I can't believe its been 4 years since A Murder in Time has been released. I remember when so many of my blogger friends recommended this one and I jumped to grab at an ARC when it was offered. Unfortunately life got in the way and its only been recently that I did a buddy read with Laurie aka The Baking Bookworm. Here is the thing with Laurie and I, there are some books that we both love, some I love and she doesn't and visa versa and ya know what? That's okay, because wouldn't life be boring if we all loved the same thing. Follow the link above for her review.

A Murder in Time started out great, a feisty Kendra was an instant like for me. She took no guff, was confident and as her past was revealed I really felt for her. I enjoyed the writing, it was engaging and had me wanting to read more.

Things changed though once she is hurtled back in time to 1815. That in itself was done nicely and actually felt authentic. As the story progressed the tone did also. I get that she struggled to adapt and even accept what happened. Dawning her FBI profiler hat didn't help when the actions and language were too modern for the times. I was tired of hearing unsub over and over again.

The mystery was interesting, a wide cast of characters to keep my eyes on and with no modern forensic methods made this case very interesting. Now that it's been a while since A Murder of Time has been released I know there is a sequel or two out there.

Beautifully written and very engaging! I loved the characters and the mystery and can't wait to read more of this series.

I bought it for the cover and liked it for the story. Enjoyable and different

I love a good time travel story. Well done time travel stories (like 11/22/63 or the Chronicles of St Mary's series) are probably some of my favorite books. But, for me, the TRAVELING part of the time travel book is what I like. Otherwise, for me, it's just historical. This one fits in that category. She travels once, back in time, and the whole book is set in that time. There's no back and forth, so except for the initial getting there, there's no time travel in this time travel story.

I think the time travel was used in this book so the author could have a smart and worldly woman put where women don't matter, and the only way she could think to do that, was with time travel. In that regard, this book disappointed me.

But looking at this book as a historical mystery instead, I did rather like it. I liked the character, though she was a bit of an idiot with some things, when she was so smart with others. I did like the story and the setting. I liked the other characters pretty well. It was an all around enjoyable book, just not what I like out of my time travel. But as a historical mystery it was quite good.

Setting = A
Plot = B
Conflict = B
Characters = B+
Theme = B+

I delved into this book excitedly, knowing it intertwined two of my favorite things: crime and time travel. I am a sucker for good historical fiction. Especially one with serial killers.

The story follows a young FBI agent (with a crazy family history) as she gets thrown back in time to the 1800’s, where she finds herself in the middle of a mysterious case about a deranged serial killer. On that note, what I felt was most interesting about this story was seeing how this mystery was solved in the 1800’s without the advanced technology we have today.

Now, about 3 chapters into this book, my little light of hope began to flicker. Anxiously, I looked up other reviews by my fellows on Goodreads. Seeing so many negative reviews about this book actually encouraged me to continue. I definitely have to conclude that this book surpassed what I expected on all accounts. I am thoroughly pleased and I also have half a mind that my fellow readers didn’t continue past chapter four or five and merely claimed it as lost cause. BUT NO.

This story had me hooked. The writing had be hooked. The research the author put into this hovel had me hooked. I noticed several reviews saying this story was unrealistic, although I think the story was executed very well. Some books try time travel, and it just doesn’t work. It makes you cringe, it’s cliche, or unbelievable. Although I think the way the author wrote it into the story works. Throughout the story, it’s clear the author has done her research not only about time travel, but the 1800’s.



On top of that, this book is a mystery. And the case was GOOD. This story is about a serial killer. The author writes from his point of view which includes a pretty accurate insight to how an actual serial killer would think. Of course, with this story being set in the 1800’s about a serial killer (who is targeting prostitutes, mind you) it isn’t a book for the faint-hearted. It opens with a rape scene and there are several profane things said about women, although the author isn’t hiding the truth. This is just how men talked about women. 200 years ago and even now.

I definitely think this book hasn’t received the fair amount of credit it deserves, and any negative reviews shouldn’t skewer you. And for those of you who set it down, go finish it!

I rate this book 4 out of 5 stars.

Thank you to NetGalley for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I really enjoyed this, though, it was a bit rough around the edges. Much of the dialogue I found unbelievable, however, the story was so well developed that I can not give this less than 4 stars. I was completely engaged and did not see the end coming. If McElwain can polish up some of the smaller details & continue developing this story there's no reason the rest of this series can't be 5 star reads.