Member Review

Ruby Vaughn is an American heiress who was exiled to England for youthful indiscretion right before WWI. She spent the war working as an ambulance driver and the years after it as an employee of her octogenarian housemate, Mr. Owen. On a trip to Oxford for him to attend the annual meeting of his antiquarian society, Ruby finds herself in the middle of a murder mystery after her friend asks her to find the murderer of disgraced scholar Julius Harker.

It's hard to explain what the book is about without giving too much away because I loved the little surprises that pop up almost every time Ruby finds another clue. Just know that it's a historical murder mystery with the bonus of academia shenanigans and some slight supernatural elements. The plot is one giant twist after another, with things that seemed inconsequential or said in passing coming back to play a big role. I was impressed by how well Armstrong ties things together and closes every thread without it ever feeling forced or rushed.

Ruby is an interesting character, with the typical carelessness of amateur detectives, where it's a miracle that they survive to the end of the book, but they somehow still manage to solve the case. Ruby is a capable, independent woman. She's also a little reckless when it comes to following clues, which made me like the male lead, Ruan, even more, as his calm personality is a perfect match for her. This is another thing I really liked about Armstrong's writing: strong characters that feel well-rounded and like people one could meet in real life.

I do feel that I would have benefited from reading the previous volumes to get a better understanding of the characters and the situations they're in. It's not impossible to enjoy as is, but there are a lot of callbacks to things that happened before and how they've shaped this story.

Very happy thanks to NetGalley and Minotaur Books for the twisty read!