Author: Jess Armstrong
Series: Ruby Vaughn Mysteries (Book 3)
Publication: Minotaur (November 4, 2025)
Description: Set after the Great War, Jess Armstrong’s USA Today bestselling and award-winning series is historical gothic murder mystery at its best, and Ruby Vaughn returns in The Devil in Oxford.
If someone were to ask American heiress Ruby Vaughn how exactly the occult came to play such a large role in her life, she would immediately point to her octogenarian housemate and employer, Mr. Owen. Together, the pair run a rare book shop in Exeter. Mr. Owen’s penchant for arcane, unusual—and occasionally illegal—books has been known to get Ruby into her fair share of trouble. And after the last year, she is looking forward to spending a quiet holiday in picturesque Oxford while Mr. Owen attends the annual meeting of his antiquarian society. Secretly, Ruby is also looking for a holiday from her confounding feelings for Ruan Kivell, the intriguing folk healer Pellar that she met in Cornwall.
When Mr. Owen secures two tickets to an upcoming exhibition of artifacts amassed by disgraced scholar Julius Harker, Ruby reluctantly agrees to attend. The evening turns out to be more eventful than either of them bargained for. Harker’s dead body is discovered amongst the collection, his business partner is hastily arrested, and Ruan arrives…wanting to speak with Ruby. It seems both the arcane and her Pellar have followed Ruby to Oxford.
The murder case is suspicious at best, but the last thing Ruby wants is another investigation. That is, until an old friend comes begging for Ruby’s help. It soon becomes painfully clear that there is more going on in Oxford than meets the eye. Ruby and Ruan will have to uncover the dark secrets of the competitive world of antiquities while trying to understand the peculiar force that keeps drawing them back together.
My Thoughts: It is 1922 and Christmas time. Ruby Vaughn and Mr. Owens are spending time in Oxford where Mr. Owens is attending an Antiquarian Society annual meeting. Ruby is hoping for a quiet time free from the occult and murder investigations where she can consider her relationship with Ruam Kivell.
However, an invitation to an exhibition of artifacts leads to a dead body stuffed into an airtight container. Ruby could consider it not her problem until a friend comes to her begging for her help solving the crime.
When Ruan also arrives in Oxford, he and Ruby find themselves trying to discover just what is going on. Ruan was a student at Oxford and has a number of acquaintances including the father of his bewst friend who died duting the war.
With missing artifacts, a missing book from the Bodleian, and possible drug smuggling, Ruby would have enough to deal with. But piling on is the appearance of another imposter claiming to be her mother who was lost along with her father and sister on the Lusitania.
When Ruby starts seeing things and having flashbacks to her time as an ambulance driver during the First World War, she fears that she is losing her mind and becomes plagued with even more disturbing dreams. Fighting to determine what is real becomes a large part of this story.
I enjoyed the setting and the characters in this third Ruby Vaughn mystery.
I received this one in exchange for an honest review from NetGalley. You can buy your copy here.
I received this one in exchange for an honest review from NetGalley. You can buy your copy here.
This sounds like something I would like but it’s not on Netgalley. Sigh!
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