Disturbing the Dead (A Rip Through Time #3)[April 27, 2025]

[Yanique, Thread Master]

This is a Buddy Read for Disturbing the Dead by Kelley Armstrong starting on April 27, 2025.


Happy Reading!

[Nirkatze]

In!

Series schedule:
1. A Rip Through Time (Feb 27) [link]
2. The Poisoner's Ring (Mar 27) [link]
Short: Cocktails & Chloroform
3. Disturbing the Dead (Apr 27)
Short: Schemes & Scandals
4. Death at a Highland Wedding (May 27) [link]
5. Author has finished writing book 5! No title or updates and of course not scheduled, but FYI.

I can't find any information of if her A Stitch in Time series is in the same universe--anyone know?

Availability?

[Diana Stormblessed]

Started this one. I'm just over a quarter through. (view spoiler)[ I'm very suspicious of the new maid. She's either the author of the adventures of Grey and Mallory or she's been put into the role of maid by the author to get the inside scoop. (hide spoiler)]

I forgot about the shorts. I found them via kindle so I'll be eye reading those as well when I get a chance.

[Diana Stormblessed]

Chapter 29 😱

[Ann-Marie]

Diana Stormblessed wrote: "Chapter 29 😱"

YES!!!! I meant to post earlier but got distracted with work but OMG, this is really good <3

[Nirkatze]

Oooh! Looking forward to it! Hoping to start today!

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

Chapter 29!!! :D

I actually knew this was coming... I hinted at it in the first book thread, since I semi-spoiled it... but I didn't know all the details so it was a pleasant surprise to me, too...

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

Lorna: (view spoiler)[As a dissenting opinion, I think Lorna is a red herring on the story front... unless the stories suddenly get more accurate, then I'll change my tune... (hide spoiler)]

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

Diana Stormblessed wrote: "Started this one. I'm just over a quarter through. [spoilers removed]

I forgot about the shorts. I found them via kindle so I'll be eye reading those as well when I get a chance."

You can survive without reading the shorts, but they're clearly straddling the line of being required reading...

Cocktails and Chloroform improved Mallory's relationship with Alice...

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

I think I need to admit I'm a bigger fan of Kelley Armstrong than I've been willing to admit, because I soured on Women of the Otherworld before the end of the 13 book and many short stories series...

But, since then, I enjoyed the Cainville series (5 books), this series, and Nadia Stafford (3 books)... and Kelley Armstrong writes alot, so there's plenty of other series to try across many genres...

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

All finished... sad to be done, honestly... I loved this so much, and could easily binge the series...

[Diana Stormblessed]

Just finished. Ok so I hate to say it, especially considering how much I love this series, but I think the book took a downhill turn after chapter 29. (view spoiler)[ The way she got back (just being in the vicinity of the house), the way the letters disappeared so she knows her parents got them, the way the killer just happened to confess to everything right when they got there, Lorna being so obvious, Jack being the new maid. It’s all so convenient. It feels so lazy. First half of the book was 6 stars. Second was maybe 2.5/3. I still love the series but I’m a little disappointed by the ending of this one. (hide spoiler)]

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

Yea, I understand that...

[Nirkatze]

Started this last night and am loving it... Through Chapter 3--(view spoiler)[I'm really enjoying Annis being around to stir the pot. And it's amusing to watch Mallory and Gray mirror Isla and MacCreadie and not realize it. Then there's the new characters--the new maid (glad that's happened, wherever it goes) and the protestor... (hide spoiler)]

I'm not sure whether to look forward to or fear Chapter 29...

[Ann-Marie]

I finished yesterday and I enjoyed it quite a lot! I agree with Diana about some of her complaints (view spoiler)[Lorna was sketchy as hell and the way she got back to the past was a "seriously" moment for sure but I like that Jack is now the new maid, I like that character. I really like the main cast of characters and I hope that Annis is brought in on the secret soon. (hide spoiler)]

[Diana Stormblessed]

Nirkatze wrote: "Started this last night and am loving it... Through Chapter 3--[spoilers removed]

I'm not sure whether to look forward to or fear Chapter 29..."

Ha! (view spoiler)[ about the couples mirroring each other. They totally do lol (hide spoiler)]

[Diana Stormblessed]

Ann-Marie wrote: "I finished yesterday and I enjoyed it quite a lot! I agree with Diana about some of her complaints [spoilers removed]"

(view spoiler)[ Ok fine. I’ll admit that having Jack as the maid should be fun. I do love her. (hide spoiler)]

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

Diana Stormblessed wrote: "Ann-Marie wrote: "I finished yesterday and I enjoyed it quite a lot! I agree with Diana about some of her complaints [spoilers removed]"

[spoilers removed]"

(view spoiler)[Armstrong took some shortcuts to setup the character dynamics going forward, but I'm happy with where things ended up, and now the "what about going back to 21st century" elephant in the room is dealt with... and an excuse for Jack to be closer at hand is great, with her connections to Mab and the brothel lady/etc, tidies everything up...

Reminds me of Sebastian St. Cyr really, and the street urchin kid that becomes groom/squire/etc before too long, in that series, with all his connections... (hide spoiler)]

[Nirkatze]

Through Chapter 23 and coming up on that infamous 29... having a lot of fun... (view spoiler)[I absolutely adore Phoebe. I'd love to see more of her--maybe have Annis to sponsor her future or take her under her wing as a protege... I doubt we'll see her again past this book though. Then again--we're getting more Annis, Queen Mab, and Jack, so...

I'm also very curious about Lorna. She's too good at being outside doors all the time. Was that what got her in enough trouble to come to Isla's rehabilitating attention? And for these "stories" to start getting published at the same time. Is it too obvious?

Also really enjoying the historical aspects--the high age of foreign grave robbing/archaeological expeditions, the Seven, even the End of the World bar. (hide spoiler)]

[Nirkatze]

Okay, that's frustrating... I remember commenting circa chapter 33... maybe it's on my other computer or accidentally got erased mid-write...

Finished anyway!! I enjoyed the Chapter 29 sequence--like Iain, I pretty much was expecting it, but not because of blurbs, (view spoiler)[more because of the short flirting with the idea, and that it had to happen in order for Mallory to move on. I'm really glad she got to talk to her grandma, and that her family was so supportive--and that they're trying to figure out the time travel rules so they can still communicate.

I'd pretty much pinned Lorna as the leak to the Chapbooks, but not that she wasn't the writer herself. Jack spoiled me. I can also see what Diana's saying--the mysteries were pretty easily solved, and it wasn't even hard to prove them. But I still enjoyed it fine. Especially excited for Jack to join the household! (hide spoiler)]

[Nirkatze]

Read Schemes & Scandals yesterday and enjoyed it! Again flirts with the Novella rule, but doesn't toe it as hard as the previous one. (view spoiler)[This book rather deepens the path Mallory set herself on in the previous book--taking a first step dealing with the momentous decision of living her life in the past, and then letting Gray in the door right when she thought she would have to face a lot of this alone. So some emotional growth, some relationship depth--but otherwise... yeah, nothing super necessary.

I enjoyed the mystery and the new characters--and I enjoyed getting more detail on Gray's heavily-hinted love life. Similar to getting Alice's backstory in the previous short. Lady Inglis is an interesting character--I like how she subverted a lot of Mallory's expectations.

The sex banter was also funny--I enjoyed watching who blushed and who didn't. I especially enjoyed Jack trying to tweak Mallory and her hitting back harder. Oh, and I guess it also established Jack as not only a new member of the household but a valued new team member. (hide spoiler)]

[Diana Stormblessed]

Just finished Cocktails and Chloroform and loved it! I’m not really a short story person but this one was perfect. Fully fleshed out plot but didn’t feel rushed at all. On to Schemes and Scandals!

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

These shorts are more like half book novellas… longer than some P. Djeli Clark books…

[Diana Stormblessed]

It’s 130 pages, which is still pretty short. A lot of the short stories between books that I’ve read were longer but more pointless. I thought this was a good balance of short but meaty.

[Tammie]

I just started Cocktails and Chloroform. I wanted to read it before Disturbing the Dead.

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

Read Schemes and Scandals last night...

and 130 is half of a short book... the Firebrand books are 270 pages (Supernatural London)...

I thought Schemes and Scandals was really good... (view spoiler)[can't think of another historical mystery that dealt with a previous lover in a better / more complete way... (hide spoiler)]

[Nirkatze]

Yeah, I really loved both the novellas... I also like how they flesh out relationships but don't cross the novella rule line...

[Diana Stormblessed]

I’m reading Schemes and Scandals now but I was reading slowly to save it for my flight (just boarded). I’m so excited to finish it. I’m 25% in and loving it (no surprise given how much I love this series).

[Nirkatze]

So excited for the next book to come out this month... and also anticipating the post-book depression of not getting another one for a while...

[Tammie]

I finished Cocktails and Chloroform and I liked it better than The Poisoner's Ring. I'll probably be starting Disturbing the Dead tonight.

[Tammie]

Finished Disturbing the Dead. I liked this one a lot more than book 2. (view spoiler)[I figured Lorna was spying for the writer. Jack will make an interesting addition to the household. I like that we got closure on the present day timeline and that her family was supportive. It was a bit too neatly tied up for me. I do kind of wish that we could go back and forth in time in the books and that Mallory could be in her own body. The letters still being there under the loose floor boards that many years in the future is maybe a stretch, although things like that are found for real sometimes in old houses. It's a good thing the various owners over the years preserved the old floor instead of ripping it out and replacing it. Overall I enjoyed this even though the mystery was easy to figure out. (hide spoiler)]

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

It would be a fun prank to pull on future homeowners (view spoiler)[ hiding letters in walls/floors pretending to be a time traveler stuck in the past... (hide spoiler)]

[Tammie]

Haha, it would.

[Nirkatze]

Damn. And now I'm thinking--(view spoiler)[but you'd have to place them carefully, like purposefully make a god-awful room that would be easy to renovate, so they'd HAVE to tear down the walls and would find weird stuff in them... But then you'd have to live with that god-awful room... (hide spoiler)]

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

Need an easily removable floor plank in a kids room... Classic movie idea

[Nirkatze]

And now I'm imagining one of those traps where you step on a board and the end swings up and bonks you in the face.