as well. Miranda and Nico evade the ambush, but find themselves on the run, pursued by myriad bad guys, and dealing with challenges such as a damaged ship, treasure caves, smuggling tunnels, and even a masquerade ball hosted by their enemy. It’s all quite breathless and dramatic… just as a good pirate story should be!

A Turn of the Tide isn’t quite as emotional as the previous two books — the characters are engaging and have well-drawn personalities, but Miranda’s tale is much less inwardly focused than Bronwyn’s or Rosalind’s.

Beyond the love story, there’s a mystery to solve, as the ghost of the cabin boy haunts Nico’s former ship and clearly died by nefarious means. Miranda and Nico’s goal is to stop the corruption that threatens the locals’ livelihoods, clear Nico’s name and remove the price on his head, and solve the cabin boy’s murder so his soul can move on. It’s all quite fast-paced, full of chases and near-misses and life-or-death scenarios… but given what a spirited romp the story is, it’s clear that all will end well, long before it actually does.

A Turn of the Tide is a very fun read, and as an audiobook, it’s a really enjoyable piece of entertainment. The narrator’s French accent as Nico is pretty awful at times, but after the first few chapters, I got used to it and stopped feeling annoyed.

I’m loving the series as a whole. After each of the three first books, a Christmas-themed companion novella was released — each of which follow up with that books’ main couple while also introducing teeny hints of what’s to come in the next novel.

A Turn of the Tide‘s follow-up novella is Ghosts & Garlands, in which Miranda and Nico spend their first Christmas together in 21st century London. The focus is mainly on their love story and their enjoyment of their ability to slip through time and experience new worlds together… but there’s also a ghost story to solve. It’s warm-hearted and lovely.

Now I have just one book left in the series (unless Kelley Armstrong decides to keep it going!), and I’m looking forward to starting it within the next few weeks.

The A Stitch in Time series is just so good! Highly recommended.

Next in the series:

Book Review: Disturbing the Dead (A Rip Through Time, #3) by Kelley Armstrong

Posted in Book Reviews by

Title: Disturbing the Dead
Series: A Rip Through Time, #3
Author: Kelley Armstrong
Publisher: Minotaur Books
Publication date: May 7, 2024
Length: 352 pages
Genre: Historical fiction/mystery
Source: Review copy courtesy of the publisher via Netgalley
Rating:

Rating: 5 out of 5.

Disturbing the Dead is the latest in a unique series with one foot in the 1890s and the other in the present day. The A Rip Through Time crime novels are a genre-blending, atmospheric romp from New York Times bestselling author Kelley Armstrong.

Victorian Scotland is becoming less strange to modern-day homicide detective Mallory Atkinson. Though inhabiting someone else’s body will always be unsettling, even if her employers know that she’s not actually housemaid Catriona Mitchell, ever since the night both of them were attacked in the same dark alley 150 years apart. Mallory likes her job as assistant to undertaker/medical examiner Dr. Duncan Gray, and is developing true friends―and feelings―in this century.

So, understanding the Victorian fascination with death, Mallory isn’t that surprised when she and her friends are invited to a mummy unwrapping at the home of Sir Alastair Christie. When their host is missing when it comes time to unwrap the mummy, Gray and Mallory are asked to step in. And upon closer inspection, it’s not a mummy they’ve unwrapped, but a much more modern body.

Kelley Armstrong is rapidly becoming a must-read author for me. Disturbing the Dead is the 3rd book in her excellent A Rip Through Time series… and I’ve also been head-over-heels for the A Stitch in Time series (of which I’ve read half so far). While both series have a timeslip/time travel element, they are completely different in tone and focus… and I’m loving them both.

A Stitch in Time has a romantic focus, with a woman slipping through a “stitch” that allows her to travel back and forth between our world and the Victorian era. Each book in the series has a different woman as the main character, but in all cases, travel back and forth is possible, and the characters must learn to fit in and blend in where they land, while also sorting out the complications of love across time.

In the A Rip Through Time series, a different core concept comes into play. 21st century detective Mallory Atkinson accidentally gets pulled through a rip in time during a visit to Edinburgh. When she is attacked and strangled in a dark alley — and the same thing happens to a young housemaid in the exact same place but in the 19th century — Mallory’s consciousness ends up inhabiting the housemaid’s body.

(There’s a lot more to it, so check out my review of the first book for more details).

Fortunately for Mallory, Catriona is employed as a servant in the home of eccentrics, a brother and sister who are devoted to science and social reform. Dr. Duncan Grey is an undertaker and the unofficial coroner of the Edinburgh police force; his sister Isla is a widow known for her independent thinking and her skills in the chemistry lab. Over the course of the first two books, they come to understand that the person they knew as Catriona isn’t actually Catriona any longer. They befriend Mallory, and her knowledge of 21st century police work and forensics quickly makes her an integral part of the household.

Here in Disturbing the Dead, six months have passed since Mallory’s appearance in their midst. Mallory has been promoted and is now officially Duncan’s assistant. Besides Duncan and Isla, police detective (and close family friend) Hugh McCreadie is also in on Mallory’s secret. Together, this group uses Mallory’s advanced knowledge to carry out investigations and apply a more rigorous scientific approach to Victorian era police work.

The action kicks off with an invitation to a mummy unwrapping. Egyptian artifacts and archaeology are all the rage, and Sir Alistair Christie is hosting a party to share his latest find. When the mummy is unwrapped, however, a very fresh corpse is discovered inside, and Mallory and Duncan find themselves once more in the thick of a complicated murder investigation.

The mystery is the driving force of the novel, and it’s a good one, with plenty of subjects, clues, motives, and red herrings. There’s also a very entertaining side plot about a pulp writer who’s started publishing lurid accounts of Mallory and Duncan’s exploits, much to their embarrassment (and Mallory’s annoyance, as the writer portrays her as an empty-headed girl whose main function is to look impressed — and sexy — while Duncan makes all the discoveries).

One of the many delights of the series is seeing Mallory being herself in the 19th century. Unlike the situation facing the characters in the Stitch in Time series, Mallory doesn’t need to make an effort to conceal herself or blend while amongst her friends. Yes, she must adapt to the time by dressing in corsets and adopting the appropriate social customs, but at home, her speech and knowledge are full of 21st century expressions, swearing, and casual sharing of unknown facts.

“Like people in my world who still think you can catch the common cold — or catarrh — by going out in cold weather, despite the fact we’ve known for generations that it’s caused by a virus.”

“Catarrh is caused by… what?” Gray says.

“Whoops. Sorry. Spoilers. Moving right along…”

She’s just so much fun, and scenes of her with Isla and Duncan are always a delight.

He opens his hand to reveal a derringer pistol. I may let out the kind of noise others make on seeing a puppy.

There a shocking development in the latter half of the book that left me gasping and dismayed. I did not see that coming! The author does a fabulous job of making the situation (no spoilers!) vivid and real, and yet also manages to pull off a great resolution to this particular twist.

Overall, Disturbing the Dead is a fantastic addition to a great series, and I can’t wait for more! Highly recommended — but definitely start at the beginning of the series.

Book Review: A Twist of Fate (A Stitch in Time, #2) by Kelley Armstrong

Posted in Book Reviews by

Title: A Twist of Fate
Series: A Stitch in Time, #2
Author: Kelley Armstrong
Publisher: Subterranean Press
Publication date: October 5, 2021
Length: 288 pages
Genre: Time slip/ghost story
Source: Purchased
Rating:

Rating: 4.5 out of 5.

Four years ago, Rosalind Courtenay stumbled from the nineteenth century to the twenty-first, where she has been trapped ever since, leaving her husband and infant son behind. Now she’s found her way back.

The problem, of course, is how to explain her absence to her husband. Does he think she abandoned him? Has he remarried? Is he happy in a new life? Rosalind decides to don a disguise in hopes of answering her questions before showing up on his doorstep. Instead, a twist of fate has her mistaken for her young son’s new governess.

Rosalind has every intention of revealing herself as soon as August returns home from business. Until then, she’ll get to know her son, a quiet child who has inexplicably been abandoned by an endless stream of governesses. That’s when the hauntings begin. Rosalind has finally come home and something—or someone—doesn’t just want her gone. They want her dead.

I adored A Stitch in Time, the story of a 21st century woman who passes through a time stitch and lands two centuries in the past, where she reunites with the man who was once her secret childhood companion. In A Stitch in Time, we learn that William’s best friend’s wife is believed dead, after she set out riding one night and never returned. Her horse was found dead in the sea below a cliff — clearly, Rosalind had a tragic accident and fell to her death. But August has never accepted this as fact; despite the years that have passed, he’s convinced that she left him and their infant son.

In A Twist of Fate, we get Rosalind’s story, and it’s immediately captivating. Yes, Rosalind went out riding in the middle of the night, to retrieve the wedding ring she’d accidentally left behind in the kitchen of Thorne Manor. But hearing a strange noise from an upstairs room, in what was supposedly an unoccupied house, Rosalind ventures up to investigate, and falls through the time slip. Shocked and scared once she figures out what’s happened, she tries desperately to get back, but the portal seems to have closed. Alone in a strange world, Rosalind has no choice but to figure out how to get by, but she returns month after month to Thorne Manor to see if the way back has finally opened for her.

After four years and a chance encounter with William and Bronwyn in the 21st century, Rosalind realizes that her opportunity may finally have come — and it has. She manages the time passage, and is determined to get to her husband and son as quickly as possible.

On reaching August’s family’s country home, Rosalind is mistaken for the expected new governess. Learning that her husband is away on business, she takes this opportunity to spend time with her son and discover what she can about their lives, intending to tell August the truth as soon as he arrives. But complications arise, and Rosalind’s opportunity to reveal herself is delayed over and over again. Meanwhile, she spends time with her beloved boy Edmund, treasuring every precious moment, but fearing that she may be sent away (or sent to an asylum) if she can’t convince people of her true identity.

At the same time, Courtenay House appears to be haunted, and although Rosalind believes there is a ghost present, she doesn’t believe that the malicious tricks and nighttime scares she experiences are supernatural in origin. There’s a dangerous presence in the house, and it’s very much human in nature.

A Twist of Fate is an utterly engaging and absorbing story. Rosalind’s experiences are quite different that Bronwyn’s — she’s trapped in a strange world, separated from her husband and child, and although she manages to create a sort-of life for herself in the 21st century, she never stops aching for home. A true Victorian woman, Rosalind is also an independent individual, and so it’s quite fun to see her return back to her own time with some new-fangled ideas about motherhood, marriage, raising children, and women’s roles.

She and August truly love one another, but theirs was a marriage plagued by his irrational jealousy before her disappearance. I love that the author doesn’t reunite the two and magically erase all the prior troubles. Yes, they ultimately get a wonderfully romantic second chance at love, but they also have some hard conversations about their shared past, what went wrong, and what needs to change.

The mystery at the heart of the story — who is the ghost? who is the real threat? — is very well done, and had me guessing throughout. The unraveling of secrets and the revelations related to the mystery plotline are surprising and twisty, but fit together perfectly.

I loved seeing Rosalind’s time with Edmund, finding a way to care for and love her son even before he knows who she really is. They have a beautiful relationship, and it was also heartwarming to see what a loving father August became in Rosalind’s absence, definitely breaking with the time period’s societal norms regarding a father’s involvement in his child’s life.

I thoroughly enjoyed A Twist of Fate, and strongly recommend the series as a whole! There are two more novels (which I will absolutely read as soon as I can), and some Christmas-themed novellas that fit in between the main novels.

In fact, immediately upon finishing A Twist of Fate, I started the August and Rosalind novella, Snowstorms and Sleighbells, and will look forward to carrying on with the series. If you enjoy timeslip stories, lovely love stories, and a good mystery, then you must check out the Stitch in Time books.

Next in the series:

Book Review: A Grave Robbery (Veronica Speedwell, #9) by Deanna Raybourn

Posted in Book Reviews by

Title: A Grave Robbery
Series: Veronica Speedwell, #9
Author: Deanna Raybourn
Publisher: Berkley
Publication date: March 12, 2024
Length: 336 pages
Genre: Historical fiction
Source: Review copy courtesy of the publisher via NetGalley
Rating:

Rating: 4.5 out of 5.

Veronica and Stoker discover that not all fairy tales have happy endings, and some end in murder, in this latest historical mystery from New York Times bestselling and Edgar Award–nominated author Deanna Raybourn.

Lord Rosemorran has purchased a wax figure of a beautiful reclining woman and asks Stoker to incorporate a clockwork mechanism to give the Rosemorran Collection its own Sleeping Beauty in the style of Madame Tussaud’s. But when Stoker goes to cut the mannequin open to insert the mechanism, he makes a gruesome discovery: this is no wax figure. The mannequin is the beautifully preserved body of a young woman who was once very much alive. But who would do such a dreadful thing, and why?

Sleuthing out the answer to this question sets Veronica and Stoker on their wildest adventure yet. From the underground laboratories of scientists experimenting with electricity to resurrect the dead in the vein of Frankenstein to the traveling show where Stoker once toured as an attraction, the gaslit atmosphere of London in October is the perfect setting for this investigation into the unknown. Through it all, the intrepid pair is always one step behind the latest villain—a man who has killed once and will stop at nothing to recover the body of the woman he loved. Will they unmask him in time to save his next victim? Or will they become the latest figures to be immortalized in his collection of horrors?

Veronica Speedwell is back! This outing — another potentially deadly investigation with her lover and partner Stoker — provides everything fans of this series love: Dastardly deeds, scheming scientists, Victorian scandal, and lots of sexy bantering.

As she and Stoker happily work on their ongoing commission to catalog and restore their patron Lord Rosemorran’s vast collection of natural wonders, a new challenge comes their way. Lord Rosemorran has purchased a waxwork of a lovely young woman, and to entertain his rambunctious youngest daughter, wants Stoker to add a mechanical element to give the illusion of breathing, as seen in a famous attraction at Madame Tussaud’s.

The promise of a new case to investigate becomes apparent once Stoker starts his work and discovers that this is no waxwork, but the meticulously preserved body of a young woman who was once very much alive. But who was she, and how did she come to be in this condition?

The more Veronica and Stoker learn, the more questions arise. It appears that this may be the body of a young woman who was found drowned in a river some fifteen years earlier, but that fact does not provide clues to her identity or shed light on the mystery of how such an impeccable work of preservation was carried out.

The details of their investigation are as delicious as readers can rightfully expect in this series, as we descend into worlds of mortuaries, mad scientists, and questionable examples of *ahem* anatomical study aides.

Through it all, Veronica and Stoker remain as wonderfully intertwined and perfectly in tune as ever, enjoying their restorative bouts of “congress” (as Veronica calls it) while also engaging as equal partners at a time when women are expected to be submissive.

It has been my experience that the male of the species, though often thoroughly illogical, can — when encouraged to sit quietly and think hard — be guided into a position of sense.

Veronica defers to no one and never backs down. She’s a smart, confident woman of science, and demands to be treated as such at all times. She never hesitates to call Stoker out, including his tendency toward anti-social behavior:

“Thanks to you, I speak to entirely too many people, entirely too often.”

“Exactly. You were practically a hermit when I met you.

“I was not a hermit,” he said through gritted teeth. “I was a professional man with work that I was actually permitted to do rather than being dragged into murder investigations because I had not yet met a woman whose very raison d’être seems to be falling over dead bodies.”

Author Deanna Raybourn seems to be having oodles of fun with these stories and characters. Her descriptions sparkle, and the quips, insults, and banter fly with zingy style. Even little throwaway lines are pure delight:

“That is the most preposterous load of plangent poppycock I have ever heard.”

I do hope she’ll continue writing Veronica Speedwell stories for many years to come. Each year’s new installment is something to savor… but sadly, they’re such fast, absorbing reads that I come to the end almost too quickly. And now, it’s another long year of waiting for the next adventure!

I’ll wrap up with words borrowed from my reviews of earlier books in the series:

If you haven’t yet had the pleasure, start with book #1, A Curious Beginning. There’s a very good chance you’ll want to continue!

This series has become one of my favorites. Don’t miss it.

Book Review: The Poisoner’s Ring (A Rip Through Time, #2) by Kelley Armstrong

Posted in Book Reviews by

Title: The Poisoner’s Ring
Series: A Rip Through Time
Author: Kelley Armstrong
Publisher: Minotaur Books
Publication date: May 23, 2022
Length: 352 pages
Genre: Historical fiction/mystery
Source: Review copy courtesy of the publisher via Netgalley
Rating:

Rating: 4 out of 5.

Edinburgh, 1869: Modern-day homicide detective Mallory Atkinson is adjusting to her new life in Victorian Scotland. Her employers know she’s not housemaid Catriona Mitchell―even though Mallory is in Catriona’s body―and Mallory is now officially an undertaker’s assistant. Dr. Duncan Gray moonlights as a medical examiner, and their latest case hits close to home. Men are dropping dead from a powerful poison, and all signs point to the grieving widows… the latest of which is Gray’s oldest sister.

Poison is said to be a woman’s weapon, though Mallory has to wonder if it’s as simple as that. But she must tread carefully. Every move the household makes is being watched, and who knows where the investigation will lead.

The Poisoner’s Ring is the 2nd book in Kelley Armstrong’s A Rip Through Time series, and while there’s a murder-mystery plot that’s complicated and compelling, I think a reader would be completely lost if they try to start here without reading the first book.

But the first book was great, so why not start at the beginning???

To recap as simply as possible, the plotof A Rip Through Time has to do with a modern-day detective who gets pulled through a rip in time while visiting Edinburgh and ends up in the 19th century. Mallory’s inner self now inhabits the 19-year-old body of housemaid Catriona… and she presumes that Catriona must be stuck inside Mallory’s body in the 21st century. (There’s a lot more to it, so check out my review for more details).

Here in book #2, The Poisoner’s Ring, about a month has passed since the events of the last book. Mallory hasn’t figured out how to get back to her own time, so she’s still stuck in a strange time and a strange body. Fortunately, Catriona’s employer, Dr. Duncan Gray and his widowed sister Isla know the truth about Mallory, and accept her. Even better, they’re both scientists, and they’re fascinated by what Mallory can teach them about advances in forensics and chemistry.

It’s an odd and consistently entertaining juxtaposition. Mallory finds herself about 10 years younger than her true age, in a much more delicate body, stuck wearing petticoats and corsets, yet in full possession of her true skills and knowledge. She has to learn to defend herself in this weaker, daintier body, and must learn to curb her natural instincts in order to fit in, at least on a surface level, in this Victorian setting. Chasing a perp down the streets just isn’t ladylike and is sure to attract unwanted attention… not to mention just how challenging she finds running and fighting in a corset.

The plot of The Poisoner’s Ring centers around a series of deaths that appear to be murder by poison. There are rumors of a poisoner’s ring — basically, an urban myth about unhappy wives referring one another to a source for illegal poison which they then use to kill their husbands. Since none of the victims appear to be connected, it’s a clever scheme… but Mallory isn’t buying it. As she, Duncan, and Isla dig deeper, they discover all sorts of secrets and misdeeds, but unfortunately, Duncan and Isla’s oldest sister ends up implicated as well. As the saying goes… now it’s personal.

This book is a delight, as is the first in the series. There’s something so completely delicious about having this 21st century detective mouthing off to her confidantes, with all of her modern-day attitude and know-how coming out of the mouth of a delicate young (and formerly illiterate and untrustworthy) housemaid.

The murder plot itself is complicated, maybe more so than really suits my reading tastes, but that’s more a matter of my preferred types of fiction than a knock against this book. After a certain point, I stopped trying very hard to keep all the various suspects and conspirators straight, and just enjoyed it for the sake of seeing Mallory in action, as well as the other main characters, who are also quite interesting and fun to spend time with.

I love Mallory’s dialogue and her inner thoughts — so amazingly out of place for where she finds herself. Her wry observations never fail to amuse:

The public house is, like most things in Victorian Edinburgh, both what I expect and not what I expect. My visual renderings of scenes like this all come from Hollywood, where’ I’m going to guess that — unless it’s a mega-budget movie — there’s a standard-issue “Victorian pub” on a soundstage somewhere.

… [T]here’s the boy just ahead of us, who has coming running from a shop a few blocks over, where he is employed to read the paper to the workers. They chip in to buy a newspaper and pay him a small wage to sit at a table and read aloud while they work. The Victorian version of a radio newscast… complete with child labor.

(I won’t give the context for this one, since it’s a bit of a plot spoiler, but I love the idea:)

It’s the Victorian equivalent of a deepfake.

The Poisoner’s Ring is a terrific 2nd book that builds on the promise of the 1st. Our main character continues to be a fish-out-of-water, surviving and thriving on her wits and 21st century know-how, stuck where she doesn’t want to be — but while stuck, making a life for herself. Because Mallory’s circumstances remain unresolved as of the end of this book, I can only assume that there will be more to come in this series, and I am here for it!

Highly recommended, and as I keep saying — starting with book #1 is a must!

Book Review: A Sinister Revenge (Veronica Speedwell, #8) by Deanna Raybourn

Posted in Book Reviews by

Title: A Sinister Revenge
Series: Veronica Speedwell, #8
Author: Deanna Raybourn
Publisher: Berkley
Publication date: March 7, 2023
Length: 336 pages
Genre: Historical fiction
Source: Review copy courtesy of the publisher via NetGalley
Rating:

Rating: 4.5 out of 5.

Veronica must find and stop a devious killer when a group of old friends is targeted for death in this new adventure from the New York Times bestselling and Edgar Award–nominated author Deanna Raybourn.

Veronica’s natural-historian beau, Stoker, has been away in Bavaria for months and their relationship is at an impasse. But when Veronica shows up before him with his brother, Tiberius, Lord Templeton-Vane, he is lured back home by an intriguing job offer: preparing an iguanodon for a very special dinner party.

Tiberius has received a cryptic message—along with the obituaries of two recently deceased members of his old group of friends, the Seven Sinners—that he too should get his affairs in order. Realizing he is in grave danger but not knowing why, he plans a reunion party for the remaining Sinners at his family estate to lure the killer out while Veronica and Stoker investigate.

As the guests arrive and settle in, the evening’s events turn deadly. More clues come to light, leading Veronica, Stoker, and Tiberius to uncover a shared past among the Sinners that has led to the fatal present. But the truth might be far more sinister than what they were prepared for.

Hurray! A new Veronica Speedwell adventure is here, and it’s deliciously complicated and captivating.

Veronica is a dedicated lepidopterist and natural history enthusiast, with a more-or-less accidental sideline in investigating unsavory crimes such as murder, impersonation, and other deadly pursuits. In partnership with her soulmate Stoker, who is perhaps more obsessed with taxidermy than might be advisable, she pursues solutions to complex conspiracies and usually manages to bring wrong-doers to justice — even if her definition of justice doesn’t always match up exactly with the legal system’s definition.

As A Sinister Revenge opens, Veronica is dealing with the fall-out of a MAJOR complication that came to light in the previous book, An Impossible Impostor. The impact on her relationship with Stoker is severe — he’s removed himself from London to engage in fieldwork, and has quite clearly asked Veronica for space. Yes, he still loves her… but is that enough?

When Stoker’s oldest brother Tiberius requests Veronica’s help, they track down Stoker to the forests of Bavaria, where Tiberius pleads for help. He’s received death threats, and needs Veronica and Stoker to figure out who they’re from — and prevent his own and possibly other people’s demise.

The action moves to Tiberius’s country estate, to which he invites close companions from his youth, all of whom may be either potential murder victims… or the murderer. With our power duo on the case, the house party will hopefully end with the discovery of motive, means, and the guilty party, and not with dead bodies to mourn.

As always, Veronica and Stoker are incredibly fun to spend time with. Veronica, as narrator, is full of snark and sass, highly intelligent, and fully insistent on her right to be her own person, and not give in to societal expectations about a woman’s proper place. Because she and Stoker are semi-estranged for much of the book, some of their usual spicy chemistry and high-octane banter are missing, but they still manage to work together, contradict one another, and focus on the case enough to keep the entertainment value high.

The mystery itself is a good one, combining tropes such as a country-house/isolated setting, a guest list where one person is sure to be the murder, and many, many red herrings. There are plenty of clues scattered throughout, but also quite a bit of misdirection and false leads. I was kept guessing throughout the book, and found the unraveling of secrets and eventual big reveal of the whodunit very clever and very, very well done.

I always love seeing Veronica in action, and adore her independence, risk-taking, and sense of adventure. I also love her whole-hearted embrace of the importance of physical love as well as romantic love (or as she puts it: “Physical congress, I have often observed, is as revivifying to the spirt as to the body”.)

The writing in this series is utterly delightful — this book includes such terrific vocab words as “omnificent”, “rampageous”, “rumbustious” “cicerone”, “thaumatrope”, “vellicate”, and more. The dialogue is quick and witty, and the characters are all quite distinct and entertaining.

Eight volumes in, the Veronica Speedwell mysteries remain energetic, clever, and enchanting. In A Sinister Revenge, we get a captivating mystery plot as well as terrific character dynamics. Once again, I read the newest release much too quickly, and now face the long, long wait for another new book!

I’ll end with the same advice I’ve included in my reviews of every book in this series: If you haven’t yet had the pleasure, start with book #1, A Curious Beginning. There’s a very good chance you’ll want to continue!

This series has become one of my favorites. Don’t miss it.