A Rip Through Time by Kelley Armstrong

 

"When you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth." - From A Rip Through Time by Kelley Armstrong

Who doesn't love a good time travel story?  I am a sucker for the genre, a passion that began years ago with the book Bid Time Return and movie based on it, Somewhere in Time.  I will generally give nearly any book featuring time travel a go, oftentimes to my delight (see aforementioned Bid Time Return) and sometimes to my detriment (looking at you, The Time Traveler's Wife).  Fortunately, this book, hit me in all the right places.  It has mystery, serial killer(s), Victorian Scotland and a Jack the Ripper connection and had me engrossed.  

Our heroine, Mallory Atkinson, is a Canadian homicide detective who is in Edinburgh, Scotland to be with her grandmother during her final days.  One evening, while out for some air, she is attacked in the historic Grassmarket area and loses consciousness.  Upon coming to, she finds herself in 1869 Edinburgh and in the body of a young housemaid named Catriona, who herself was attacked in the same location, on the same date as Mallory 150 years earlier.  Mallory must not only try to figure out how to return back to present day but to survive as a housemaid in Victorian Scotland, while looking for the individual who attacked Catriona - and decipher if it's possible that while she somehow found a rip in the fabric of time, could her present-day attacker have done the same.  

I found Mallory to be a very likable and relatable character.  She didn't do anything out of character solely for the sake of the plot and remained true to who she was.  She was smart and savvy - and definitely helped along by her 1869 employer, Dr. Duncan Gray, who works as an undertaker but is most curious about early forensics and works as a medical examiner on the side.    

Along for the ride are Dr. Gray's sister, Isla, who tends to employ staff who have had run-ins with the law and works as a secret chemist; Alice, a young adolescent working as a servant in the house who has a troubled relationship with Catriona; Mrs. Wallace, the housekeeper who doesn't trust Catriona (and perhaps with very good reason); and Detective Hugh McCreadie, who is on the hunt for a killer and will need the help of both Mallory and Dr. Gray.

A Rip Through Time has everything to keep you turning those pages - action, mystery, and suspense sprinkled with healthy doses of humor.   I appreciated that Dr. Gray comes to appreciate Mallory-as-Catriona's knowledge and help without any kind of romantic overture and that his sister Isla is a woman quite ahead of her time. 

The book was a very satisfying read and its conclusion leads naturally into a sequel -- hooray!

If you like historical fiction, mysteries and/or time travel, A Rip Through Time is definitely for you.

Disclosure:  I borrowed this book from my local library.  My views and opinions are my own.  I was neither paid nor compensated for this review.