The reason why I applied for this book was that I know Rufford Abbey and the surrounding area reasonably well. I feel thoroughly cheated! This book has nothing to do with Rufford Abbey other than an abbot from there was drafted in to judge over an alleged witch in the 12th century.
The story is a dual timeline one with this presumed witch in 1152 who seems to have time-travelled to the year 2020 to witness an attack on a woman.
A historian translates a 12C chronicle detailing the story of the unfortunate girl.
So far, so good. And then it all nose-dives into a bog-standard missing persons detective story with bits of Third Reich philosophy, cod psychology, male graphic novel fantasies and penny dreadful mixed in.
Disappointing.

The Mystery of Rufford Abbey is a light paranormal dual timeline mystery by Stephen Taylor. Released 23rd Dec 2022 by Sapere Books, it's 279 pages and is available in paperback and ebook formats. It's worth noting that the ebook format has a handy interactive table of contents as well as interactive links. I've really become enamored of ebooks with interactive formats lately. For Kindle Unlimited subscribers, this book is currently included in the KU subscription library to borrow and read for free.

This is a riveting and very well written dual timeline mystery set in the modern day with a resonating side-story from the middle ages. The main protagonist, an appealing, slightly hapless medieval historian and academic is drawn into translating a manuscript diary which has come into his orbit and tells a fascinating story with ramifications resonating into the current day.

With each installment of the diary translation, a new layer of the mystery is revealed. It's an entertaining and absorbingly written tale and readers will have no trouble being swept away by the story. The middle of the book is taken up with a credible modern police procedural murder mystery and it's paired with a surprisingly well written time travel story set in the middle ages full of witchcraft and superstition.

Although the mystery is not terribly convoluted, it is well constructed with a solid plot and a satisfying denouement and resolution.

Four stars. Recommended for fans of historical mystery, and surprisingly, readers of modern procedurals will also find a satisfying read here. It's a standalone, so the characters and story arc are self-contained in this volume.

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.

This book was unfortunately not for me. I found it extremely difficult to relate to any of the characters and I didn’t particularly like any of them. The pace was slow and I found myself bored in most parts just waiting for something to happen. However, the writing was superb. The descriptions were beautiful and it allowed me to become immersed in the atmosphere. I think this book will find the right readers, it just wasn’t my cup of tea. Thank you to Netgalley, the author, and publisher for a chance to read and review this book.

You lost me at the spot where historical artifacts were sent in express mail. As an archivist, I felt very strongly at this point... and was very disappointed.
Yes, the book had all the right ingredients, all the right tropes. It had history, mystery, fantasy and everything in between, including dual time-line. But it lost credibility early on. Thus, I could not identify with characters. However, I found the story to be very interesting and unusual.
If you read it for the story, enjoy.

A girl from 1152 travels to the current world and she sees a woman being attacked.
Two volumes are sent to Toby Fielding to be translated from latin into english. He realizes that the girl is telling a story from today that may solve a murder investigation.
A very good mystery with a different approach.

This book started out with such a gripping premise -- the protagonist is a medieval historian who discovers a manuscript that has never been seen before, which tells of a girl who seems to travel through time. Wow -- what a premise. It's gripping and fascinating, flipping between a medieval time period and the present day...

And then all of a sudden it flips POVs again and becomes a police procedural story. It was so boring and so unexpected and NOT what I'd hoped for and expected, so I gave up.

DNF

Dual timelines and perspectives, shifting between academic mindset and police investigation. Description is accurate. If you like fantasy and are a plot reader, you may like this one. Wasn't quite for me.

I was a little disappointed when I started the book because I thought it was either a historical mystery or a present day mystery with an Abbey as the setting. I didn't think that time travel and a present day murder mystery would work well, particularly when it began to be clear this was not a cozy but a police procedural.

But you know what, I was wrong. The time travel aspect wasn't a huge element in the book and woven deftly into the storyline. The characters and the relationships were complex; the police procedural side was realistic. I was caught up in the story and eagerly read to the last page. I wish there was a bit more follow-up at the end about what happened to some characters but overall I was pleased.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an ARC in return for an honest opinion.

Really enjoyed this book which has a few nice twists and surprises. The link between the past and the future is just enough to support the story but without it being dominating, which I enjoyed. The characters were likeable and relatable. It took me a little while to see where it became a police thriller but it was one of those books that I had to stay up late to finish as I didn’t want to put it down. More please!

I think what initially sparked my interest with this book was the fact that it involves locations that I'm familiar with. I live in Nottinghamshire and have visited Rufford Abbey on several occasions.

This was different from what I expected - I think I expected a mystery set in medieval times, and this was, for the most part, set in the present day. I still enjoyed it, I became quite invested in the story and enjoyed the historical references.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for a free copy to review.

An excellent and compelling mix of time travel, historical fiction and police procedural. I had a lot of fun and thoroughly enjoyed this story.
I hope to read other books by this author soon.
Recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher for this arc, all opinions are mine

I was hooked from the very first chapter. I loved the concept of a time traveller who is unaware of the fact, witnessing a murder centuries into the future. Actually, I was a little disappointed when the story switched to the police procedural style set in the 21st century and kept wondering how the two timelines could possibly meet at any point. It was so satisfying how they did!
Overall, a good read.

What a gripping page tuner of a book!!!! A timeslip story on many levels involving witch trials. a cult
and modern policing techniques.
This tale is filled with danger showcasing two terrible events.
Well constructed a and very enjoyable. read.

I liked this book. The opening scene in a medieval setting caught my attention immediately. Unfortunately, the medieval timeline only occupied a small part of the narrative, though it figured prominently into the mystery. The mystery itself was good and included a lot of police procedure and investigation. The criminal was especially creepy. The author established the modern day atmosphere very well and developed a cast of interesting, believable characters.
I have not read this author before, but would read him again.
Recommended to anyone who loves mystery and crime novels but is ready for a bit of a twist.
Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for an ARC of this novel in exchange for an honest review.

This book is an unusual mixture of genres, namely sci-fi and detective. I have come across detectives solving mysteries on far-flung planets or spaceships, but this is the first time I have read a detective where an essential element is a witness time travelling. It is hard to say much more without spoilers, but I must admit that for me, the combination didn't really work. I love sci-fi and can happily suspend disbelief for all sorts of travels through time and spaces, but the combination with a very traditional detective complete with police investigation, socio-pathological criminal and time-pressured investigation, and I was struggling.
The detective story itself was enjoyable; the plot was well-developed, and the author did a good job of building the suspense. 
The book was easy to read, although there was some strange use of language. No serious academic is going to refer to their technical colleague as 'boffins'. The translation of the Latin manuscript is 90% in modern English, but with the odd archaic word thrown in ('quoth'). It is a translation, why is that word used? It makes no sense. ((I see now in the end notes that the writer is aware of this. But that didn't stop it grating when I read it).
A rather minor point; crocuses are not native to Britain, they would not have been around at spring time in the 12th century. And a bit of a strange thing. Several characters are mentioned as chewing the inside of their cheek when they are nervous. How odd. I don't know anyone who does that.

In summary, a solid detective story, but the time-travelling element didn't work for me.

The book was kindly provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review using the NetGalley platform.

Two interwoven stories set in the present and in mid 12th century England. An old manuscript found during renovation, passed to local academic Medieval historian told of the young Margaret of Wellow. Accused, 'tried' and convicted of witch craft because she said she'd visited 2020. Well-written narrative here with plenty of research about life in the 12th century. Alongside this is the story of missing women, all blond, and pretty, and the police attempts to find them. Fraught with lack of evidence of any actual wrong doing let alone bodies or crime scenes you can feel the absolute frustration of the detectives. The historian sees similarities with Margaret's story but is, of course, largely ignored by the police as time travel is just a joke. Right? Pulling the two together takes time and involves tattoos, nasty Aryan tendencies and purity of race but they get there in the end. There is some discussion of the physics of potential time travel and some interesting bits about parallel or alternative universes although these seemed to me to be rather an afterthought - they certainly came up after the tidying up of the missing women and Margaret's probable life. This tagging on at the end lost a start - although it helped with the story I felt that it should have been integrated more. Interesting and enjoyable read nonetheless. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an advance copy.

A very enjoyable book. The book has everything - a young girl accused of being a witch in the 12 century, a historian translating a newly discovered 12 century chronicle and a police investigation of a missing woman in the present day topped off with a bit of time travel. It could have been a mish mash but, all credit to the author, it worked brilliantly. I read it just 2 days. Even the police investigation was well-written with great characters and could have stood on it's own with a minor adjustment for the time travel.
I haven't read any other Stephen Taylor books but I will now.
This is an honest review of a complementary copy.

Kind of a hot mess. I liked the historical aspect of the book, but unfortunatley, that was not as prevalent in the story. I was expecting more back and forth between past and present, but this book read as a police procedural, which I was not a fan of.

What a great read! I honestly read this book in one day. In this book, you will find that there are multiple storylines happening, yet they are deeply connected with one another.

We begin with the story of Margaret of Wellow, a young girl, who is accused of witchcraft. Although it is clear to member of the higher and better educated clergymen that she is quite clearly innocent of the crime of witchcraft, she still ends up prosecuted of the crime because she failed the "drowning test" by floating upward in the water. (Feel the author to the excellent job including real historical information and data so that Peter's not informed of customs of medieval ages and prior aren't left not understanding why things happen the way they did, such as persons accused of witchcraft often floated, thus sealing their death warrant).

In story number two, we meet Toby Wyatt, a medievalist and historian versed in certain types of medieval languages. I found this part to be quite fascinating, as I am currently studying online how to read Olde English.

Meanwhile, in the third story, we have a police drama which involves a beautiful blue-eyed blonde woman in a white pants suit and a possible serial killer who is so extremely good at what he does, he leaves absolutely no clues.

One thing I would change is that it's not paranormal or sci-fi, there are moments of a mere time slip. The author did an excellent job with character development, the plots were phenomenal and it is extremely well researched as far as time periods and lore for the times as well as what they may have experienced as far as customs and clothing and superstitions. Excellent book I plan on reading more books by this author.

Amazing story. I read this book in one day because once started I could barely stop for a bathroom break. While there are three stories going on, they become deeply intwined as the story progresses.
The story of Margaret of Wellow, who was accused of witchcraft drew me in quickly. Even though it was clear to a higher member of clergy that she was an innocent, she was prosecuted because she failed the "drowning test" by floating. The writer included insight into why those accused often floated, thus sealing their doom.

The story of Toby Wyatt the historian seems to start slow, but it quickly changes to a part that you are eager to keep reading as he translates the ancient text.

Meanwhile, the police drama of a missing woman and a possible serial killer who leaves no clues, reminded me of other stories by good suspense writers. At the end, I was on the edge of my seat hoping for a good outcome.

The ending was very satisfying.
Yes, if you like suspense and a bit of sci-fi, this book will keep you reading.
While the cover states "paranormal," it appears in my view to be more sci-fi/time travel.