I must admit that I was drawn to this book by the setting, Scotland, and the time travel factor. The main character Mallory is thrown back in time to 1869 Scotland where she ends up in the body of a young housemaid Catriona. Being a detective in her real life, Mallory is quick on her feet, and realizes she must pretend to be Catriona until she can figure out a way to get back. After all, if she were to tell her employers Dr. Duncan Gray and his sister Isla that she is from the future they might toss her out or have her committed.

Dr. Gray is an unusual man, an undertaker, who engages in the early study of forensic science. Mallory cannot help but be drawn to his studies and finds herself blurting out her thoughts which surprises him as his housemaid is thought to be not that bright and in fact can not read. She is also a thief which makes most of the book quite difficult for Mallory. She is also not a favorite the housekeeper who keeps her eye on Mallory.

The story has in interesting plot, but I found the first half to be a bit slow. I had trouble keeping up with all the characters and their shenanigans. Suddenly about half-way through things began to get interesting and towards the end I was much more invested. However, I did not realize this was the first of a series, so it did not quite end the way I was expecting.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher or the opportunity to read this book. I gave it three stars and I will be reading the next installment as I am very curious to find out what happens next.

*I received an eARC of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.*

When I got the e-mail saying I was approved to review Kelley Armstrong's latest book, I almost screamed. Kelley Armstrong is one of my absolute favourite authors and I have read quite a few of her books and enjoyed them all greatly.

'A Rip Through Time' is the story of Mallory, a 30 year old detective from Vancouver, who is visiting her dying grandmother in Scotland when she is attacked in an alleyway and transported 150 years in the past and into the body of a young maid who works for the mysterious and gorgeous Dr. Gray.

Mallory struggles to fit into the life of a Victorian housemaid while simultaneously trying to figure out how to get home to her grandmother and who attempted to kill her, as well as Catriona.

Armstrong weaves a fantastic tale filled with mystery, romance, and intrigue. Each character is well-rounded serves a purpose outside of motivating the main character's journey. The ending was a bit of a cliffhanger but satisfying and I absolutely cannot wait for the second book.

A murder mystery set in historical Edinburgh. Our main character, Mallory, is in present day Scotland when she is attacked in an alley in the exact same place where a similar attack occurred 150 years in the past. Somehow this catapults her into the body of the previous victim and she comes to in the body of a rather amoral housemaid.. She must track down the killer (who has also been transported into the past) while trying to maintain her "cover" and survive without modern amenities.

I really like some aspects of the story - the contrast between modern forensics and old-time police work. The interactions between the characters were very enjoyable. Unfortunately I found the set-up to the time travel to be awkward and Mallory's relatively calm belief that she has indeed gone back in time unconvincing. (Maybe if there had been some set up on how her grandmother had always believed in magic or some such.? Otherwise I would have expected more denial/freaking out/whatever). I will always read anything written by Kelley Armstrong but for me the time-travel aspect detracted from the mystery.

A modern-day homicide detective finds herself in Victorian Scotland, in an unfamiliar bod, with a killer on the loose.

The line above from the synopsis, covers what this book is about. I’ve read Kelley Armstrong’s paranormal and fantasy books, first time reading a suspense and she didn’t disappoint!!

The writing is clear and concise. At no point in the book, you are lost and that great be a of the timelines.

Detective Mallory is our MC. She’s in Scotland to look after her dying grandmother. Things take a turn when she wakes up in Catriona Mitchell’s body in 1869!! A fabulous mix of Sci-Fi and fantasy!!

Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for the e-ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Mallory Atkinson is a Canadian detective that’s visiting her dying grandmother in Edinburgh. When she’s out for a jog one night, she hears a woman in distress and ends up being attacked in an alley. This event causes a rip in time and Mallory switches places with housemaid Catriona Mitchell 150 years earlier.

Catriona had been attacked and strangled in her time and left for dead. Now Mallory has to learn to navigate that time period and discover what happened to her and Catriona. Her boss, Dr. Gray, is a funeral director that moonlights as a forensic doctor. Soon Mallory is helping him look into similar cases in the area. Will Mallory find the killer and return to her own time?

I’ve read several books by Kelley Armstrong and this one did not disappoint. I can’t wait to read her next book.

Thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley for the advance copy in exchange for an honest review.

Mallory is a Police Detective from Vancouver, visiting her ill grandmother in Edinburgh. She goes out one night, and thinks she hears a woman being attacked in an alley. She tries to help, and ends up attacked herself.

When she awakens, she finds herself in housemaid Catriona's body, in Victorian England. The book follows Mallory as she tries to navigate life in another time and in another body. Along the way she makes new allies, tries to fix the mistakes Catriona has made, and figure out how she can get back to her own time.

I've always enjoyed Kelley Armstrong's books, since reading her first book, Bitten, many years ago. I didn't realize until the end of the book that it isn't a stand alone, but I'm actually glad because I wanted to see the story continue, and learn more about all the characters.

Thank you Netgalley, and the publisher for the opportunity to read this as an ARC!

I'm struggling with rating this one. On one hand, it started off with a BANG and I was so pumped to dive into it. On the other hand, I can't ignore the fact that I flat out zoned out multiple times while reading it. However, I'm not sure if that's the book's fault or the fact that I happened to read something so incredibly similar earlier this year (A Murder in Time by Julie McElwain). I think I'm going to go with 3 since I kept zoning out, but I still think I would read the next one so maybe it's more of a 3.5.

So the interesting thing with this time travel book is that Mallory didn't just travel through time - she was transplanted into a different body with an already established life and background. As for the person whose body she took over - where did she go? We don't know, but we can assume she went into Mallory's body in the future. I haven't read something like that before so that was definitely interesting.

However, like I said earlier, the rest of it really mirrors what I read in A Murder in Time - an forensics expert who just so happens to crack crimes in present day goes back in time and helps solve a case there too. It's not A Rip Through Time's fault that I happened to read a 2016 book with generally the same premise in such close proximity to this one, but it's definitely why my mind veered off course a few times.

That being said, I do like where the book leaves off and I'm curious to see what happens next. Maybe when the next one comes out, I'll re-read this one and have a fresher appreciation for it.

A Rip Through Time
By Kelley Armstrong


May 20, 2019: Starting off Mallory is in Edinburgh terribly upset that her grandmother seems to be dying on her way out. Sleepless she is out on a jog and, Mallory hears a woman in distress. Trying to help she is drawn to an alley, where she’s attacked losing her consciousness.
May 20, 1869: Housemaid Catriona Mitchell had been enjoying a half-day off, only to be discovered that evening in a lane, where she’d been strangled and left for dead. Only this was exactly one-hundred-and-fifty years as Mallory got strangled in the same spot.
Fortunately as well as unfortunately, Mallory does wake up. Unfortunately, she is not in her own body, but her body is Catriona’s and the year is1869! God help her! Mallory is shocked realizing she needs to adjust quickly to the reality: life as a housemaid to an undertaker in Victorian Scotland.
Here she hopes and discovers that one of her bosses, Dr. Gray, also moonlights as a medical examiner and has just taken on an intriguing case, the strangulation of a young man. Actually she understands that his death seems similar to the attack on herself. She only hopes that catching the murderer can send her back to her modern life . . . before it’s too late.
Marilyn Rondeau

Armstrong's A Rip Through Time is a time travel novel that follows a modern detective back in time when she swaps bodies with a serial killer's victim and ends up in Victorian Scotland. As our heroine struggles to understand her new role in life, she finds herself in the middle of an investigation that hints at her attacker.

An interesting first book to what is obviously going to be a series. I enjoy police procedures and they are woven seamlessly into the storyline. Told in the first person, it's a little slow at times, I found the character development weak and Armstrong never convinced me of that no one really questioned that a young housemaid can suddenly read, write, and help investigate murders. Regardless of my issues, I will definitly read book two to see if it settles.

Mallory , a Vancouver homicide detective, is in Edinburg visiting her sick grandmother. On a coffee run she goes to the aid of a young woman being attacked in an alley. When she comes to she is in the body of Catriona, a housemaid in 1869. employed by Dr. Duncan Gray and his sister Isla. Feigning amnesia Catriona endeavors to make it through until she discovers a way to return. Dr. Gray is an undertaker who also assists the police as well. This was not my usual read but once I loosed my grip on reality and just went with the flow I found it enjoyable. One of the elements that I found interesting was the depiction of the early development of forensic science in crime solving. Dr. Duncan was a man ahead of his time and receptive to Mallory's subtle input of her 2019 knowledge. The reader also receives insight into the conditions and daily life of 1800s Scotland. The primary characters were complex and engaging and the plot moved fluidly into resolution. I have read some of Armstrong's other works and she always delivers a good read for me. Alas Mallory hasn't made it home yet but this was a solid foundation for an ongoing series. A murder mystery blended with time travel fantasy paired well in this first series entry.

This is an unusual book for me to read. The genre that is. It's a mystery and a bit of a thriller which is my favorite but also a touch of fantasy and a lot of time travel which I usually pass on. I'm very happy that I did not pass on this one. It is excellent. A first for me by Kelley Armstrong and I definitely look forward to more in this new series.

This book starts out with a woman being attacked in an alley. What she doesn't know is that another woman is being attacked in the exact same alley at the exact same time 150 years in the past. Mallory is a cop in 2019 who came to Edinburgh to see her grandmother who is dying. While out for a jog to clear her head she is attacked and strangled. When she awakes she is in a whole different life, in a whole different era. She's somehow traveled back 150 years where she is a maid in a home that is also a funeral pallor. And she is a much younger woman called Catroina who is not quite totally trust worthy. This story is basically told from Mallory's POV and what all she goes through while going back in time.

This book held my interest in a way that made me very happy. I was so afraid I was not going to like it but I did. It's truly very good. It takes you through time and into a whole other lifetime and makes you feel right at home. It shows how women, especially maids, were treated. I mean her attack was not that important. She was only maid after all. And she's a woman so who takes her serious? It's not like she can tell anyone who she really is and where she's really from. Who would believe her? You will get to know the people she is working for and like them very much. Even though at times they are a bit brusque at times and don't trust Catroina. For good reason though. It's quite an adjustment for Mallory but she catches on fairly quickly.

There will be another book and I look forward to it. I was not in the least put off with this one being a little bit of a cliffhanger. It just made me want the next one that much more. I want to know what happens once Mallory's story is told. I want to know what happens next. There are a few characters in this story and I liked them all. I enjoyed them wondering what exactly was going on with Catriona. How she just seemed to change after her attack. I really enjoyed this story very much and was a bit surprised by that. In a good way though.

Thank you #NetGalley, #KelleyArmstrong, #StMartinsPress for this ARC. This is my own true feelings about this book.

4/5 stars and I recommend it. Especially if you enjoy time travel. But even if you don't. It's really very good.

This book was everything I wanted it to be and the first digital ARC that I've received that I had to go out and buy a physical copy after reading it! Kelley Armstrong always delivers and this is a great beginning for a new series.

St. Martin’s Press – Minotaur Books and Kelley Armstrong provided a digital ARC of this novel via NetGalley and the opportunity to provide an honest review. Opinions are mine alone and are not biased in any way. Publication date is currently set for May 31, 2022.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an e ARC of this book.
The first in a new series that sets up future books with introduction of characters and the basic premise. Time travel, murder, mystery and a hint at the possibility of romance. A great start.

Thank you @NetGalley and Kelley Armstrong for an ARC copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!

WHAT I LIKED:
First off, Kelley Armstrong is one of my favorites and always will be. So this book I was incredibly thrilled to be given the chance to read in advance. The time travel story isn't exactly new or original, but the fact that she ended up time travelling into the body of a woman who was murdered in the past at the same location at the same time that she happened to be walking through there makes you think and wonder if each point of time is actually just a different universe on a different vibration to the one you are currently on. So once she realized what had happened, she had to become the other woman. She had to speak and act like this woman. It is only when the lady of the house comes back and realizes that something is off that things slowly start to unravel.

WHAT I DIDN'T LIKE:
I thought this book tended to focus more on her trying to fix this other girls mistakes than on trying to get home to her time. While I understand that everyone in that time believes that she is in fact this other woman, so she has to play the part, it just seemed to get the story off track. Also, what happened to the woman whose body she took over? A second story on the other woman in the futuristic time would complement this book immensely.

OVERALL / REOMMENDATIONS:
This was a great book to get lost in a different time period to. You never realize how much we have evolved until you are put in the position to live in the past. In the past you can no longer rely on alarms, or phones, or electricity, or even plumbing... Having to write in a way that excludes those items would have been difficult. I am recommending this book to all fans of #Fiction #fantasy #timetravel and #Mystery

Wow, this turned out to be such an interesting and exciting story. Told in the first person, including the narrator's remarks to self, which concisely conveyed quite a lot in few words. Detective Mallory Atkinson, age 30, is in Edinburgh, Scotland where she has come from Vancouver, CA, to visit her grandmother in hospice. Out for a stress-relieving jog, Mallory is attacked in an alley, seemingly while witnessing a similar crime. As she loses consciousness, she is ripped from her present day back to 1869. The rather shocking feature is she has switched places with a young housemaid of 19, in the household of a local funeral director, Dr. Duncan Gray, who moonlights helping a police detective friend by performing unauthorized autopsies on murder victims. She realizes she is the young woman in the alley assault she witnessed. How Mallory sees her predicament and how she handles it, and what happens with her and the people she meets is really quite fascinating. The characters are fully realized, and the revelations of Mallory as she comes to know them and life in that time and trying to find a way home do a lot to immerse one in this page turner. I was quite riveted. I do not want to reveal any plot points because part of what I loved about this story, was the unexpected way it progressed. In the end, part of the mystery is resolved and we have a great setup for at least a second book if not more. Highly recommend!

What a ride! While I was already a fan Of Kelley Armstrong's work, I was not prepared for how hard this story grabbed me by the collar and kept me reading until I finished the book!

I will do my best not to spoil anything by summarising the plot or the premise. What I can tell you is that the mystery is fascinating, the characters are compelling, and the danger feels real.

I am excited to see where the next book will take us. My only disappointment comes from having to wait to find out. Take this time-traveling/murder mystery trip with Kelley Armstrong; you'll be glad you did.

*Thank you to NetGalley, Author Kelley Armstrong, and St. Martin's Press for a copy to read and review*

With a glut of time travel books ending up in book lists recommended to me, I did not expect to enjoy this read nearly half as much as I actually did. In truth? This is likely one of my new favorite Kelley Armstrong books. It's the perfect blend of mystery, suspense, and a touch of fantastical, with romance taking the back seat.

To start with, the characters were largely well-developed and first impressions didn't necessarily hold true, much to my delight. You might even say that mistaken first impressions were a theme throughout the book. And while I love strong female characters, in this book it is tampered by reality. Strong female characters are hampered by society and roles they have to fill to fit into the Victorian world.

While there is some gore throughout the book, the focus is less on bloody scenes and more on action-packed investigations and experiments to determine the real killer or killers, as well as finding out who Catriona really is. If you wonder why I am only just mentioning Catriona by name in the third paragraph, it's because there were so many points of interest in this book that I did not have to focus on the characters alone!

If you were a fan of the Casey Duncan series, you will definitely want to give this new series a shot. If you like mysteries in historical settings, I would say the same!

Oh my god this book was awesome and I can’t wait for the next instalment!!!!!

It is always awesome to read a Canadian author and Kelley is one of my faves!!! This was a great read but admittedly reminded me of a previous book I read called “A Murder in time”, though this is more like “ a murder through time”.....in that we’ve got one strong Female digging through the evidence and one victim trying to find any evidence she can get her hands on

Mallory, a detective from Vancouver, is in Edinburg visiting her dying grandmother. While out on a jog to clear her mind she hears what seems to be someone being attacked. When she heads down the alley way to check things out, she sees what looks like a projection of a woman being strangled. Mallory is confused and trying to decipher what is playing out in front of her when she is attacked and left unconscious.

When Mallory comes to she knows something is off. She’s dressed in old raggy Victorian clothes and is in what must be the attacker’s lair. She soon gets in front of a mirror and realizes she has woken up in the body of the woman she saw being attacked. Only it’s not 2019 anymore it is 1869 and she is the housemaid of the town’s forensic doctor, Duncan Gray. Will she be able to put aside her shock and blend in long enough to solve this mystery and find her way back home?

A Rip Through Time is the first in a new time travel/mystery series by Kelley Armstrong. This was a great start to a series and I need the sequel immediately! This was such a good mystery story and didn’t have a heavy romance plot. Although, Duncan and Mallory?!?! I think they would be perfect! Maybe it will be a slow burn romance as a series progresses. It was really cool to see Mallory adapt to life as a house made in Victorian Scotland. I really don’t know what else to say about the story other than I loved it and want more.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me access to an early copy of this book. . As always, all opinions are my own.

A Rip Through Time is a fascinating time travel book, going back to Victorian England.

Mallory, a police detective in Edinburgh, goes out for a run and hears strange noises coming from an alley. She can't tell if it is playful shrieking or someone in distress. She investigates, and someone (a stranger she had run into earlier that day), attacks and strangles her.

When she wakes up, she realizes she is in someone else's body: Catriona, who had been strangled in the same location 150 years prior. Mallery/Catriona is a housemaid who works for an eccentric undertaker who is interested in the very new field of forensics (although he wouldn't know to call it that), and his sister, who is a chemist. She struggles to assimilate to a time in history she's not familiar with, as well as inhabiting the body of a young lady who was no better than she ought to be.

Mallery must solve the mystery of who murdered Catriona, in hopes that will propel her back to her own time so she can take care of her dying grandmother. But who can she trust with her real identity?

This book does have a successful conclusion, but sets up a sequel as well. I look forward to reading the next Rip in Time book! Thanks to Netgalley for the advance copy of a great book.