In this series debut from New York Times bestselling author Kelley Armstrong, a modern-day homicide detective finds herself in Victorian Scotland—in an unfamiliar body—with a killer on the loose.

May 20, 2019: Homicide detective Mallory is in Edinburgh to be with her dying grandmother. While out on a jog one evening, Mallory hears a woman in distress. She’s drawn to an alley, where she is attacked and loses consciousness.

May 20, 1869: Housemaid Catriona Thomson had been enjoying a half-day off, only to be discovered that night in a lane, where she’d been strangled and left for dead . . . exactly one-hundred-and-fifty years before Mallory was strangled in the same spot.

When Mallory wakes up in Catriona's body in 1869, she must put aside her shock and adjust quickly to the reality: life as a housemaid to an undertaker in Victorian Scotland. She soon discovers that her boss, Dr. Gray, also moonlights as a medical examiner and has just taken on an intriguing case, the strangulation of a young man, similar to the attack on herself. Her only hope is that catching the murderer can lead her back to her modern life . . . before it's too late.

Outlander meets The Alienist in Kelley Armstrong's A Rip Through Time, the first book in this utterly compelling series, mixing romance, mystery, and fantasy with thrilling results.

It is 2019 and thirtyish Mallory Atkinson is in Edinburgh to be with her dying grandmother. Late one evening she goes for a jog and hears the sounds of a woman in distress coming from a dark alley. As a Canadian police detective she naturally goes into the alley to help but ends up being attacked, strangled and passing out only to awaken in 1869 as an 18-year-old housemaid, Catriona, in the household of Doctor Duncan Gray. Catriona has a checkered past and present, she bullies the young housemaid and regularly steals from her employers. When Mallory/Catriona begins to act differently, doing her chores promptly, being able to read and write and showing interest in Gray’s moonlighting as a medical examiner for a police detective everyone is somewhat suspicious even as she claims to have turned over a new leaf after her near-death experience.  When Gray’s widowed sister gives her an ultimatum - return a piece of stolen jewelry or leave the house - Mallory is attacked again and begins to fear that the maniac killer who attacked her in 2019 has also been transported to 1869 and is determined to make a name for himself as a murderer. As Mallory helps Gray and his friend Detective McCreadie on the murder cases she hopes that finding the murderer will also help her find her way home to her own time.

This is the start of a new series, part mystery, part romance and part time travel fantasy. The characters are well thought out and multi-faceted.  Gray’s investigative techniques are the beginnings of what will become basic forensic science in the future though officials do not take him seriously as he is both illegitimate and has an Indian mother.  Mallory has to tread carefully to not seem too knowledgeable about crime investigation while also paying the price for Catriona’s many misdeeds. Gray’s widowed half-sister Isla is a talented chemist constrained by Victorian mores and laws to hide her talents. Even the minor characters - the groom Simon, the housemaid Alice and the housekeeper Mrs. Wallace are fleshed out. This was a truly enjoyable read and I look forward to the next entry in the series. ~~ Stephanie L Bannon

For more titles in this series click here
For more titles by Kelley Armstrong click here