A Rip Through Time

Kelley Armstrong

Historical Science Fiction

In this series debut from New York Times bestselling author Kelley Armstrong, 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.

Outlander meets The Alienist in Kelley Armstrong’s A Rip Through Time, the first book in this utterly compelling series, mixing romance, mystery, and fantasy with thrilling results.

-Excerpt taken from Goodreads.

Check Goodreads to see the book’s ratings.

My Opinion

3.5 out of 5 stars (3.5 / 5) I love a book that breaks right into the story! It interested me right away. Mallory is attacked at the same place a woman is attacked 150 years prior. Somehow, Mallory ends up in the other woman’s body and time period.

I loved the mystery of the time travel and if she switched time periods, did the other woman also? It was great seeing her acclimate to 1869 where she was “lucky” to have her position of house maid. Even better, her boss moonlights as a medical examiner at night and is a funeral director by day. She was able to use her detective work from 2019 to help him with autopsies and murders.

I always love the forensic aspect of murders and deaths and this was no different. The added element of Dr. Gray experimenting and learning along the way was a great addition. The comparison of forensic details from modern time to 150 yrs prior was fascinating.

While I enjoyed this one, it was easy to put down.  It didn’t grab my attention quite enough to envelop me in the story. I also feel the cover looks very YA and this had me confused at first!

General content summary: some language, a grandmother is dying, cancer, a woman is attacked and has a rope around her neck, details of an autopsy, signs of torture on a body, many details of corpses and injuries and torture, attempted murder, details of dead bodies, details with murder attempts, killing with details. 

Thank you to Minotaur Books for the gifted copy!

The book releases May 31, 2022.

**As an Amazon associate I earn from qualifying purchases. 

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