I enjoyed this more than I expected- I've had mixed experiences with this author in the past! The story is that a police detective is somehow sent into the body of a Victorian-era maid in Edinburgh. As she tries to pass as the maid, Catriona, she gradually realizes that perhaps she was not the only person transported through time- the person who was attempting to kill her when she was sent back may also be in nineteenth century Edinburgh.

I was able to suspend disbelief with no problem. An annoying trope that common in time travel books is that modern heroines always are surprised by the sexism of past times and try to change everyone around them through sheer force of sassiness. Our detective, on the other hand, spends a lot of time trying to figure out how to act as Catriona would and not raise suspicion. This isn't helped by her repeated discoveries that Catriona was not a nice person. Our detective (Mallory) works for a surgeon who has ties to the police department, and Mallory can't help but get involved with analyzing some crimes. She's lucky enough to have an employer who values her help.

I'd happily read more in this series!

"A Rip Through Time' is the first book I have read by Kelley Armstrong, but it won't be the last. I really enjoyed this book and read it very quickly. It begins in modern day Scotland, with Mallory visiting her grandmother who is ill. She is a police detective in Vancouver, BC. She attracts the attention of a serial killer in a coffee shop and later that night is attacked in the same spot as a housemaid 150 years before. She wakes up in the body of that housemaid and has to adapt to her surroundings while trying to figure out a way to return to her time. The book ends on a cliffhanger and I can't wait to read the 2nd one!

Kelley Armstrong turns time travel on its head in the first of a new historical fantasy series, wherein police detective Mallory Atkinson, in her most bizarre case yet, lands in the body of a 19-year-old, thieving, lying Victorian housemaid, whilst retaining her disciplined, 30-year-old, 21st-century mind. As she adjusts to her surroundings, scrubbing floors, emptying chamber pots and polishing silver, she tries to make sense of the failed murderous attack during which she appears to have slipped through the space-time continuum, bringing her attacker with her into Victorian Edinburgh, where he’s hell-bent on revenge ……and notoriety. To catch a killer, Mallory must get into his head.

What the novel lacks in historical context and atmosphere is more than made up for by the brisk pacing. The premise is unusual, but knowing it is fantasy didn’t help with the curious master-servant roles depicted. Mallory’s modern speech patterns, peculiar behaviour and lack of deference are perhaps understandable, but the master of the house’s ingenuous acceptance of her sudden ability to read and write, discuss complex scientific theories and offer advice about a ritual murder, were hard to swallow. However, accepting this as a given for the storyline, there’s lots of action and plot twists to keep the pages turning and a sequel is positively bursting from the pages.

Kelley Armstrong's A Rip Through Time is a page-turning mystery/thriller with a time travel fantasy twist! Mallory is a modern-day homicide detective attacked in 2019 and loses consciousness in the exact spot in Edinburgh a woman was strangled 150 years earlier. When Mallory wakes up, she finds herself in the other woman's body, a housemaid in the home of Dr. Gray, an undertaker in Victorian Scotland. Her employer also performs post-mortem medical exams and is developing forensic techniques that are barely in their infancy in that day and time. Being a detective, she has advanced forensic knowledge and investigative skills; however, her role as a housemaid (and a woman) has significant limitations in that era, notably how she would have garnered that knowledge. But, a killer is on the loose, and Mallory is drawn to Dr. Gray's case due to the similarities with her own, and it might hold the key to getting back home.
I so enjoyed Armstrong's writing style. The plot was intriguing, the mystery satisfying, and the world-building solid. The tension of modern Mallory trying to adapt to and navigate Victorian life without arousing suspicion added to the suspense. Vivid characters populate this world, not just the intelligent and likable Mallory. Isla is fabulous and perhaps my favorite! I hope future books in the series delve even deeper into early forensic science, which was fascinating. Such a fun read! Sincere thanks to Netgalley, St. Martin's Press, and Minotaur Books for the opportunity to review this ARC.

The story had an interesting premise, however, it is not original. It had a good beginning but seemed to drag and did pick the pace.

I have read and loved Kelley Armstrong books in the past. The ones I had read previously were PNR. I obviously knew going in that this would be different - but in an attempt to diversify my reading, I thought this would be a good bet.

Unfortunately, my reader tastes are very demanding and this didn't fit the bill. While it's smartly written, I really struggled to engage with the "rip in time" storyline and found myself either confused or not interested enough in the set-up of the story. It just didn't draw me in and I found myself quickly growing impatient with it.

So, unfortunately, this was a miss for me. I think it will appeal to a lot of readers who routinely enjoy this type of reading. But as a step outside of my reader comfort zone, it didn't work for me.

PLEASE TELL ME THIS WILL BE A SERIES! I don't usually shout but please, I need to know; what happens next?

Fans of Robert Galbraith (Cormoran Strike &Robin Ellacott) and Paula Brackston (Xanthe Westlake) must read this! I devoured this book in mere hours because it is such a page-turner.

A Rip Through Time by Kelley Armstrong combines a murder mystery and time travel in a historical setting in this first book in a new series. I liked the historical look at crime-solving and early forensics. All of the characters were fun, and. Overall, this is well-written, engaging, and entertaining, with complex characters in a historical setting. I recommend this book and am looking forward to more to come with the series!

This is my first book by Kelley Armstrong, but it won't be my last. "A Rip Through Time" is a Time Travel novel involving a Canadian Homicide Detective, Mallory Atkinson, who while fighting for her life in an alley in Edinburgh in 2019, wakes up in 1869 Edinburgh in the body of a 19 year old housemaid in the home of a very unusual "medical scientist" and his strong willed widowed sister.

The story of how she manages to find her way and help to solve a murder mystery is an exciting and well told tale. The book is full of very fascinating characters and you want to know more, more! I can't wait to see the next chapter in this story!

Kelly Armstrong writes the best mystery series, A fresh take on time travel and Victorian murder mysteries.

Great world building with strong characters. A modern day female detective is thrown back in time fully aware of how improbable her situation is. She is lucky that she landed with characters used to thinking outside the box.

Looking forward to Mallory's next effort to get back to her time.

This book was one of the best books I have read in a long time, I got all but the last forty pages read in one sitting...I tried so hard but my bed called to me. The way Ms. Armstrong details the way Edinburgh was 150 years ago is so exacting it seems to take the reader there. Armstrong has drawn her characters with a depth and a sincerity rarely seen in todays novel's of this type. Since they usually concentrate on the more gory aspects of the crime and not they way it was committed, A Rip Through Time is a book that does not demean the readers intelligence with cheap explanations and answers that come to the characters all to easy. Simply put one the best books, of this genre, that I have ever read. Very well written, extremely intelligent, and well planned and thought out. That ending was perfect...A page turner without peer and I, for one, cannot wait for book two. Well done Ms. Armstrong, you have a new fan in this fellow Canadian.

I have been a fan of Armstrong’s since her Otherworld series and she doesn’t disappoint with this new project. The writing and historic research are topnotch. The mystery’s well thought out and leaves you guessing till the end. If you remember that old 90’s TV show Quantum Leap, then you’re going to flip for this historical mystery/time-travel/body-swap premise. I can’t wait for what comes next in this intriguing opener to the new A Rip Through Time series.

In this book, the first in a new series, we have Vancouver based detective Mallory visiting Scotland as her grandmother is dying. When Mallory is out jogging, she steps in to help a woman who is being attacked, only to be attacked herself. When she regains consciousness, she fins herself stuck in the body of Catrina, a housemaid who was attacked in the same alley…150 years ago. When Mallory starts living Catrina’s life, it’s difficult for an educated 21st century woman. Add in a murder mystery in the the Victorian era Mallory finds herself in, and we have an excellent time travel story with a bit of suspense mixed in.

I surprisingly haven’t read any books by Kelley Armstrong before, but after this one, I’m a fan and I’m definitely going to be reading as many of her books as I can! I loved Mallory’s character, she’s intelligent and independent. Time travel books always need a bit of hand waving away details, because there’s never a chance someone from the 21st century would ever fit in seamlessly in the past, so I’m willing to overlook a bit of this when it occurs in the book. The writing was engrossing and I became invested in these characters and what was going to happen to them.

I’m looking forward to more books in the series! Thank you to Netgalley for an advance copy in exchange for an honest review.

A Rip Through Time #1

With Armstrong finishing up her Rockton series, which we loved, she has given us a new one. A Rip Through Time is the series debut about a modern-day homicide detective from Vancouver who is in Scotland to be with her Nan, who is dying in hospital.

She goes out for a run and in an alley hears a woman scream. She looks but it’s very fuzzy and then she’s attacked herself. Two women, 150 years apart, attacked in the same way.

When Mallory regains consciousness she is in a bed she doesn’t know and being called Catriona. That bump on the head was a doozy because somehow she has traveled back in time to 1869! Figuring that Cat must be the woman who was attacked before and somehow they have switched places.

Now she’s a maid. With a lot of knowledge about dead bodies. Ending up in the home of an undertaker is convenient as she is determined to find out who killed Cat and who did she bring with her into the past that is still killing people?

Lucky for her, the master of the house is also a bit of a sleuth in cahoots with the homicide detective who is impressed and leary of “Cat’s” knowledge and ability to read and write even. But finding this killer won’t be easy because Cat has a bit of a nefarious past and she isn’t well-liked by pretty much anyone.

But Dr. Gray’s sister is interested and here I think we have the beginning of a mystery-solving trio!

Armstrong is a strong writer. Her characters are interesting and strong women. Here we get a mystery, time travel, a little romance and a lot of good characters, and great writing.

NetGalley/May 31st, 2022 by Minotaur Books

Once upon a time I used to associate Armstrong with paranormal novels. Now not only are detective/mystery plots her speciality but she seems to be using time travel a lot, too. Not that I'm complaining..

This one veers in a different direction from her last time travel story and whereas that was a romance this has none to speak of -- though.. maybe set up for something in the future? there were glimmers -- due to some complicated dynamics but also the strangeness of the whole situation Mallory suddenly finds herself in. One minute, it's 2019 and she's a detective on leave in Edinburgh, just out for a jog. Next, she wakes up after having been attacked, but it's 1869 and she finds herself in the body of an unrecognizable housemaid. Not only does she have to quickly adjust, adapt, and come up with a plausible reason for being confused and out of sorts (beyond being attacked), but she also has to solve her own case; and the case of a local murder or two.

If this had been a standalone, well, a) that would've been a very unsatisfying ending (but it also would't have ended that way) and b) this would be a very different rating. It's still not as high as I think it might be in the future because, now that we have the set-up out of the way, and know our cast of characters, I think the next book (books?) will be very very good. I really enjoyed both siblings that Mallory finds herself, as Catriona, working for -- one is a funeral director (well, what passes for one in the times) and also has a side hustle with the police as a medical examiner, and the other is more or less a chemist. Both intelligent, if a little unusual, for the times and for even more reasons than I've mentioned (leaving some surprises for you). Another character is the local criminal investigator who is also a friend to both.

It was fascinating to see Armstrong, through Mallory, try and determine what criminology and forensic sciences were already at work at the time and navigate the conversations and investigations with her own knowledge while, somehow, trying to make it fit. She didn't always succeed, and often surprised those around her, but I think that made it more believable. I always side-eye a story that has the time traveler way too prepared to blend in to new surroundings.

While the mystery and reason behind why Mallory was attacked in the first place, and why she continued to be targeted, was kind of.. well, not exciting, I also respect having this kind of storyline play out. So often we expect big nefarious reasons for these crimes but rarely are they so dramatic.

So, yes, overall I had a good time with this but I'm very glad we got this stage of the story out of the way and now things can get really good. Can't wait to see what adventures await this ensemble in the coming books.

I met Kelley Armstrong about 10 years ago, and I loved her writing then. Now, 10 years later, I still love her writing and her books. Always amazing!

“Something happened in that lane. Two women were strangled a hundred and fifty years apart.”

Our heroine is a Canadian police detective visiting Edinburgh to see her dying grandmother when she sees a woman being strangled in an alley. She rushes to help and is strangled herself by someone in her own time, and wakes up in the first woman’s place. She wakes up as a maid named Catriona who works for funeral director Dr Gray and his chemist sister Isla Ballantyne. Dr. Gray often works with Detective McCreadie.

When a body is delivered in the middle of the night, Catriona realizes that Gray is a forensic scientist who McCreadie turns so when he needs better answers than the police department’s professional is likely to give. As a detective, she becomes drawn in to Gray’s murder investigation while trying to find a way to get home.

Gray was a more interesting character to me than our-modern-heroine-in-Catriona’s-body. He’s a person of color who studies historical medical texts from across the world and who has a passion for forensics, and he’s frustrated by the politics that keep him from being the police surgeon. It’s possible he’s neurodivergent. He has a dry sense of humor and there’s a Holmes-esque element to his zeal and his obliviousness to things outside of his work.

The setup and first quarter of the book felt a little clunky, and her “historical-novel-speak” was distracting. By her own admission it was stilted speech with five dollar words. Once the investigation into the serial killer was begun and Isla entered the story, it picked up for me. I think future books in the series will read better than this one because the murder and the uncovering of who Catriona from 1869 was were interesting and the next book can start from there.

A note on the POV: First person present tense isn’t my favorite point of view. I feel like I’m being told about the story rather than experiencing the story myself. It was rough in the chapters when there no dialogue to break up all of the “I go to get a coffee” narrative. I know some people like it for the feeling of immediacy, but it rings immature for me. If you like or at least don’t mind this pov then you won’t have the same struggle so did and might rate it higher.

I have read quite a few of Armstrong books and have enjoyed each one. The premise of this read reminded me of the Outlander series for sure. Very well written with great characters. Enjoyable read!

So this was a really interesting premise and I liked how Mallory a modern homicide detective found herself inside the body of Catriona a housemaid in Victorian Scotland. The fact that she didn’t know how to do anything and explained it away as the fact that she has memory issues from the attack that landed her in the past was funny and how she kept trying to sound period specific in her speech but she kept just making it worse and sounding way too smart for the person she is pretending to be which just made everyone suspicious. Poor Mallory kept just getting blindsided with all the stuff Catriona did and having to fix everything so she could stay in her position and figure out how to get back to her own time. She lucked in by ending up working in a household that her employer was an undertaker who was interested in forensic science well the beginnings of what would end up being all of that. So the mystery was interesting and the dynamics with her employer Dr. Gray and his sister Isla and the rest of the household was good. This was a pretty fast read and I am interested to read the next one and see what they tackle next.

Thanks to St. Martins Press and Netgalley for the complimentary copy of this book in e-book form. All opinions in this review are my own.

Thank you Netgalley and Minotaur Books/St. Martin's Press for the chance to read an advanced copy of A rip through time by Kelley Armstrong. This brand new series which is a departure from her Rockton books and not to be confused with her recent A stitch in time series which is more on the lighter side of gothic time travel/romance/ghost story, A rip through time has a darker, edgier feel and I loved it! Mallory, a modern-day homicide detective from Vancouver finds herself in Victorian Scotland—in an unfamiliar body—with a killer on the loose. Trying to adjust to being a Victorian maid, while using 21st century police procedure without giving yourself away is enough to drive you crazy!!! Luckily the master of the house also moonlights as a medical examiner and needs an assistant! As usual Mallory is a strong female character and the story had plenty of humour. It was fast-paced, and I read it quickly. I am totally looking forward to the next book.