As a long time genre romance reader, I have been a fan of the time-travel plot for literal decades. Well before Diana Gabaldon’s Outlander series became a publishing sensation across genres, other beloved writers had used it to great effect, often breaking genre conventions at the same time.

In this novel, the first in the eponymous series, we have thirty years old Mallory Atkinson, a 21st Century Canadian police detective, traveling back in time–exactly one hundred and fifty years–her consciousness occupying the body of Catriona Mitchell, a much younger parlor maid, who is employed at the household of a bachelor with great interest in the nascent science of forensics.

The story is told by her in first person, present tense, in such an engaging voice that I stopped the noticing the narrative device well before I was done reading the first chapter. By the time I started chapter two, I was fully invested–who needs sleep?

I have heard other readers sing praises over Ms Armstrong’s writing for years; as I am not a fan of Young or New Adult, I gave her work a pass for years. Then, a few years ago, this cover caught my eye–just look at it! After reading the blurb, it was a given that I would request an ARC (time travel? sign me up!), which I was very happy to get.

Beware: first person, present tense narration; phonetic spelling for a Scots accent; racism; sexism: xenophobia

As the novel starts, in the present, the reader is given a quick yet comprehensive snapshot of both Mallory’s character and her current circumstance. When, after a brutal attack, she comes to in Victorian Edinburgh, her skepticism and her attempts to “wake up”, back into her present, are very well rendered–as is her shock at finding herself in the body of a woman more than a decade younger.

Mallory’s discovery of crotchless undergarments is ::chef’s kiss:: perfect, and the fact that she’s out of her depth because of her modern reliance on instant access to centuries of knowledge via smartphones and the internet is the cherry on top. The lacunae in her historical knowledge, even within her own areas of interest, is a fantastic device to introduce the reader to the period while lending realism to her experiences.

“I conduct an otherwise through survey of the house and find nothing to suggest I’m not actually in the nineteenth century. Moreover, while I see many things I’d expect, I also see things that I don’t expect, but on reflection, they fit. Like gas lighting and coal stoves. Ask me to imagine this period, and I’d conjure up candles and fireplaces. I’m not sure I’ve ever given much thought to what came between candles and electricity or wood and oil furnaces, but gas and coal make sense.” (Chapter 4)

Upon meeting Dr Duncan Gray, Catriona’s employer and head of the household, Mallory first assumes that he’s part of a bodysnatching scheme; a conclusion stemming mostly out of her vague memories of the historical period. Her realization that he’s interested in what we know call forensic science, and of how the social and political realities of the time mean both he and his friend, Detective Inspector McCreadie, must engage in what amounts to a charade with the well-connected young doctor elected to perform autopsies, write the corresponding reports, and sign the death certificates, comes later.

Indeed, being a modern woman from Vancouver, Mallory doesn’t at first realize the significance of Dr Gray’s skin color in Victorian Edingburgh; much less how the circumstances of his birth affect his social standing, regardless of his education or income. Plus ça change, plus c´est la même chose.

“There are people of color, but I’d guess most are in service or working menial jobs. They are not doctors or undertakers, and not imposing and confident men wearing a gentleman’s attire. That is what makes people uneasy. Gray has stepped out from the box in which they’d like to keep him. Not that different from home, really.” (Chapter 9)

The sense of time and place is very well realized and seamlessly integrated into the narrative; as the characters live their lives and play their roles in the world they inhabit, they move physically through the city, spurring cultural shock in Mallory.

“This is true squalor, with the stench to match, the kind of place that reminds me how, only hours ago, I’d acknowledged that some people would happily take Catriona’s job. Now I see those people, for whom a daughter in service would the “the one who got out”–the pride of the family, sending home whatever shillings she could spare. (Chapter 10)

The writing voice is snarky, and Mallory’s observations are often sarcastically funny, without making light of seriously unfunny things, from her grandmother being in hospice and expected to die soon, to her current predicament trapped in a place and time in which she-as-Catriona, a young woman in service, is essentially a non-person.

“It reminds me of all the times someone told me I was lucky to have a detective partner who treated me the same way he would a male partner. Lucky? To have a partner who treated me like an equal? If I do the job as well as a man, should treating me like one be commendable? The fact it is only proves how screwed up the system still is.” (Chapter 13)

Due to the narrative voice, our perception of all the other characters is filtered through Mallory’s; even then, the author conveys their individuality and makes them three-dimensional through dialogue and action, as she processes her observations. Alice, the young scullery maid: younger protege or victim; Mrs Wallace, the housekeeper: humorless hag or justifiably wary; Simon, the coachman, honest friend or shady accomplice.

Mallory is an excellent protagonist; she’s capable and competent, but not perfect. She makes mistakes, both in her reasoning and in her impersonation of Catriona, partly because of all that she doesn’t know–both about the time period, but also about who Catriona is/was: innocent girl or conniving opportunist–and partly because of her emotional state.

Because, honestly, who wouldn’t be rattled out of their wits, waking up in a different time.

And so, a good part of her subconscious is busy just trying to keep calm.

Several times over the course of the novel, Mallory is forced to reassess her initial snap conclusions about everything and everyone, from Catriona’s position and character, to her employers’. While this self-reflection makes sense in the narrative, and as part of her own character arc, the phrasing is repetitive, and I wish dearly that an editor had caught it, because the writing is otherwise most excellent. Even prefacing at least one of these instances with “Once again, I realize/consider/reflect…”, would have changed the tenor from “covering the same ground” to “character growth” for me.

Speaking of excellent writing, in the character is Isla Ballantyne, Dr Gray’s widowed older sister, the author addresses something that always strikes me when readers discuss what they perceived as anachronistic or too modern heroines in historical settings: there have always been women (and other marginalized people) wanting equality and fairness; some of them may have never understood what their lives lacked–agency, freedom–or how to get it, but they’ve always existed.

The challenge for authors is to make these progressive characters fit in the historical period; show where the are comfortable and where they struggle against social and legal constrains, and how society accommodated, controlled, punished, or accepted them, depending on everything from social class to beauty, family connections to wealth.

“It is easy to look into the past and presume few women wanted a job or an education. Just those “special” ones, who “aren’t like other girls”. That’s bullshit.” (Chapter 20)

They–we–have always been there.

Because social progress doesn’t happen in a vacuum; it is not an spontaneous phenomenon, absent one day and present the next. Change only happens when enough people demand it, which in turns means that, to reach that critical number where it changes from talking to doing, from rumbles to protests, there must have always been individuals thinking along the same lines–chaffing against the same injustice, needing or wanting the same things denied to them–and sharing those ideas and aspirations with the people in their lives.

This is an excellent novel, and a great introduction to the author’s work; I immediately bought the second novel in the series.

A Rip Through Time gets a 9.00 out of 10.

I was browsing the publisher's listing on NetGalley and saw this as a "read now." Having read (and loved) other books by Kelley Armstrong, I saw it as a sign that I should start a new series.

What a ride! Armstrong does a wonderful job with time travel, but this one is quite different, as the main character, a police detective named Mallory, has switched places with a woman living 150 years earlier than she was. One aspect of the story is about taking on another person's identity while also adjusting to a new time period. One complication: the person whose body she's in isn't the nicest or most honest person. It's quite a change for a detective!

The secondary characters are fascinating - the allies and morally grey ones. There's also a nice bit of humor here, which is interesting when reading about murder!

This is a fun time travel mystery that will keep you turning the pages to find out what happens next. I'm not a big fan of the body-swapping time travel trope, but the story was interesting enough that I kept reading, and I imagine the series will get even better now that the character is established in the 1800s.

As a long-time fan of Kelley Armstrong’s Rockton series and now her Haven’s Rock series as well as a few of her standalone mystery thrillers, I’ve been wanting to check out her time travel stories for a few years now. There’s the Stich in Time series and the Rip in Time series and I’ve had the first installment of the Rip in Time series on my to-read list for a while now (Nov2022). One of my 2024 reading goals was to finally get around to some of the really great books that have been on my to-read list for a while. Now seemed as good a time as ever to finally get around to checking this book out.

The book summary just basically introduces the start of the story and most of the story revolves around Mallory adjusting to life as Catriona until she can leave as soon as she can, which is quite hilarious sometimes. I love it when a story can make me laugh, although I’m actually rather easily amused. Mallory’s attempts at trying to portray an illiterate maid as well as her slips of modern references were funny and entertaining.

What the book summary doesn’t mention is that Mallory instinctively falls into detective mode and role. It’s these absentminded moments that raise suspicions with her employers, Gray and Isla. It’s not long before Gray and Isla realize that something is VERY different about Catriona. Mallory passes it off as a result of her being attacked and nearly killed the night she was attacked. They don’t believe her and Isla becomes very wary around her, but somewhat clueless Gray blows off her strange behavior and her sudden knowledge of stuff that Catriona shouldn’t know as a maid. Gray starts to see her as a potential new assistant.

Most of the story revolves around Mallory/Catriona trying to figure out how to get back to 2019 as well as assisting Gray with autopsies. New dead bodies are discovered and Mallory believes the murders are by the same person who tried to murder her in 2019 and that he traveled back in time just she did. The murders pile up as well as another attack on Mallory/Catriona and it’s well into the second half that Mallory begins to develop a whole other motive for the killings. The ending is a lead in for the next installment.

I enjoyed this story and look forward to the next book. There were some characters that were better developed than others and the pacing kind of ebbed and flowed. I loved the storyline and Armstrong wrapped it up nicely and didn’t leave it with a cliffhanger, but rather a look into the next story. Overall, a solid 4star rating. I want to thank NetGalley and St Martin’s Press for sending me this eARC in exchange for my honest review.

#NetGalley #StMartinsPress #ARipThroughTime

Kelly Armstrong did it again. She found a way to knock her readers completely for a loop, sending them on a ride of a lifetime, when they think it's just not possible for her to do it any more. I've read all of Ms. Armstrong's Other World series, Darkest Powers series for YA, - that takes place in the Other World setting - Cainsville, Casey Duncan, and Haven's Rock. I've been looking forward to reading A Rip Through Time, and this book is everything a fan of Ms. Armstrong has come to expect from her, and much more. A Rip Through Time takes the reader from modern day North America completely across the Atlantic Ocean to 19th Century Scotland, something Ms. Armstrong has not done before in any of her books, which in itself was a surprise. When she had the heroine help solve a murder, in that time period, surprise mingled with a thrill that she was willing to do what not many authors are - bend history to create a story that her readers will devour in the span of one sitting. If you're not familiar with Ms. Armstrong's work, check this book out, this book is a great way to be introduced, and if you are familiar with her work, this a great way to make new book friends!

I have found my new favorite author! I loved this book. I love reading time travel books as well as murder mysteries. This one is a combination of both which had me hooked from the very first page. Mallory Atkinson is a police detective in the year 2019. She is the victim of an assault by a serial killer and ends up in Victorian Scotland, found nearly dead in the body of a Victorian maid but with all of her own memories intact. I loved the concept that she actually switched bodies when she traveled through time – or did she? Where is the Victorian maid? Back in 2019 in Mallory’s body? As Mallory tries to get used to living as a maid in Victorian Scotland and trying to figure out how to get back home, she also tries to help the police find her attacker without them knowing she is a time traveler and locking her away in an asylum. This is the first book of a new series, and I loved everything about this book – including the ending and can’t wait to read more of what happens to Mallory in Victorian Scotland!

4.5 stars

Really liked this book. The premise was something I had never read and it was really well thought out. I surprisingly liked all the characters, but honestly Isla is my favorite. I am super glad this is a series and I get to continue to read about this modern day, fictional, Sherlock Holmes team.

Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for my free copy in exchange for an honest review.

Interesting concept and reminded me of the tv series Quantum Leap, but this was much more engaging and fun! I also did not realize until after I finished this may be part of a series, so exciting to dig into what else these characters have been up too.

Detective Mallory hears a cry and finds a half transparent women being strangled in the alley. As she attempts to help she finds herself fighting with the attacker and blacks out as he attempts to strangles her. She wakes up 150 years in the past in the body of a young house maid who has also been attacked.

Suspenseful, intriguing and engrossing. The author pulls on heartstrings at the same time as describing roles in society. We feel Mallory’s frustration with the limitations of being trapped in the voluminous skirts while hunting for hidden killer.
The mystery is solid and smart and I’m excited to read the next in the series.

I’d like to thank NetGalley and Kelley Armstrong for the eARC of A Rip Through time! I am a huge fan of Kelley Armstrong; however, I don't like history or time travel stories… but when I say this story had a chokehold on me, I’m not kidding! I loveddddd it!! I’m officially convinced that there isn’t anything Kelley could write that I wouldn’t fall in love with. I look forward to more!!

I loved this story.

This is the exact kind of thing I wish would happen to me: Mallory is transported back in time and has to solve an attempted murder, navigate blending in while in a different era, and try to figure out how to travel back to her own time. I can't wait for the sequel! I don't generally like mysteries, but this one sucked me right in.

Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the copy of this ebook!

I have been thinking about starting this series for a while, but just had not been ready to jump into a new series yet. I saw the first in this series available as a read now on NetGalley and felt like it was a sign to just do it. I absolutely love everything I've read by Kelley Armstrong and this did not disappoint. A long time ago I was intrigued by what I thought the Outlander series may be. Time traveling? History? Sign me up! I got half way through that book because I was horribly disappointed waiting for some kind of action to happen. Diving into A Rip Through Time I found that it was everything that I had been looking for in that previous experience. It started off with immediate action, time traveling, crime, a mystery to solve, more action. I just loved every second of it.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an advance readers copy in exchange for an honest review

I great beginning to what looks like will be an amazing new series . I am generally not a big fan of time travel stories but this one was quite enjoyable

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for this copy of A Rip Through Time in exchange for an honest review! This is a fantastic book and an exciting start to what I feel must be a captivating series. If you're a fan of Kelley Armstrong's work, you have to give this one a try! I was immediately hooked and could not put this book down. I'm left only excited to start the next one in the series.

This book has all the brilliance I've come to expect from Armstrong's writing! Definitely such an original & thrilling story that I'd recommend to any fans of murder mysteries, books set in the Victorian era, or to anyone who is as intrigued as I was by the idea of time-traveling into a strange body. I don't read many time-travel based books at all, but I'm really glad I gave this one a chance. I did find the description oddly compelling despite my hesitations and if you're like me in that regard, I do really think you should give it a try! If you've never read anything by Kelley Armstrong before, I also think this series and more specifically this book would be a fun place to start!

A Rip Through Time is a well-done blend of a mystery/thriller novel, historical fiction, and a bit of sci-fi. I'm a fan of all of these genres and they definitely worked well together here. The stakes kept me turning page after page the whole time, needing to know what would happen next!

Mallory is the main character and she has found herself stuck in the past, in another woman's body. I think she's such a dynamic character that I really enjoyed as our narrator! I certainly appreciate her ability to cope with the unusual situation she's found herself in. I think the way that aspect was done could've made or broke this book for me. So I'm impressed by the set up to the main premise of the story and by how Mallory is able to keep me as the reader invested in her plight, instead of becoming frustrated or annoyed with her. And it's not just Mallory who I enjoyed! Every character in this book is well-written. Dr. Gray is such an interesting man who I can't wait to get to know better in future books. I'm interested in how his and Mallory's relationship will maybe evolve. I think my favorite character was McCreadie, who is someone else I'm excited for more of.

I always enjoy historical fiction and I think this will appeal to fans of that genre, even with Mallory's modern sensibilities always being a factor. I think Armstrong did a lot of research and her time spent pays off for me in how well-done the setting of Victorian Edinburgh was brought to life. The main thing this book is however, is a mystery. And that's something else I have nothing but praise for. There is the main mystery for this book and something of an overarching mystery involving the time-travel that has yet to be fully unraveled. This recipe makes for the perfect start in a mystery series!

4.5⭐️

Thank you NetGalley for the eARC!

What a fun book that kept my attention the entire way through. If you don’t allow yourself to get sucked into the “how” of time travel but go with the story, this one is fun.

Mallory wakes up 150 years in the past after being strangled in her time by a serial killer, and she investigates a parallel murder attempt of the body in which she inhabits now.

That sounds crazy, but if you convince Sherlock Holmes with time travel, you get A Rip In Time.

I enjoyed this mystery from Kelley Armstrong. I enjoyed the writing of this one. The story was different then Armstrong's other books, I really enjoyed this one, as a minor history buff myself. I was hooked from beginning to end. Kelley Armstrong's books never disappoint, this one is no exception.
I could see myself as Mallroy in this book. I enjoyed reading Mallory as a character in amongst the characters of 1800's Scotland. I also would mistake a timeline of some sort. I adored the household that she was thrust into as Kat.
I look forward to reading the rest of the books in this series.

Typically not into time travel or paranormal stuff but I gave this book a try. The jump between 2019 and 1869 make for an interesting dynamic in characters.

The ending was very good, so while I gave it a 3, I have every intention of reading the next book in the series. I can't wait to see how Mallory and Dr. Gray's characters evolve.

Loved reading the mesmerizing and engaging paranormal story. When Mallory, a homicide detective, is being strangled, she is ripped through time to 1869 into the body of a housemaid, Catriona Mitchell.
Read the highly recommended, wonderfully written, and riveting must read story. Can't wait to read the next story in the series by the phenomenal author, Kelley Armstrong!

I’ve had the absolute pleasure of reading and absolutely loving this amazing series!
A Rip Through Time by Kelley Armstrong is book one and the beginning of a phenomenal journey.
This entire series is so unique and the characters truly come to life. This book has an interesting premise with likable characters.
A compelling and intriguing historical mystery/thriller that will quickly draw the reader in.
I can’t wait to start Disturbing the Dead!

Thank You NetGalley and Minotaur Books for your generosity and gifting me a copy of this amazing eARC!

Thanks to St Martins for the gifted copy.

I absolutely adore this book (and the other 1.5 books in the series!). It’s Outlander meets the Alienist and I’m here for it. This genre bending, highly bingeable story is equal parts mystery (including whodunnit), thriller (there’re some close calls), sci fi (time travel), historical fiction (story is set in 19th century Dublin), and romance (there’s a smart but emotionally unavailable love interest).

I have so many thoughts on where I want the series to go and ideas for new installments - I absolutely cannot wait to get my hands on the next few books!!!