“A Rip Through Time” (Rip Through Time #1) by Kelley Armstrong ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Genre: Time Travel/Historical Fiction. Location: Edinburgh, Scotland. Time: 1869.

THE SERIES: Time travel plus mysteries. Mallory Atkinson is a modern-day homicide detective stuck in Victorian Scotland. In 1869, she inhabits the body of housemaid and thief Catriona Mitchell. Mostly, she just wants to get home to 2019.

THIS BOOK: MAY 20, 1869: Housemaid Catriona Mitchell (19) is enjoying her half day off, until she’s strangled and left for dead. MAY 20, 2019: Vancouver, Canada homicide detective Mallory Atkinson (30) visits her grandmother in Edinburgh. She goes jogging, hears a woman in distress, runs down an alley, is attacked, strangled, and loses consciousness…exactly 150 years after Catriona was strangled there.

When Mallory wakes up in Catriona’s body, she finds she is housemaid to Dr Duncan Gray, undertaker/part-time medical examiner. She needs to stop reaching for her phone to take notes! Duncan has a case similar to her attack. Mallory hopes catching the murderer will take her back to 2019.

Author Armstrong spins time travel with mystery, romance, and historical fiction. Her clever plot and detailed prose bring Victorian times alive. (Mallory considered herself in great shape until she did dawn-to-dusk housework in a 4-story Victorian home.)

Armstrong is known for likable, slightly snarky lead characters, and this book continues that tradition. Mallory is a modern-day outspoken feminist stuck in a Victorian body and clothing. One reason Armstrong is a favorite of mine is her inclusion of diverse characters: The well educated, professional Dr Duncan Gray is a person of color-rare in 1800s Scotland. His sister Isla is a chemist not allowed to work as one because of her gender. Isla hires household staff with criminal backgrounds, such as Simon, a gay man arrested for dressing in drag.

If you’re a Kelly Armstrong fan, of course you’ll read this! If Kelley is new to you, but you love the Outlander series or similar, read this! It’s 5 stars from me 🌵📚💁🏼‍♀️Thank you to Minotaur Press and Kelley Armstrong for this copy.

This was a great book. I loved every paragraph, every sentence and every word of this masterpiece! I read it in 12 hours, which is a lot for me to do! It had everything and more laid out in the novel! I sure hope There is more to come from this author! I am totally hooked!

A Rip Through Time by Kelley Armstrong

This is starting out as such a fantastic series. Imagine you are attacked in an alley and when you come to you are 1. In a body that is not your own and 2. In a different time, one where women are treated very differently than they are today.
This is exactly what happens to Mallory. One moment, she is a respected detective in the present time and the next she is in the body of a questionable housemaid.
And what happened to her body in the present time? Is the housemaid in her body manipulating her family and friends? Such a great premise. Five stars.

First of all (laughs) for a majority of this book, I assumed it was a stand alone novel and it wasn't until 75% into the book that I realized it was, in fact, the first book in a series. Because of this, not everything gets resolved at the end of A Rip Through Time. I wouldn't say it is a cliffhanger exactly but you are definitely left with some unanswered/unresolved things.

Besides that, I had no real complaints about the book. Perhaps it was slow in some spots but all in all, it was a great story filled with characters I found entertaining.

And now that I know it is a series, I will happily wait for the next book to find out what happens to these entertaining characters.

In this enthralling murder mystery with a unique twist set against the backdrop of 2019 Edinburgh, Mallory, a seasoned 30-year-old homicide detective, experiences an unforeseen journey when a heroic rescue during a routine coffee break thrusts her into the unfamiliar territory of 1869. Inhabiting the body of 19-year-old housemaid Catriona, Mallory grapples with the challenges of concealing her true identity, adding depth to the narrative as she fakes memory loss to navigate the complexities of this new timeline. As Mallory builds alliances, ponders the consequences of her actions, and lays the groundwork for future endeavors, this captivating series opener seamlessly weaves together elements of time travel, mystery, and historical fiction, immersing readers in a rich and multi-layered narrative.

Due to this being published by an imprint in the the SMP brand I will not be leaving a review until they choose to take a better stance.

Special thanks to St. Martins Press, Minotaur Books and NetGalley for this e-arc to be reviewed.

I've learned you can't go wrong with a book written by Kelley Armstrong. This one was no exception.

I enjoyed A Rip Through Time. Mallory is trying to solve a murder mystery that resulted in her time travel where she is trying to solve several murder mysteries, while at the same time trying to find a way back home to her family and her dying grandmother. What a ride.
A fantastic read - so much so that I'm already reading book 2 and plan to continue the series.

This is a time travel mystery, when homicide detective Mallory is sent back in time to 1869, inhabiting the body of a maid who was attacked. As with all time travel (at least for me), I needed to suspend any questioning about how things would really work. And I enjoyed the ride.

Dr. Duncan Gray is investigating a series of murders, and Mallory volunteers to help. My favorite part of the book is seeing how this work could be done so long ago, with so little technology. Speaking of little technology, I also liked how Mallory had to navigate being a housemaid, including waking up before dawn to start on chores. I'd sure want to google how to start a fire - and I'd need an alarm!

I somehow went into this book thinking it would be a single story, and I was happy to find it wasn't - but the setup of a new series, that I'm pretty sure it will be interesting.

A Rip Through Time is a highly pleasurable read that kept me guessing as Ms. Armstrong developed the story. Ms. Armstrong has kept each protagonist reacting in a period-appropriate manner while building an absorbing thriller. I' 'll be purchasing book two as soon as it's available.

Kelley Armstrong propels a Canadian detective Mallory through a Rip in Time 150 years to Edinburgh into the body of the housemaid Catriona who was also strangled. Unfortunately the strangler also travelled back. She works for an undertaker Dr. Gray who also helps the police sub rosa as a medical examiner. Catriona was a thief and blackmailer so Mallory has to clean up that mess; then, she gets involved in solving crimes back then. Intriguing premise backed by authentic period background.

I could not get into this book.

I received a complimentary copy of the book from St. Martin’s Press through NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

I do not think Kelley Armstrong could write a bad book even if she tried. Her stories never slow down and never leave you wondering what just happened.
When this young woamn is attacked, she will find herself transported through a "rip in time" to the scene of an attack commited 150 years prior. While she works to find a means to go back through time, she will use knowledge from then to solve crimes in the now. It's very interesting to see how she will balance the two timelines to make the past vs the future work to her advantage.

Though not my intention, I always overlook Kelley Armstrong when it comes time to select my next read. And I’m not sure why, because her back catalog is huge. She must be doing something right.

So last week I made a point to remedy my Kelley Armstrong neglect by squeezing in "A Rip Through Time," the first book in her time travel historical mystery series. And as expected, I liked it a lot. Set in 1869 Edinburgh, the story features a modern-day homicide detective named Mallory who travels back in time and finds herself caught up in a Victorian murder investigation.

It's evident that Armstrong has years of experience as a writer. "A Rip Through Time" is a well-crafted mystery, one made even more entertaining by Mallory’s time travel. But this aspect does require a good amount of setup, resulting in the mystery being slow to unfold as Armstrong allows Mallory to adjust to her new surroundings.

Despite the book’s slower pace, I found it immersive. Mallory’s struggle to settle herself in 1869 Scotland felt realistic and also made way for some humorous moments. There are hints of a future romance that I would like to see play out, too.

Now, if only I can persuade myself to pick up Book #2, "The Poisoner's Ring." I’d like to, and I have every intention to. But I’m a fickle series reader and there’s never a guarantee I’ll come back for more.


My sincerest appreciation to Kelley Armstrong, Minotaur Books, and NetGalley for the digital review copy. All opinions included herein are my own.

Kelley Armstrong is an outstanding author and 'A Rip Through Time' is a terrific new series based on time travel of Detective Mallory Atkinson back to Victorian Scotland to work with medical examiner Dr Gray. Atkinson inhabits the body of housemaid Catriona Mitchell but retains her knowledge and helps Gray solve a case. All the characters are well written and Atkinson is a strong protagonist, real with flaws and strengths. She works well with Gray but also must be careful about how she speaks and interacts with everyone in the house. This is one of her best series!

A Rip Through Time is the first in a series. If you enjoy this one, The Poisoner’s Ring is also out now.

This book is a bit different from my usual reads. In some ways, it brings the Outlander series to mind (although I have not read most of those books). What they have in common is a main character who goes from the present into a full life in an earlier period.

In this novel, a Canadian detective, Mallory, travels to Scotland in order to see her dying grandmother. In a way that can only happen in fiction, Mallory travels through time and finds herself in the body of Catriona, a maid in an 1869 household.

What ensues involves mystery, and murder. Will Mallory be able to make use of her skills from both lives to bring someone to justice? Read this one to find out. Along the way, enjoy a visit to Edinburgh in an earlier time and watch Mallory’s relationship with a certain Dr. Gray. All in all, an entertaining read.

Many thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for this title. All opinions are my own.

This title was published in 2022.

I love Kelley Armstrong! Here we have time travel, murder, mystery, villains and danger - what a fun read! Looking forward to the new books in this series.

A Rip Through Time is a historical mystery with a time travel element and a bit of a romance. Overall, this book was just an okay read for me.

I was interested in the characters and the setting and the time travel aspect of this mystery novel had me intrigued, but the writing style, especially in the first significant portion of the novel, kept me from getting too invested and kind of put me off a bit.

I didn't particularly like the way in which I felt the author was explaining things down to the reader, like with the time travel aspect of the novel, the differences in crime solving methods available to the characters had to be repeatedly pointed out, or even simpler facts about the time period in terms of daily living had to be spelled out for the reader. Some of these were unnecessary details that didn't needed to be pointed out to the reader. For me, the repeated occurrence of this took me out of the reading and made it hard for me to really get into this book.

I enjoyed the mystery, but I got a bit lost with the jumping around between characters in the second half when Mallory was trying to solve the crime and I started to lose interest a bit, but things seemed to get back on track again and my level of interest in the reading returned enough to find out how the book ended. I feel like some of this book could have been tidied up and some of the less important meandering unnecessary sentences could have been left out and the reader wouldn't have missed anything, and in fact, the book may have been better for it. This book was definitely written with a series in mind and if you want to any resolution with what happens for the main characters you are introduced to in book 1, you will need to continue the series.

Despite my feelings about the writing in this first book, I did like the characters of Mallory and Dr. Duncan Gray enough to feel that I will continue reading, at least for the next book, to see how it goes and hope for a better reading experience. If I didn't feel the need to finish the book to be able to write a complete review, I am not sure I would have continued reading to the end.

I should have loved this one, it had everything I usually adore…time travel, mystery, a female detective, historical Scotland. Unfortunately, this just didn’t hit the mark for me.

I found myself wanting to be shown more instead of told. I think the author could have trusted the reader a little more and not spelled out every little thing that was different in the Victorian age—it really took me out of the story, and I felt like a lot of obvious things didn’t need that level of explanation or attention.

It was also surprisingly violent and quite gory for what I thought was going to be a cozier mystery. Although I will say the evolution of forensic science was quite fascinating.

I have the second in the series, which follows on directly from this one so hopefully that one hits a little better for me than this did.

I started this book with such high hopes, but the longer it went on, the more I felt like a hamster on a wheel… I ran and ran but went nowhere.

I was initially drawn to the concept, characters, and setting, but those soon proved that it wasn’t enough to sustain me. I loved that it was a time travel crime story, and that it was set in London. I just felt like so much time was spent on the mundane that the plot fell flat for me. If the author spent about half the time explaining life in 1800s Scotland and instead spent that time focusing on the crimes, I would’ve been much more intrigued. I might check out the sequel and see if it’s more propulsive.

Thank you to St. Martin’s Press, Minotaur Books, and NetGalley for this digital ARC.

This book had everything I love and more. Time travel, mystery, fantasy, and Victorian Scotland. Mallory, a detective in our time finds herself in the body of a woman she ran to help. This author did a wonderful job bringing us into the past along with Mallory and made everything seem so real. I loved the setting, the characters and the mystery as it unfolded. I can't wait to start the next book in this new series by Kelley Armstrong.