Wow the ending. I need to know what happens next. What does she admit to everyone? Does she ever get home? Ugh. This was such a great story. I love the time jumps and the mystery of why and where. I love seeing the modern detective in a world 150 years before her time trying to figure out the world. Isla is an amazing character and I love that she is a strong willed woman. Duncan is an amazing man to be willing and full heartily accept strong willed determined women in his life. McCready is a great detective and I loved him through the entire thing and how he was with both Isla and Duncan. Catriona/Mallory is a great character and I loved reading how she worked through the struggles of time travel and the new life she had to live. This was an amazing book.

I consider this book a spiritual sister to Kelley Armstrong’s A Stitch in Time series. Like A Stitch in Time, we have time travel, mystery, and adventure but also murder, body swapping, and the slowest of slow burns. Oh my!

Modern day detective Mallory ends up in the body of an 18th century Scottish maid. Not only does she have to find a way back to her own life, but keep her true identity a secret in a world where women, let alone ones of a certain class, have few rights. Enter her borrowed body’s employer, undertaker Duncan Gray, who moonlights as a medical examiner for the police. Together, the two face the seedy underbelly of Edinburgh and attempt to find a murderer.

Twisty, thrilling, and immersive, A Rip Through Time is a promising start to a captivating new series.

"The brain likes stereotypes because they are mental shortcuts."

Mallory is a copy in modern day Vancouver, Canada, but a trip to see her grandmother devolves into an unexpected trip through a rip through time. She lands not just in Victorian era Edinburg, but in the body (and life) of a housemaid with more secrets than hairs on her head. Can Mallory navigate not only the time period, but the interpersonal relationships?

The fast paced page turner takes readers on a compelling ride as we join Mallory in trying to solve multiple mysteries and face perhaps the biggest question of all -- is she truly eager to get home? As she learns how to survive, friendships and alliances are formed, changing the life of the housemaid and those around her.

From one page to the next the primary case took believable turns, becoming a more interesting mystery, leading to more questions and opportunities for the characters.

Mallory, with her modern sensibilities is placed alongside multiple Victorian women allowing the reader an opportunity to explore the many different ways in which life was lived within a single household.

Mallory is a police officer from Vancouver, British Columbia, who is currently dealing with the potential passing of a loved one on the other side of the world in Scotland. Deciding to clear her head, she goes for a run and ends up in...Victorian times?! What's worse is not only has she travelled back in time, but she has been body-swapped with a housemaid.

She has an idea of how she may have ended up in this predicament as she was attacked in the same spot as the person she was body-swapped with just with 150 years between the two events, but she has to figure out how to get home without drawing too much attention to herself. This means adapting to the life of a maid and everything a life of lower-class servitude comes with in Victorian times.

Then the murders start happening. Being a modern-day police officer, Mallory can't help but get involved. But, what does a lowly housemaid know of murder, forensics, and solving crimes?

The book follows Mallory's quest to figure out exactly how she time travelled and how she can get home, together with trying to fit into Victorian society and help solve some crimes while she's at it.

This was a very unique plot and I really enjoyed the book overall. I have only read one other book by this author, but my takeaway is that she tends to write something different than what other authors tend to overdo. There are quite a few long inner monologues, which I suppose some could find tiring, but I found they really added to the character development and the whole "getting into their head".

The book ends with resolving the mystery of the murders but there are a lot of other loose ends, leaving this the perfect first book in a series. I will definitely pick up the next book to see what Mallory does next!

Thank-you to NetGalley, the author, and the publisher for my advanced reader copy.

Plot: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Characters: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Mystery: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Writing: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Overall: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

While I don't usually read time travel or mysteries, I will read anything Kelley Armstrong writes and I'm glad I do, because A Rip Through Time is an amazing series. A 21st century detective in Victorian Scotland trying to go undiscovered while trying to get home ends up in a household where her unusual behavior is found interesting instead of alarming

While I don't usually read time travel or mysteries, I will read anything Kelley Armstrong writes and I'm glad I do, because A Rip Through Time is an amazing series. A 21st century detective in Victorian Scotland trying to go undiscovered while trying to get home ends up in a household where her unusual behavior is found interesting instead of alarming

While I don't usually read time travel or mysteries, I will read anything Kelley Armstrong writes and I'm glad I do, because A Rip Through Time is an amazing series. A 21st century detective in Victorian Scotland trying to go undiscovered while trying to get home ends up in a household where her unusual behavior is found interesting instead of alarming

This time travel story is unique and compelling. What can a 21 century woman do in Victorian Scotland? The answer is to solve the crime. Mallory Atkinson must find her attacker before he strikes again but how to help when trapped in nineteen year old body of Catriona Mitchell. Can Mallory keep her wits about her? Find out in A Rip Through Time.

I want to thank Minotaur Books for this ARC via Netgalley.

Thanks to Minotaur Books for gifted access via NetGalley. All opinions below are my own.

I generally love a time slip novel. The summary of this one gave me real Outlander vibes in that an accomplished modern woman ends up in historical Scotland. In this case, our MC is a detective and the time period is the Victorian era. I liked the fish out of water aspects of this story. I liked the murder mystery. But Mallory did not have the charm of Outlander’s Claire. I think maybe because she was an older person slipped into a younger person’s body and that there was no real love connection but this one just felt like it was missing something. Also we get no resolution or real explanation about the time slip. That made it much more of a miss for me.

I’ve loved Kelly Armstrong’s work for years and wanted to love this, but I think my total lack of investment in the period of history we travel to made it not a good fit for me personally. That being said, it’s definitely me not the book and if you’re looking for a book with a bit of everything (historical fiction, procedure fiction, sci fi/fantasy, suspense) this might be a good fit!

Thank you so much Minotaur Books & Netgalley!

An interesting mix of time travel and murder mystery. Easy to follow storylines that make A Rip Through Time a great read when you're busy but still want to squeeze a book in. I really enjoyed the book. I didn’t guess the murderer though in hindsight, it was obvious, I got a bit bored in the middle so Isla was a great addition, I liked that there was BIPOC, queer and neurodivergent rep I wasn’t expecting any.

I received an eARC of this title through NetGalley in return for an honest review.

I thought this was a fun, easy read. The heroine is dropped in a world she is unfamiliar with, navigating her new bosses and trying to keep her curiosity in check. However, that does not happen. The main question is, will our heroine ever get home?

The characters are interesting and different. The book is written in a way that makes it easy to read. The story is interesting and the mystery intriguing.

I really enjoyed this book. Time travel is an interesting topic and one that people either believe in or don't. I think it is possible to happen, but in my lifetime, I don't think it will. There are twists and turns in this book. The book kept me wanting to know what was going to happen next. I cannot wait to read the next book.

It's been several months since I read this book. I really slacked on writing reviews. The story was okay but I kept comparing it to the Kendra Donovan series by Julie McElwain, which I found to be an excellent series.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

Kelley Armstrong is an amazing author. She didn't disappoint with this book. I love the time travel concept, and how she incorporates paranormal with mystery/thriller. I will continue to read this series. It held my interest from the very beginning.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC of this book.

This book had such a interesting and good concept but there was plenty of times where it felt like it was dragging on. But it picked up around the half way point, overall a very good and interesting read. Loved the writing style and the historic aspect felt very real.

Unfortunately the file didn’t download no matter how many times I tried, I tried sending it to my kindle many times but it just wouldn’t

I had a hard time getting through this one and had to dnf it. I normally love Kelley Armstrong's books but this one really wasn't for me.

What a delightful book! The characters are relatable and show some development through the story. Even through there’s a supernatural element to the story it’s not front and centre and doesn’t turn everything steampunk or fantastical as other similar stories have a tendency to do. I’m looking forward to the rest of the series.

I'm kinda hooked on this series now and I just finished listening to book 2 - The Poisoner's Ring too! Both of these books have been amazing and they're probably my newest favorites in historical mysteries!😍 I had read this author's urban fantasy books a few years ago and I loved them but I think I've missed out on reading her thrillers and mysteries(gotta change that now!).⁣
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Mallory Atkinson is a Canadian homicide detective who has traveled to Scotland to spend time with her ailing grandmother. While she's out for a run she hears the cries of a woman in an alley and decides to check it out, but she's attacked by a serial killer and loses consciousness. Upon waking up she discovers that she's now in 19th century Edinburgh and she's in the body of a housemaid - Catriona Mitchell, who'd been strangled in the same spot where she was attacked. Not only does Mallory have to adjust to being in a new body and a different time period(talk about a double whammy!) but she also has to blend in while performing her duties and try to figure out a way to go back home. And in the meantime, she ends up assisting her employer - Dr. Duncan Gray, who runs his family's undertaking business and moonlights as a medical examiner, as he works on some cases.⁣
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Mallory was such an interesting protagonist because she was very intelligent and resilient. But she's not arrogant either and realizes her shortcomings and analyzes things quickly. I also liked the fact that the other characters weren't any less intelligent than her and not all of them bought her amnesia story 😂 Both Duncan and his sister Isla were amazing and I really enjoyed the murder mysteries! I guessed some things but some other twists surprised me in both of these books! There's also a hint of a slow burn romance and I'm really excited for more 😆 I can't wait to dive into my arc of book 3 now!