Week 49 Review: Schemes & Scandals

From Goodreads:

It's Mallory Atkinson's first Christmas in Scotland. Victorian Scotland, that is. Also, as the twenty-first-century detective learns, Christmas really isn't a thing in Victorian Scotland. It's all about Hogmanay. But her boss, Dr. Duncan Gray, treats her to an early gift of tickets to the event of the season: a Charles Dickens reading. There, they bump into Lady Inglis—the lovely widow who has sent Gray sexy letters trying to entice him back to her bed.

Lady Inglis introduces Mallory to Dickens—the meeting of a lifetime—but in return she wants their help. She's being blackmailed. Someone stole letters she wrote to another lover and is threatening to publish them.

Mallory isn't sure what to make of Lady Inglis, but no woman deserves that, so she insists on taking the case with or without Gray's help. Growing tension between them soon tells Mallory that Gray is hiding a secret of his own. She has until Hogmanay to uncover the blackmailer…and, hopefully, to put things right with Gray so they can enjoy the holiday together.

My Review:
I loved reading this book! I've wanted to read it since the physical release, but the ebook only just came out, and I picked it up straight away! I love this series and Kelley Armstrong's writing, and this latest story was such a blast to read!

That this case deals with Duncan's ex-lover, one who sent a letter that Mallory's body's previous occupant had swept away with as potential blackmail material, well, that's complicated enought. But given that she's being blackmailed for letters to another guy, the one that caused her and Duncan to stop their fling, yeah, not a fun situation.

Watching this pair investigate, they're both dealing with sensitive temperaments, him because of who is being blackmailed, and her because she saw Charles Dickens, and knows that he's going to die soon. That the case was fairly simple, with only a small number of suspects, I loved watching how it would turn out! I guessed the culprit a little bit earlier in the text, not from the clues that they used because I missed them, but because the mention of the ransom amount in another context, and that raised alarm bells. So that was satisfying to read! 

The fact that Christmas was illegal in Scotland for a period of time, that's such a fascinating fact! That they have Hogmanay, which I'd never heard of before, was great. That ending with the gift-giving-including donuts, I loved that! 

Loved reading this book, and I can't wait to read more by Kelley Armstrong! 

Author: Kelley Armstrong 
Series: A Rip Through Time #3.5
Read: December 3rd, 2024 
Source: Ebook.bike
Reason Why: Love her writing and this series, and it's a Historical Fiction 2024 Book, Prequel & Sequel Challenge 2024 Book and a WoW Book!
Publisher: K.L.A. Fricke Inc.
Published: December 3rd 2024

5/5 Hearts

5/5 Books

5/5 Stars