Kelley Armstrong: A Rip Through Time

In the first book in a new series, Kelley Armstrong transports a modern day detective to the Mid 1800s where a killer is on the loose:

 

Mallory is in Edinburgh visiting her dying grandmother, when the unthinkable happens, she is drawn into an alley where she believes a woman is being harmed only to be set upon by a serial killer, but things do not go as planned. Mallory wakes up, but she is not in her own body, and she soon discovers she is not in modern times either. Mallory must put aside shock quickly and adapt or she will be out on the street from her job as a maid in an undertakers house. Mallory discovers that Dr. Gray is a the beginning of forensic science and she is keen to help as she was a homicide detective in her time. Mallory is hoping that if she catches the killer in this time, it will lead her to getting home, before it is too late.

Any time that Armstrong is going to release a new series, I plan to be there to pick it up, especially if there is a mystery aspect to it. I like that Armstrong has switched it up from some of her other series but kept the elements that I like, for example the lack of modern forensic similar to her Rockton series.

This book starts out quite slow and this is due to the time period that Armstrong has decided to have Mallory time travel/body switch to, the Mid 1800s. In this era of time, women do not have rights, they are looked down upon by many, so having Mallory be part of murder investigations takes some time and work. Armstrong also has to take time to have Mallory adjust to her new way in life in this era, which means quite a bit of cleaning as a maid and learning who Catriona was to the people around her.

The book starts to pick up around the 50% mark and I really did not want to put the book down after that. It is around this mark that Mallory really becomes involved in the investigations the best that she can and it less about trying to adapt to the 1800s and more trying to figure out who the murderer is. I like the who-done-it aspect of the book and to good "old fashioned" detective work, with some modern thinking/theories thrown in as Mallory cannot deny who she is. Mallory has to be careful what she says and what she suggests as part of the investigation as she does not want to screw what is to come. This causes her to have to use more of a deduction skill in order to figure out who the murderer is.

I like Mallory as a character, as she has both whit and strength (though she does have to down play the whit at times due to the time period and people are unfamiliar with what she saying). I'm not sure any of us would adjust to waking up in someone else's body in a different time period half as well as Mallory did and this shows her strength. I like how Armstrong thought to put in how many times Mallory missed her phone from simple google searches to needing to use the map for directions to just wanting to kill some time. Mallory seemed more real that way as she was missing what many of us would in the convenience of our cell phones.

I did enjoy this book in the end, even though it was a slow start. I think that now that the leg work has been done with establishing Mallory as being able to participate in investigations the next books in the series will be faster paced and great read. I cannot wait to read the next book in this series.

Enjoy!!!

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