ARC Review: Disturbing the Dead by Kelley Armstrong

Disturbing the Dead
Author: Kelley Armstrong
Series: A Rip Through Time Novel (Book 3)
Publication: Minotaur Books (May 7, 2024)

Description: Disturbing the Dead is the latest in a unique series with one foot in the 1860s and the other in the present day. The Rip Through Time crime novels are a genre-blending, atmospheric romp from New York Times bestselling author Kelley Armstrong.

Victorian Scotland is becoming less strange to modern-day homicide detective Mallory Atkinson. Though inhabiting someone else’s body will always be unsettling, even if her employers know that she’s not actually housemaid Catriona Mitchell, ever since the night both of them were attacked in the same dark alley 150 years apart. Mallory likes her job as assistant to undertaker/medical examiner Dr. Duncan Gray, and is developing true friends―and feelings―in this century.

So, understanding the Victorian fascination with death, Mallory isn't that surprised when she and her friends are invited to a mummy unwrapping at the home of Sir Alastair Christie. When their host is missing when it comes time to unwrap the mummy, Gray and Mallory are asked to step in. And upon closer inspection, it’s not a mummy they’ve unwrapped, but a much more modern body.

My Thoughts: Mallory and her friends are invited to a mummy unwrapping party in this third book in the Rip Through Time series. She is settling in as Duncan Gray's assistant as he helps the police with their investigations and becomes one of the first forensic scientists. 

When the host of the mummy unwrapping party disappears, Gray needs to step in and unwrap the mummy to prevent the well-healed guests from rioting. Unfortunately, the unwrapping leads to the discovery of Sir Alastair Christie's murdered body. 

There are a number of suspects to the murder from a young suffragette protesting Sir Alastair's stand on women attending medical school to his sponsor for his Egyptological investigations to someone who wanted either the mummy for the production of medicine or who wanted the antiquities to enrich themselves. 

Mallory, Gray and McCreadie explore lots of possibilities as they investigate the murder. Mallory even visits an underground market where suspicious items are routinely sold in the company of Queen Mab. 

And all the while they are investigating, they are plagued by a series of broadsheets depicting the "adventures" of the mysterious Doctor Gray and his winsome assistant. Searching for the author of those broadsheets adds another task to the busy investigators. 

Mallory, who has been trying to find a way back to her own time period since her arrival in Scotland in 1869, does find her way home in time to say goodbye to her beloved grandmother. But then she, with her parents' encouragement, makes the decision to return to 1869 where she has found a group of friends and a purpose for her life. 

I enjoyed this story very much. I liked the modern young woman who is making her life in a time period that is not her own. I liked that she was concerned with "spoilers" - things she knew about the future which she couldn't share. I also liked the way the other characters accepted her. There was quite a bit of humor in this episode. 

Favorite Quote:

"Then ask her to tell you about the town called Chicken because no one could spell 'ptarmigan.' At least someone will believe that tall tale."

"Hey, can you spell 'ptarmigan'?" I say.

"I do not even know what a ptarmigan is, and I am quite certain you are making that up, too."

"Actually, she's not," McCreadie says. "It's a type of grouse found in very cold regions. Do not ask me to spell it, though I am pleased to know something you do not, Duncan."

I received this one in exchange for an honest review from NetGalley. You can buy your copy here.