Disturbing the Dead is the third installment in Kelley Armstrong's A Rip Through Time historical fiction murder series. I'm never disappointed by Kelley's novels.

We're back with Mallory, now that she is Dr. Duncan Gray's full-time assistant and no longer a housemaid. Annis invites all of them to accompany her to a mummy unraveling party at Sir Alastair Christie's home. Although Duncan and Sir Alastair did not get along, Duncan can't turn down this offer. When it comes time to unveil the mummy, Sir Alastair is nowhere to be found, so his sponsor (money person) asks Duncan to do it because he has surgery and medical knowledge, but he will only do it with Mallory's assistance. After they start unraveling the wrapping, they realize this cannot be an Egyptian mummy of unknown age, and soon find that it is Sir Alastair himself! Who would want to hurt him, and who would have had the knowledge to re-wrap him?

Mallory, Duncan, McCreadie, and Isla have their work cut out for them with this case. Lord Muir immediately tells them that it had to have been Florence King, a member of the Edinburgh Seven that had been demonstrating outside of Sir Alastair's house. The Edinburgh Seven were a group of women trying to get accepted into medical school, and Sir Alastair was speaking out against it. But that's not the only person who recently had issues with Sir Christie, and it will take a trip to Queen Mab and the underground market to start putting it all together.

The romance blooming between Mallory and Duncan is slowly moving in the right direction...if she could just be in her own body! Isla has another mystery to solve...the Adventures of the Gray Doctor, chronicling Duncan's cases, and making Mallory just seem like an empty-headed pretty face, which she hates. And the new housemaid, Lorna, leaves a little to be desired as well.

All in all, this is everything that I have come to expect from a Kelley Armstrong novel. Great writing, interesting characters, a fascinating mystery, and immersive world-building. If you enjoy historical fiction or a good murder mystery, then check out this series.

Thank you to @NetGalley and @Minotaur_Books for a digital copy for review consideration. All opinions are honest and my own. ( )

Ooh, I love Mallory's arc in this third installment of The Rip Through Time series. I am so happy she was able to find a solution to her problem and return to the correct timeline. I love that her parents were so understanding and accommodating and that Mallory was able to see her Nan before it was too late, I have a feeling we will see or hear from her body double in future novels, I think I may have figured out what happened there but we shall see.

Kate Handford did a great job narrating this novel and I could listen to her narrate a novel any day. I will definitely be looking for more books narrated by Kate in the future. ( )

Disturbing the Dead is the third book in the Rip Through Time historical mystery/ time travel series by Kelley Armstrong and it is just as enjoyable as the previous two books. It’s been six months since Mallory, a police detective officer in present day Vancouver, woke up in another woman’s body in Victorian Edinburgh after an assault. She has become more accustomed to her new life especially now that she has become Dr Duncan Grey’s assistant in his work with the police. This time they have been invited to the unwrapping of a mummy, a prospect both Mallory and Duncan find disgusting but it is not an invitation that can be ignored. When they arrive, the host seems to be unavailable so Duncan is coerced into doing the unwrapping, only to find, not a mummy inside, but the missing host. The ensuing investigation will take them to some dark places including an underground market where almost anything can be acquired if you have the right item to barter.

This book is compelling, well-written and perhaps the most macabre addition to the series, touching on some of the stranger aspects of Victorian life, not just their fascination with Egyptology but some rather disturbing folk remedies and I have to say I loved every minute of it. There are hints of more to come in the series and I am so looking forward to Mallory’s continued sojourn in the past. I received both an ebook and audiobook and read along while I listened. The audiobook is narrated by Kate Handford who does an excellent job including recreating the atmospheric feel surrounding much of the tale.

Thanks to Netgalley, St Martin’s Press, and Macmillan Audio for the opportunity to enjoy this book in exchange for an honest review ( )

Mallory Atkinson, a modern day detective, has found herself in 1860s Scotland. She has been invited to a mummy unwrapping party. Only to discover it is not a mummy…but a recently murdered body!

Let me preface this with I have been extremely sick this week. And I believe this is why I could not get into this book as well as I did with The Poisoner’s Ring. I kept zoning out during this one.

There is no better place to time travel to than 1800 Scotland. I love reading about the idiosyncrasies in this time period. I also enjoyed all the different situations Mallory found herself in. She would have to remind herself exactly where she was. But, she is on the case and she IS going to find the murderer!

The narrator, Kate Handford, did a very good job with all the voices.

Need a good time travel novel…THIS IS IT! Grab your copy today.

I received this novel from the publisher for a honest review. ( )

Praise for the latest in the Rip Through Time series!

A return to Victorian Edinburgh and the freak out life of a thirty year old, twenty-first century detective, who went to the aid of a woman being strangled in her time and woke to found herself trapped in the body of a nearly illiterate housemaid to a Dr. Duncan Gray. The maid Catroina had been a young, well endowed servant with sociopath tendencies, consequently Mallory has had trouble winning over her fellow servants. They’re all waiting for the other shoe to drop!
Now six months later Mallory Atkinson (her real name) is a valued member of the doctor’s household and has become Duncan’s forensic assistant. Mallory had been a dedicated homicide detective. She knew all about DNA, fingerprints etc. She has to be careful not to let her knowledge outstrip the times.
Much to her disgust Mallory is to attend a mummy unwrapping party with the Dowager Countess Lady Annis her siblings. Suffragette chemist sister Isla, Dr. Gray, her illegitimate brother, and Detective Hugh McCreadie (Gray’s friend)
The unwrapping begins, only to find the missing host within in said wrappings.
Now they have a murder to solve which necessitates the descent into a mysterious underground market, the meeting of the illusive Queen Mab, the Edinburgh Seven (females seeking to attain entrance to the medical profession), and a host of further surprising happenings which had me on my toes. This time the investigation is somewhat stranger than usual (although that’s an epitaph I’d apply to the entire series thus far).
A fulsome read!

A St. Martin’s Press ARC via NetGalley.
Many thanks to the author and publisher. ( )