Death at a Highland Wedding + Giveaway!

Book Review

Death at a Highland Wedding
Mystery | Historical Fiction | Time Travel

Death at a Highland Wedding is the fourth installment in New York Times bestselling author Kelley Armstrong’s gripping Rip Through Time Novels, and we are so excited to have teamed up with the publisher to offer a hardcover giveaway of this novel! Giveaway details and entry can be found at the bottom of this post (or pop over to our Instagram page for two more chances to win!)

Mystery, historical fiction, time travel, and romance. Need I say more?

It’s not often that I follow along with a series as it’s being released, however, the A Rip Through Time series is one of my few exceptions. I’ve been eagerly following along with each new book in this series, and (while I think I say this every time), book four may just be my new favourite yet!

This historical mystery series follows the adventures of modern-day homicide detective Mallory, who has been whisked back in time to 1800s Scotland. (You can see our reviews for Book 2: The Poisoner’s Ring and Book 3: Disturbing the Dead here.) In this newest mystery, Mallory finds herself once again in the middle of a murder investigation, partnering up with undertaker Duncan Gray, and Detective Hugh McCreadie to solve the crime.

One of the things I’ve loved about this series is watching the numerous friendships and relationships strengthen and progress throughout each book. In this fourth book, our main characters have all really hit their stride together as a group, and that’s evident with strong camaraderie and some great bantering. There’s a strong romantic tension that’s been building throughout this series, and once again, it kept me on the edge of my seat. (I do wish we’d seen a little more progress in one of the storylines, but on the other hand, it has me eagerly anticipating book five.)

While the mystery aspect of this novel could be read as a standalone, I highly recommend tackling this series in order. (You can grab book one here!) I really enjoyed the overall plot of this mystery, and the suspects, motives, and reveal felt plausible and interesting. The setting was a huge part of the story, and I loved that we got to experience the Scottish Highlands. It’s always fun to learn a little bit more about Scotland in the 19th century and there were some interesting historical tidbits here — including policing procedures and wildlife. (Just me over here busy Googling Scottish wildcats!)

Now that more of the characters know about Mallory’s time-travelling experiences, there are a lot of really fun discussions about the differences between the present day and the period they’re in. Mallory is a lot freer with her modern-day reveals, and this makes for some really fun dialogue (and things to think about!)

My one critique is that there were quite a few suspects in this story and I did have a little trouble tracking who’s who. But otherwise, Armstrong’s writing is fluid and easy to read, giving us a strong sense of atmosphere and world-building. Not only was the mystery well-crafted, but our main characters are absolutely ones that you want to root for and return to and I can’t wait to see where Armstrong takes them next!

Recommended for:

Fans of time travel, romance, and mystery!

This post contains affiliate links; as an Amazon associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. Advance copy of the book provided courtesy of the publisher, St Martin’s Press. All opinions expressed are my own.

About the book:

(From the publisher): After slipping 150 years into the past, modern-day homicide detective Mallory Atkinson has embraced her new life in Victorian Scotland as housemaid Catriona Mitchel. Although it isn’t what she expected, she’s developed real, meaningful relationships with the people around her and has come to love her role as assistant to undertaker Dr. Duncan Gray and Detective Hugh McCreadie.

Mallory, Gray, and McCreadie are on their way to the Scottish Highlands for McCreadie’s younger sister’s wedding. The McCreadies and the groom’s family, the Cranstons, have a complicated history which has made the weekend quite uncomfortable. But the Cranston estate is beautiful so Gray and Mallory decide to escape the stifling company and set off to explore the castle and surrounding wilderness. They discover that the groom, Archie Cranston, a slightly pompous and prickly man, has set up deadly traps in the woods for the endangered Scottish wildcats, and they soon come across a cat who’s been caught and severely injured. Oddly, Mallory notices the cat’s injuries don’t match up with the intricacies of the trap. These strange irregularities, combined with the secretive and erratic behavior of the groom, put Mallory and Duncan on edge. And then when one of the guests is murdered, they must work fast to uncover the murderer before another life is lost.

New York Times bestselling author Kelley Armstrong’s unique time travel mystery series continues to entertain as Mallory adjusts to life in the 1870s.

Giveaway

It’s time for a giveaway! St Martin’s Press is graciously providing THREE hardcover giveaway copies of this book, Death at a Highland Wedding. We’ll be giving away one copy here on the website and two copies over on Instagram (so pop over there for another chance to win!)

Giveaway details: This giveaway is open to US and Canadian residents. One winner will be drawn from this 52 Book Club website giveaway and will win a hardcover copy of Death at a Highland Wedding. Winner must be willing to disclose their name and shipping address to The 52 Book Club and the publisher. Copy of the book will be shipped by St Martin’s Press. This giveaway closes on Thursday, May 22, 2025 at midnight PT.

Best of luck, bookworms!

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