Doorway to Murder is a great debut to a fresh series.

Time-travel, mystery and the possibility of romance make this a fun read, but it’s more than that – it’s complex and twisty. I enjoyed immersing myself in the 1930s which the author captures beautifully with just the right details (but not too many to slow the story down.) The author also manages to make time-travel seem reasonable. This story does not feel like science fiction but a grounded mystery with real stakes.

I am very happy to have found a new series to enjoy.

This was a police procedural combined with a time travel mystery, sitting snug in the genre of a cozy mystery.

When the local bank is looted and the VP and branch manager of the bank found dead in the vault on the night of the worst blizzard in history in 1934, DS Steven Blackwell finds himself flustered by the complete lack of clues and the total lack of witnesses. While work poses a challenge, his home life is disrupted by the visions he sees at home of a strange woman dressed in odd clothing. Grief stricken after the sudden death of his mother, he thinks he is having hallucinations.

But the truth is that she is Olivia Watson, a researcher living in his house in 2014, and by some shift in time, they meet. Gradually a friendship develops between them.

At first the pace was very slow. Things look up once they meet.

There are a lot of characters in the first half of the book, and it is hard to keep track of their names.

Most of the action takes place in 1934. Steven and his team work hard but their efforts are slowed by the lack of modern tools and techniques.

The challenges of the Depression era were brought out well. In contrast, 2014 is rather bland. The only action here is Olivia telling her best friends about Steven.

The author also does a fantastic job of describing the setting, particularly with the element of the weather, in both eras.

Better editing could have improved the prose. The dialogue between the policemen was very unrealistic. Also, the character descriptions should have been done away with. After a while, one character begins to blend into another.

The best part of this time travel mystery for me was the understanding of how fascinating our technology is and how magical it might seem to someone from the past. Especially, the magic of TV and computers, printing, photography and mobile telephony.

I also enjoyed the references to books and films on various aspects of time travel. I loved the recommendations both to old favourites and to new authors.



What I found unbelievable and too pat an explanation was that the time shift had happened because both Steven and Olivia were both open to it.

But the book itself was warm and had a comfortable vibe to it.

I am not a big fan of books that alternate between the past and the present, but I have to say, this one wasn’t bad. I thought Steven Blackwell did a fine job without the influence of the 2014 time switch. The time switches were minimal, which didn’t take away from the story focused in the past. It made it interesting, intriguing, and captivating.

In Doorway to Murder the author combines a murder mystery and time travel to create an enjoyable story which is fast paced and one that I finished reading in a less than a day. Detective Steven Blackwell in 1934 and Olivia Watson in 2014 are living in the same house in the town of Knightsbridge 80 years apart and one night manage to 'see' each other while at home. After an initial hesitation both strike up a conversation and eventual friendship with each being excited at the prospect of actually experiencing the theory of time travel as described by Einstein. Their meeting coincides with a murder mystery  which Steven is at that moment in charge of solving in his timeline and which, as both Steven and Olivia discover, ends up having an impact to events in the future as well. I really liked the concept of time travel described in this book--its seems simple, easy and painless and one I wouldn't mind experiencing myself.

I received an e-Arc of the book by the publisher Level Best Books and the author Carol Pouliot via NetGalley. This is first book in A Blackwell and Watson Time-Travel Mystery series.

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

We've already established over the years that I love history and mystery and time travel. Throw them all together and we have a winner, folks. It wasn't a guarantee, of course. It could have been poorly written ... but, thankfully, it wasn't. Even without the personal ties to the location (I'm a Mohawk Valley Girl, after all), this was a great book.

Einstein believed that time can fold over itself -- which is pretty much what happens with Detective Steven Blackwell in 1934 and professional researcher Olivia Watson at the same address in the same fictional Mohawk Valley town of Knightsbridge eighty years later. Somehow they end up being able to see each other, hear each other, touch each other, and ease the loneliness each was feeling in their own timeline.

Oh, and solve a bank robbery-slash-murder that took place in Steven's timeline.

Not only did the mysteries of the robbery and murder keep me guessing, but also the whole wibbly-wobbly timey-wimey stuff. How long would time fold over for them? Who else would be able to see or hear them? Then there's the whole time paradox issue. Will they do something that would negate Olivia's very existence?

Doc Brown would definitely be having a stern word or two for them already!

I still have a lot of questions to be answered but, thankfully, at least two more books to be read.

I thoroughly enjoyed "Doorway to Murder".
The author incorporates a touch of mystery, history, and the time travel was an interesting aspect. I couldn't put it down.

I found myself enjoying the Steven POV a lot more than Olivia's. As a character I found I didn't like her so much, which may have been due to the description of her days earlier in the novel. I personally found this a bit boring, but as it progressed I found her to be growing on me, especially as we saw her working and seeing historical tidbits added in.

The way the author has woven the story helps to build suspense and mystery to the reader and to keep everyone guessing.

The scenes are very descriptive, helping to show the reader, however at times this does feel a bit much.

Overall I did thoroughly enjoy this read. The reader is left at a point where they are excited to see where the future (or rather past) leads the characters.

I think I've found my next must read author, I can't wait to read more by her.

I'm a fan of mysteries. I'm a fan of historical fiction. And I'm a fan of time-travel. All three elements are present here, and the result should have been a huge hit with me, but somehow it just wasn't...

I had a hard time connecting with this one. It felt like there were a lot more lengthy descriptions then the concept needed, especially in the beginning. It made the story read slowly, and made it hard to feel connected to the characters early on in a way that would have carried me through the whole story with more of a sense of urgency and curiosity...

I also found it a little far-fetched that after seeing a strange man in her house over the course of a week, a researcher's first thought would be time-travel - which her friends would whole-heartedly endorse as a theory... It felt a little contrived. On top of that, the historical mystery just never grabbed my interest either.

As a result I just never really connected with this one and I doubt i will be continuing with the series.

This is a wonderful novel. I loved everything about it. Protagonist Olivia Watson is a smart, independent, 30-something woman who owns her house in Knightsbridge, New York, a fictional small town somewhere between Syracuse and the Mohawk River. She also owns the Watson Agency, a business doing research for professors and writers. One night she wakes up and sees a man in the darkness outside her bedroom. Too terrified to move, she just watches until her kitten meows. Then the man leaves, walking through a wall as he disappears. She sees him for six nights. No longer scared by him, she thinks he may be a ghost.

The man, Steven Blackwell, is a detective on the Knightsbridge police force. He also is alarmed to see a woman in his house, sleeping in his recently deceased mother’s room. How can both Watson and Blackwell own and inhabit the same house? Blackwell lives in 1934, and Watson lives in 2014. After a week of seeing each other and thinking the other was a ghost, they begin to converse and realize their house may be conducive to time travel. Watson explains later that “Einstein thought that time could fold over or twist around itself. He said that what we call the past, present, and future is only an illusion. He believed it was possible for two objects to occupy the same space but at different times. If you subscribe to his theory, which I do, why couldn’t time fold over at the moment when two people are in the same place? They could see each other. Maybe even communicate.”

Pouliot doesn’t scrimp on details, including descriptions of Knightsbridge and its inhabitants in each time period, and the details of a 1934 bank robbery which is at the center of this story.

Don’t expect fireworks between Blackwell and Watson, although the chemistry is definitely there. Pouliot, however, does lay the groundwork for an interesting crime solving duo who travel through eight decades each time they meet.

Carol Pouliot is a talented writer. Her background of travel, teaching, and mastery of languages beside English, certainly adds a richness to her writing. So much so that I did not want this novel to end. I highly recommend this book. (In exchange for an honest review, I was provided with an ARC by the publisher via NetGalley.)

This was a unique concept for a murder mystery. I especially loved the connection between the two main protagonists. Though not really a fan of sci-fi, the manner in which time-travel was incorporated was expertly done, in my opinion; it was not overwhelming in the least. I thoroughly enjoyed the ride and I am most definitely going to read book 2!

A murder mystery combining the past with the present in an unique way. Steve and Olivia come from different eras , meet through time travel and together solve a murder that spans both times. A good mystery and startup to a new series that I look forward to reading again.

A very fast and quick read that is quite witty and enjoyable. The whole time travel aspect and details of the novel were both fascinating and fun. This is was a first for me from this author, and I’m excited to read more from this author as I enjoyed this cute historical novel very much. Highly recommend for all mystery novels that want a light and fun read!