Kelley Armstrong once again captures my attention with her fantastic writing. She is my favourite author, and this is the top book I have read this year. It is an exciting murder mystery that keeps you on you toes trying to figure out what our young detective will do next. Dr. Grey was also a very intriguing character, and the mixture of police work, science, and navigating a different time create a very vivid picture of the story. The audio book was well done with good narration, and I am so excited for the series to continue!

I really enjoyed this audio!
The premise was unique and really interesting. A detective finds herself transported to Victorian times and tries to solve murders without arousing suspicion or using any of the modern-day forensic tecniques! Sign me up!
I loved this. I haven't read a book with so many interesting problems and I found it completely immersive.
Towards the end, I did feel it drag somewhat. 14 hours is not a quick listen, and I think it lost some of the pace.
That said, this was a fascinating listen and I can't wait for the next installment!

Modern day detective, young Mallory, is transported 150 years back in time when she is attacked in an alleyway.
She awakes in 1869 as Catriona, a housemaid, in Victorian Scotland.
Catriona is known to be a deceptive young woman, stealing, lying, and selling secrets. Oddly enough, Catriona is attacked in an alleyway as well and it appears they’ve traded places.
Mallory quickly adjusts to her new environment under the guise of a head injury. She plays part time detective, part time housemaid, and part of the time trying to figure out her way home.

If you don’t put too much thought into this, you’ll enjoy the story for what it is. There are loose ends, perhaps setting up for a second installment.

Thank you to NetGalley, Kelley Armstrong and Macmillan Audio for the advanced listening copy. All opinions are my own.

I admit that I have a weakness for books involving time travel. For this lover of historical fiction they play into my fantasies of being transported to a place in the past, and I jumped at the chance to read Kelley Armstrong’s A Rip Through Time. In this novel, modern-day police detective Mallory is attacked while out running one evening and wakes up in the body of Victorian housemaid Catriona, who was attacked in the same location 150 years earlier. I loved the vivid descriptions of Edinburgh in both periods, and the house where Catriona is in service, as well as the characters Mallory encounters as she tries to adjust to Catriona’s very different life. I found her struggles to adapt very relatable—I would also be reaching for my phone when attempting to set my alarm or google answers! Mallory’s adventures in the past include acting as assistant to her undertaker boss and attempting to solve a recent murder, while contemplating how these activities can help her return to her own time. This book is, by turns, funny, engaging, and delightful, but the best part was realizing that it is clearly the first in a series. I can’t wait for the next installment. Thanks to NetGalley for the opportunity to review this beautifully narrated and thoroughly entertaining audiobook.

Armstrong reeled me in, and if I were not a seasoned reader, I would have encouraged bets that I was going on an amazing ride. A 14 hour audiobook, with a good narrator, who can only deliver what is written. I finished this book. Please note, only because this was a NetGalley.

Hindsight: The book sours before the halfway mark. The concept was brilliant. I was taken aback. My first time reading anything like the main twist (no spoiling). There is a period of approximately 3 hours out of 7 that I was bored out of my mind. Endless chatter, introducing new personality issues within characters of the Victorian Era, etc. I literally wanted to cry when Jack the Ripper was brought up. I couldn't DNF this. Leave it to a 21st Century American to bring profanity to the mix.

Using JTR in the detail that Armstrong does is a huge disservice to the intriguing plot and me as a reader. If she had made her own story, left JTR out, the book could have been a reasonable length and the possibilities are endless.

Thank you NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for accepting my request to read and review A Rip Through Time.

I wanted to like this more, but it was at least creative enough to keep me reading. However, I was disappointed at the end to realize that's as far as the plot was going in this book--felt a bit cheated. This did feel like a fresh take on time travel, and I appreciated the nuances the author thought through to make the experience of the main character seem plausible. I will check out the next book just to see what happens, but I'm hoping this is part of a short series (2-3 books) and not one that's stretched out.

I have been a fan of Kelley Armstrong since the first title of the Rockland series. Hesitant when I began this audio since it was a historical fiction read and very different from the thriller Rockland series. However, A Rip in Time has quickly become my favorite Armstrong book. She masterfully handles the time travel and Mallory’s response to waking up in 1869 in another person’s body. The mystery is not solved and quickly leaves the reader waiting for the next installment of this new series. There is humor, suspense and character development throughout the story. Give this new series a try and you won’t be disappointed. Kate Handford does a great job reading and bringing the words to life. Hands down the best book of 2022 so far read!!

I received an ARC eaudiobook from NetGalley and MacMillan audio in exchange for an honest review.

This was boring mostly. Just had I really wanted to like this. This was boring mostly. Just had I really wanted to like this.

Mallory Atkinson is a modern-day homicide detective. While jogging one evening she is knocked unconscious, when she wakes up the year is 1869 and she is in the body of Catriona Mitchell, a housemaid who was strangled in the same spot. Her employer serves as a Medical Examiner and is currently examining homicides some of which involve strangulation. Mallory steps in to lend her expertise to help solve the crimes while trying to figure out a way back to her present time.

This one is being billed as Outlander meets The Alienist. While I understand the comparison and can at least see how it was made, I will add that it is heavy on The Alienist and light on Outlander (the only Outlander vibe I got from this first in a series is that the MC travels back in time).

There was a lot of focus on her getting acclimated and fitting in with Victorian London, which I just found underwhelming personally as I was more interested in the central killer mystery and her time travelling conundrum. I enjoyed Kate Handford's narration in the audiobook.

Special thanks to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for my ALC of this book for review purposes. All opinions are my own.

A Rip Through Time was a fun historical murder mystery. It’s pulled me in right away. I did feel that it lost some of the momentum as it went on, but overall I really enjoyed it. I gave this book 3.5⭐️ on goodreads.

When Mallory Atkins is visiting Scotland and her sick grandmother she is leaving a coffee shop when she hears a girl screen from the alley and what she find will propel her into the 1800s as a victim of an attempted murder and a housemaid for the kind undertaker Dr. Gray. Her biggest wish is to go back to 2019, but win a detective named McCready brings in a murder victim trust up like a bird and Dr. Gray uses her in lieu of his vanished assistant she want’s to help, but she will have an eye open for a way to get home. She has so many questions associated with this time traveling disaster, like where is Katrina? Who tried to kill her? And of course how can she get home? The answer is even more outrageous than her being a housemade in the 1800s, but can she figure it out for her life and that of Katrina‘s snuffed out for good? This book is so good and so original and I can’t wait to see if there’s going to be a second book… I mean they have to have one right? OMG! If you love time travel then you’ll love this book. The mystery isn’t easy to solve in the story plots along at a good pace and although it’s a very long book and Mallorys pontifications sometimes can go on and on I still love this book and give it five stars. The narrator I had never heard of her but I love her so much! She is such a nice friendly voice and does the Scotland Brough so well so all in all as far as audiobooks go this one is awesome! It was given to me by Net Gally and the publisher but I am leaving this review voluntarily please forgive any errors as I am blind and dictate my review but all opinions are definitely my own.

Kelley Armstrong – A Rip Through Time

This book was fantastic!

I read this book via 2 mediums – print paperback edition and audiobook (ARC via NetGalley).

Primarily, I listened to this book at 1.5X (audiospeed) while on my late-evening powerwalks around the little town I live in. It’s nice and quiet around here after 10pm and I don’t have to turn the volume up very loud to hear the narrator (so I can still hear what’s going on around me).

Speaking of the narrator. Narration for this book was provided by Kate Handford, and she was the perfect choice (though this is my first experience with her audiobook narration, it certainly won’t be my last)!

This may seem like a bit of a ramble here, but I need to provide some contextual information. I’m a newbie to audiobook narration. I’ve only recently begun listening to audiobooks (since January 2022), and most of those were non-fiction books about Intermittent Fasting (narrated by the authors) that I listened to while driving to and from work. So, I wouldn’t say up to this point that my listening to audiobooks has been for pleasure, rather, it’s mostly been for information. In the past (pre-2022), I’ve downloaded maybe 15-20 Fiction genre books via Audible and Apple Books, but I’ve only finished 2 of those (Circe and A Discovery of Witches). Those 2 were due entirely to the wonderful narration. In fact, for anyone who has ever mentioned to me about reading Circe, I ALWAYS recommend the audiobook because the narrator’s voice is wholly mesmerizing.

Long story short, I will be adding A Rip Through Time to my (currently) very short list of wonderfully narrated books! And, Kate Handford was extremely skillful at bringing each of Armstrong’s wonderfully sketched out characters to vivid life.

Now, credit for the success of this book is not due only to the narrator, the author too deserves recognition. I’ve been an avid reader of Kelley Armstrong’s books for over a decade now and her books never disappoint. In this book, I really enjoyed her combination of the time travel trope (the MC travels from 2022 to 1869) with her tried and true tropes of woman detectives, murder mysteries, and crime fiction! For me, this was blend of everything she does best in her writing.

Armstrong doesn’t shy away from including sensitive topics in her work, such as the stigma against sex workers during the Victorian period, as well as those subjects of gender identity, sexuality, immigration, classism, misogyny, and racism. Indeed, she deftly uses the investigative techniques and explanations provided by her MC, Mallory Atkinson (the time-travelling homicide detective) in the exercise of her duties to facilitate an examination of such subjects. And Armstrong’s writing demonstrates a respectful and nuanced treatment to provide excellent cultural, geographical, and historical contexts where needed.

In short, I think A Rip Through Time is one of Armstrong’s best books to date and easily ranks in my top 10 of 2022. I can’t wait for the next book in this series to be released!

I’d like to thank NetGalley, MacMillan Audio, & Minotaur Books for giving me the opportunity to access an advance copy of this audiobook. The remarks above constitute my honest review.

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 Marie 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.

I had the pleasure of listening to the audiobook for the story and Kate Handford did a fantastic job nearing the story.

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

I am a sucker for everything time travel, so of course I requested this book when I saw it.

Detective Mallory Atkinson is unexpectedly thrown 150 years in the past, after being brutally attacked. She arrives to Victorian Scotland from present day Vancouver, Canada and discovers that she is now inhabiting the body of Catrina, a house maid in the home of a doctor, Mr Grey. Mr. Grey is a mercurial man that specializes in the beginnings of forensic science. Mallory, being a detective, is fascinated. Grey is helping the police to investigate brutal murders that have been occurring, and Mallory realizes these murders 150 years in the past may be connected to how she arrived and her own near-death.

Some people tagged this as romance, but to be clear there is zero romance in this novel. Should this series continue, I can see where romance could occur -but I'm not a romance fan at all, don't let that put you off. I look forward to the next book in the series.

What I especially liked about this was how intelligent the characters were. Mallory, despite being in a foreign time, is able to quickly acclimatize herself and earns respect from those around her as they recognize her intelligence, even in a time when that was rare for women.

Thank you netgalley and Macmillan audio for giving me an advanced review copy of this audiobook in exchange for an honest review.

I have read most of Kelley Armstrongs past books, she is especially proficient writing strong female characters, evidenced by her former hit woman, werewolf, witches, half demons, etc. Katelyn, the main character of this one is no different. She puts her 21st century forensic knowledge to use catching a killer, while doing so in the body of (and accent!) of a 19th century housemaid. I love the Sherlockian undertones of the Victorian story, but the 2019 sensibilities of Kat. I am also very intrigued by the dark past of the actual housemaid she trades place with. Is she in the present? Will They get switched back to where they belong? Great story, I would love to see this become a series, and I’m not even done with the book yet. The audio narrator is absolutely fabulous, has a good grasp of the accents and different voices for the characters. Love it!

A Rip Through Time (A Rip Through Time #1) by Kelley Armstrong
Narrated by Kate Handford
Publisher: Macmillan Audio
Genre: Historical Fiction, Mystery
Published: May 31, 2022

A Rip Through Time is the first book in the series by the same name by Kelley Armstrong. This book was so good and I did not want it to end!!!!

The narration by Kate Handford was absolutely brilliant! I loved listening to her tell this story!

A Rip Through Time tells the tale of Mallory, a 21st century homicide detective, who finds herself almost a victim of murder, and is only saved because she slips back to 1869 Scotland and into the body of Housemaid Catriona, who was also almost a victim of murder, at the very same spot.

Not only does Mallory need to try to blend into her new household, she also needs to make up for the misdeeds of Catriona, and help her employer solve the serial murders that have occurring!

This was such a wonderful book! I loved every minute of it! I found it to be truly captivating and a wonderful story! I need the next book to be released soon because I'm ready to go back!

This is definitely a must read of 2022! I will be reading it again and adding it to my lift of Christmas gifts for this year!

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

When Mallory Atkinson (a Police Detective from Vancouver, Canada) heads to Edinburgh Scotland to visit her dying grandmother, she has no idea the direction her travel would take her. When picking up coffee for the hospice workers, she hears a young women’s cry for help. As a Detective, she certainly can’t walk away from the cry, but when she herself is put in peril, she knows she’s going to die. When she awakes it’s to a whole different world. Not only is she in 1869 Edinburgh, she also finds herself to be Catriona Mitchell, the housemaid of Dr. Gray. Soon she finds herself entrenched in the investigation of a serial killer, the same killer that has followed her through time. It’s difficult to pretend she’s Catriona when she finds out more and more about her not so likable character and as she becomes more and more involved in the investigation. As the case comes to a head, Mallory is not the only one in danger, will she be able to save the Doctor and his sister as well as herself and will they ever believe her outlandish story of time travel from 2019 Canada? Voiced perfectly, Armstrong has written the first in a new series with excellent, fleshed out characters and an intriguing plot line. There’s no doubt that there’s more to come and for that I’m extremely grateful!

In a Rip Through Time we have Mallory, a 30 year old homicide detective from 2019, one minute being attacked and strangled by a mysterious man and the next waking up in Victorian Scotland in a body that is definitely not her own. She has somehow time traveled back to the Victorian age and is now in the body of a 19 year old housemaid who has a sketchy past and is not well liked by the people around her. Mallory finds herself being forced to learn all there is to learn about this time period and the body she inhabits and at the same time try to keep herself from giving away that she isn’t the housemaid by using modern jargons or mannerisms. She learns that Gray, her employer is an undertaker of sorts and she becomes interested in how forensic criminal science was like back then and works her way into become his assistant when it comes to looking at the bodies of murder victims. She realizes that there may be a connection of sorts between her attack and the murders of a supposed serial killer on loose in Victorian Scotland and to get back to her time she may need to solve this crime.

I really loved this time traveling mystery that had everything I love in a good book which includes; historical fiction, romance, mystery, suspense, humor, and fantasy. Kelley Armstrongs writing had me flying through the book because the story just flowed off the pages so easily that it was hard to get back to work when my breaks were over. The picture she created with Victorian Scotland was so atmospheric and had me wishing I could research all the facts she was including in the story. The characters were also another favorite part of mine because I found Mallory and Gray to be such strong characters who are both expertly developed and likable. I really enjoyed the chemistry that could be seen between the main characters and the supporting characters like Gray’s sister and his best friend the detective on the murder case. I had the great pleasure of listening to the audiobook as well as the ebook and the narrator was perfect for the story and I found myself lost in the story so many times with the help of their voice. I enjoyed this story immensely and cannot wait for the next one in the series. Thank you to Netgalley and Macmillan Audio for the digital audiobook copy of this book with me in exchange for an honest review.

If I could have one superpower it would be to time travel! It should therefore be no surprise that I LOVE time travel books! When I saw that a new time travel murder mystery novel was coming out, I was absolutely on board for a review! I have read a couple of other time travel murder mysteries and loved them so much so naturally I am always looking for another to satisfy my desire to time travel!

And why does it always seem like every time travel book is set in Scotland? I don’t have the answer nor do I care, because I love how well Scotland works for time travel books. I mean Outlander, need I say more?! When I saw this book was being labeled as a cross between Outlander and The Alienist, I couldn’t WAIT to get my hands on it! I loved both of those books and couldn’t wait to read something in a similar vein that was also different.

To be fair though, not all time travel murder mysteries are created equal and just because a time travel murder mystery set in Scotland calls to my heart, I didn’t want to overly build it up in my mind only to be disappointed. That has happened. to me before so I didn’t want to experience a let down, however I simply couldn’t help but build it up in my mind before I even started it!

Summary

In this series debut from New York Times bestselling author Kelley Armstrong, a modern-day homicide detective finds herself in Victorian Scotland—in an unfamiliar body—with a killer on the loose.

May 20, 2019: Homicide detective Mallory is in Edinburgh to be with her dying grandmother. While out on a jog one evening, Mallory hears a woman in distress. She’s drawn to an alley, where she is attacked and loses consciousness.

May 20, 1869: Housemaid Catriona Mitchell had been enjoying a half-day off, only to be discovered that night in a lane, where she’d been strangled and left for dead . . . exactly one-hundred-and-fifty years before Mallory was strangled in the same spot.

When Mallory wakes up in Catriona’s body in 1869, she must put aside her shock and adjust quickly to the reality: life as a housemaid to an undertaker in Victorian Scotland. She soon discovers that her boss, Dr. Gray, also moonlights as a medical examiner and has just taken on an intriguing case, the strangulation of a young man, similar to the attack on herself. Her only hope is that catching the murderer can lead her back to her modern life . . . before it’s too late.

Outlander meets The Alienist in Kelley Armstrong’s A Rip Through Time, the first book in this utterly compelling series, mixing romance, mystery, and fantasy with thrilling results. (Summary from Goodreads)

Review

I need not have worried about building this one up in my mind too much because it was absolutely fantastic! I loved that this book had a lot of interesting elements for me as a reader to enjoy and digest. There was history, romance, mystery, and of course time travel. I found that I was constantly engaged in various aspects of the story and each was more and more compelling! I loved how authentic the history and setting felt. I loved reading about Scotland in the late 1800s, I felt like each character historically fit well in the novel and even the modern Homicide detective, Mallory fit seamlessly into the historical narrative.

What I felt was the absolute best part of this book though was how Mallory adjusted to living in a different era. She was certainly out of place but she did a good job assimilating and it was fun trying to figure out what was happening with her. I mean she wakes up in the body of 19 year old housemaid Catriona in the 1800s, but what’s happened to Catriona? What’s going on in the modern story? I loved that part of the story and just loved how well developed Mallory was as a character. It’s what shined for me!

The mystery itself was well written and interesting, not to mention it kept me guessing until the end. Mystery fans will certainly enjoy this book. I don’t want to give too much away but just know it’s a well done mystery! It’s clear that this is going to turn into a series but I loved that the first book wrapped up as much as it was able to which leaves readers looking forward to what’s inevitably coming. I cannot wait to read the next book in this series! I loved this book from beginning to end and would highly recommend it to anyone who loves historical fiction, fantasy, romance, and murder! So good!

Book Info and Rating

Format: 352 pages, hardcover

Published: May 31st 2022 by Minotaur Books

ISBN: 9781250820006

Free review copy provided by publisher, Minotaur Books, in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own and in no way influenced.

Rating: 5 stars

Genre: historical fiction, mystery

I'm not a fa of fantasy, but I like a good time travel novel when it delves into the past. This novel tells of a thrilling adventure and I am looking forward to the sequel, which I'm sure will be filled with just as much mystery and suspense. Huge shout out to #Netgalley for the opportunity to listen to this free audiobook for my honest review.