The Poisoner’s Ring (A Rip Through Time 2) by Kelley Armstrong-review
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ABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date May 23, 2023
A modern-day homicide detective is working as an undertaker’s assistant in Victorian Scotland when a serial poisoner attacks the men of Edinburgh and leaves their widows under suspicion.
Edinburgh, 1869: Modern-day homicide detective Mallory Atkinson is adjusting to her new life in Victorian Scotland. Her employers know she’s not housemaid Catriona Mitchell—even though Mallory is in Catriona’s body—and Mallory is now officially an undertaker’s assistant. Dr. Duncan Gray moonlights as a medical examiner, and their latest case hits close to home. Men are dropping dead from a powerful poison, and all signs point to the grieving widows… the latest of which is Gray’s oldest sister.
Poison is said to be a woman’s weapon, though Mallory has to wonder if it’s as simple as that. But she must tread carefully. Every move the household makes is being watched, and who knows where the investigation will lead.
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REVIEW:THE POISONER’S RING is the second instalment in Kelley Armstrong’s adult A RIP THROUGH TIME time travel, mystery series focusing on thirty year old, Vancouver, Canada Police Detective Mallory Atkinson, and undertaker/investigator Dr. Duncan Gray. THE POISONER’S RING can be read as a stand alone without any difficulty but I recommend reading book one for back story and cohesion.
NOTE: If you have not read book one A RIP THROUGH TIME there may be spoilers in my review.
SOME BACKGROUND: In the spring of 2019 while visiting her ailing grandmother in Edinburgh Scotland, thirty year old, Vancouver British Columbia, Canada police detective Mallory Atkinson is attacked in an alley only to wake up as a nineteen year old housemaid in the year 1869, a housemaid who was also attacked and left for dead in the same alley where Mallory was found. Not only has our heroine time travelled back one-hundred and fifty years but she is no longer physically the same woman she was just minutes before. Working as a housemaid for Dr. Duncan Gray and his sister Isla, realizing life as she knew it was no longer under her control, Mallory must assume the position of nineteen year old Catriona Mitchell, a young woman whose history is questionable and dark.
Told from first person perspective (Mallory) THE POISONER’S RING follows in the wake of the death and suspected poisoning of a several men including Dr. Duncan Gray’s brother-in-law Lord Leslie. Believing there may be a ‘ring’ of women trying to ‘off’ their husbands, Duncan and Mallory go searching for the truth, using Mallory’s twenty-first century expertise, and nineteenth century clues but all is not as it appears to be as Duncan and Mallory become suspicious when the dead are connected by a common thread.
THE POISONER’S RING is another story of murder, mystery and suspense wherein Detective Mallory Atkinson, under the guise of nineteen year old Catriona Mitchell, is able to do what she does best. Duncan, his sister Isla, and Detective McCreadie are well aware of Mallory’s predicament, having barely questioned the reality of what is, and take the opportunity to learn how to ply their trade with the help of our heroine. The premise is detailed,puzzling and thought-provoking; the characters are dynamic and determined. There is a large ensemble cast of colorful and questionable secondary and supporting characters, some of whom we have met in the introductory story line. Once again, there is no romance between the leading characters- Duncan and Mallory know that Mallory’s life is no longer her own.
Click HERE for Sandy’s review of book one A RIP THROUGH TIME
Copy supplied by Netgalley
Reviewed by Sandy
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Kelley Armstrong has been telling stories since before she could write. Her earliest written efforts were disastrous. If asked for a story about girls and dolls, hers would invariably feature undead girls and evil dolls, much to her teachers’ dismay. All efforts to make her produce “normal” stories failed.
Today, she continues to spin tales of ghosts and demons and werewolves, while safely locked away in her basement writing dungeon. She’s the author of the NYT-bestselling “Women of the Otherworld” paranormal suspense series and “Darkest Powers” young adult urban fantasy trilogy, as well as the Nadia Stafford crime series. Armstrong lives in southwestern Ontario with her husband, kids and far too many pets.
