The second book in the Rip Through Time series, The Poisoner's Ring is a murder mystery in 1869 Scotland. Next up is the third book, Disturbing the Dead, which came out on May 7th.

We're back in Edinburgh with Mallory as she takes over Catriona's life as a housemaid. Now that Dr. Duncan Gray, Mrs. Isla Ballantyne, and Detective Hugh McCreadie all know that Catriona is no longer Catriona, Gray and McCreadie have accepted Mallory's assistance on bodies and cases. When their new case takes them to Gray and Isla's estranged sister's home, everything gets more complicated. Annis's husband Lord Leslie has been poisoned, the third one in a short time. Everything points to the wives being the culprits, but Annis wouldn't kill her husband...would she? She isn't the easiest person to get along with, and her husband wasn't great either, so she had good reason. Now Mallory, Gray, McCreadie, and Isla must investigate to prove that Annis did not poison her husband...and that Isla didn't help her. Can they unravel this mystery before both sisters are sent to the gallows for being part of a poisoner's ring?

Kelley Armstrong's novels never let me down. There's an interesting story, great research, wonderful characters, and a fulfilling conclusion that you don't need state-of-the-art forensics to solve. Mallory and Duncan's relationship is getting closer, but there's always the threat of her leaving at any point...and the fact that she's in a 19 year old's body. The way they all care about each other and try to protect each other is heart-warming.

All in all, this was a great addition to the Rip Through Time series. A strong female character in a time when women aren't allowed to be strong or think for themselves is definitely a plus. ( )

I am enjoying the books in Armstrong's Rip Through Time series (I should probably mention this is book 2 in the series). Mallory's 'voice' and observations of 19th century Scotland from a 21st century point of view is refreshing. Now that she no longer engages in subterfuge with her employers, the candid conversations (and confused questions) give this otherwise grim murder mystery a bit of sass and levity. Let's be honest, restrictive 19th century clothing really hampers one's ability to run and is just not practical if one has to engage in a bit of street fighting! I love the Edinburgh Scotland setting. Yes, some time travel purists may take issue with the freedom with which Mallory shares certain knowledge from the future with the characters that know she is 'from the future', but it is fiction so, tough toenails... I am enjoying it, I think because Mallory does not spend half the time (or any of time really) trying to get back to her time, this is more a straightforward murder mystery. As for the murder mystery itself, this was a good one. Some interesting twists and turns and enough scientific evidence to make it work. Overall, this one is really not that much different from my typical historical fiction murder mystery reading. I hope there will be more books in the series published. ( )

Series Info/Source: This is the second book in A Rip Through Time series. I borrowed a copy of this on audiobook from my library.

Thoughts: I thought the first book in this series was fairly predictable and slow and because of that I hadn't planned to continue with the series. Then I read the short story released earlier this year "Cocktails and Chloroform" and absolutely loved it and decided to go back and pick up this book in the series and read it before the next (third) book releases. Unfortunately, I had the same issue with this book as I had with the first book in this series. It's okay, but was too slow for me...it's just a very deliberately paced methodical police procedural with a Victorian time travel twist.

The story follows Mallory, a modern day detective, who finds herself stuck in the body of a house maid in Victorian Scotland. Her employers now know she is not a house maid and have allowed her to help assist Dr. Gray, who is an undertaker and the lord of the household. In this book Mallory and Dr. Gray get drawn into a series of murders by poison. There is an added twist that Dr. Gray's sister is a well known chemist and the latest murder is the husband of Dr. Gray's other sister (an abrasive woman who had a very vocal and public dislike of her husband). The stakes are high because so much of Gray's family is involved and more poison murders seem to popping up left and right!

This was okay. I enjoy Gray's family and Dr. Gray himself, but Mallory comes off as a bit vanilla to me. I like that this is set in Victorian Scotland, which does have some subtle differences from Victorian England, so it was nice to have a different setting. I found the murder mystery moved at a slow pace and wasn't very surprising, this just wasn't full of the fun twists and turns I see in a lot of Armstrong's books...or maybe it was but they were just really predictable twists and turns.

I also feel like the whole time travel aspect of the story is shoved to the back seat the whole story. Yes, it's mentioned when something isn't familiar to Mallory or when she uses a modern day term that others don't understand. However, how the time travel aspects tie in with the rest of the story really isn't addressed. Aside from that initial time travel incident in the first book, there isn't any magic or wonder here...it's a very straightforward police procedural style murder mystery. It feels very ho-hum and I kept expecting something that was just.....more.

I listened to this on audiobook and the audiobook is well done and easy to listen to. I struggled a bit with finishing it because I just never really cared or was sucked in to the story. I had to really force myself to push through this. I need to remind myself to read this review when the third book comes out so I don't grab it to read! I generally love everything Armstrong writes but, aside from the "Cocktails and Chloroform" short story, this series has been a miss for me. I enjoy her other time travel series, A Stitch in Time, a lot more.

My Summary (3/5): Overall I found this fairly disappointing. I should have stuck with my initial decision to stop reading this series after the first book. This is just a fairly straightforward murder mystery...there's nothing really fantastic or intriguing here. The time travel part that was introduced in the first book takes a back seat to the murder mystery and really doesn't tie into the story much. I don't plan on reading more of this series...unless I forget that plan and pick up the third book because I see it's by Armstrong and just pick it up on auto. ( )

I don't think Kelley Armstrong could write a bad book. I love her writing style and the way she mixes this 1869 Victorian style with a modern detective that is stuck in a different era is just awesome.

In this second book to A Rip through time series, men are being poisoned and evidence seems to be pointing towards the widows, even Dr. Gray and Isla's sister Annis are not exempt from this. The story will keep you hooked in this well paced story.
The chemistry between Dr. Gray and Mallory is a perfect build without pushing boundaries that most books do and Mallory friendship with Isla is one to envy.

Every character is written with depth and care that you can't help but love or hate and simply just want more. There is so much to say but I don't want to give any spoilers so just read this book and if you don't have time to read it then pick up the audio because that was also well read, the narrator does such an awesome job.
5 out 5 star rating. I hope she has another coming out soon. this one was released in May of this year so we shall see.

highly recommend, love it :) ( )

This series continues to be absolutely delightful. It's strength lies in how richly drawn its characters are, and how distinct each of the voices are. Even with new characters introduced, their voices do not get muddled and the writing leaves one wanting to learn more about the characters.
I really enjoyed it.
Being a romance gal, the slowwwwww burn is killing me but I do appreciate that there are real, weighty issues to Mallory and Gray being together and I cant wait to see how those are resolved.

Bring on book 3!

Huge thanks to NetGalley and St Martin's Press for the ARC ( )