Risingshadow
Speculative Fiction Books Database
  • Main
    • Home
    • About Us
    • Articles
    • Terms of Service
    • Staff Members
    • Finnish (FI)
  • Browse
    • Activity Feed
    • New Books
    • Upcoming Books
    • Advanced Search
    • Book Reviews
    • Genres & Tags
  • Wall
    • Community Wall
    • Recent Messages
    • Recent Topics
    • Hot Topics
    • Popular Topics
    • Search
  • Challenge
    • Reading Challenge
    • Book Trivia Quiz
  • Sign In

The Poisoner's Ring

Rip Through Time #2 / 5
by Kelley Armstrong
The Poisoner's Ring (Rip Through Time #2) by Kelley Armstrong
  ★ 8.00 / 1
1★2★3★4★5★6★7★18★9★10★

A modern-day homicide detective is working as an undertaker's assistant in Victorian Scotland when a serial poisoner attacks the men of Edinburgh and leaves their widows under suspicion.

Edinburgh, 1869: Modern-day homicide detective Mallory Atkinson is adjusting to her new life in Victorian Scotland. Her employers know she’s not housemaid Catriona Mitchell―even though Mallory is in Catriona’s body―and Mallory is now officially an undertaker’s assistant. Dr. Duncan Gray moonlights as a medical examiner, and their latest case hits close to home. Men are dropping dead from a powerful poison, and all signs point to the grieving widows… the latest of which is Gray’s oldest sister.

Poison is said to be a woman’s weapon, though Mallory has to wonder if it’s as simple as that. But she must tread carefully. Every move the household makes is being watched, and who knows where the investigation will lead.

New York Times bestselling author Kelley Armstrong is known for her exquisite world building, and this latest series is no exception. The Poisoner's Ring brings the intricacies of Victorian Scotland alive as Mallory again searches for a 19th-century killer as well as a way home.

Amazon: Check Best Offer

Book Order
Amazon
Kindle
Audible
Amazon CA
Amazon UK
Amazon Europe

Your Rating
☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆
Standard Shelves
Updated 06/02/2025
Category: Historical Fiction, Mystery, Time Travel
Release date: May 23, 2023

People Also Read

The Eight (The Eight #1)
  ★ 7.46 / 13
Polostan (Bomb Light #1)
  ★ 9.00 / 2
The Frozen River
  ★ 8.00 / 1
Eliza Mace (Eliza Mace Mysteries #1)
  ★ 8.00 / 1
Foul Lady Fortune (Foul Lady Fortune #1)
  ★ 8.00 / 1
The Briar Club
  ★ 8.00 / 1
The Star and the Strange Moon
  ★ 8.00 / 1
Join the Ongoing Discussion
Start a New Topic (Visitors Welcome)
Have questions about this book or want to share your thoughts? Join the conversation!
Kelley Armstrong

Kelley Armstrong

Few writers navigate the shadows between the supernatural and the psychological quite like Kelley Armstrong. From the haunting forests of Bitten to the chilling revelations of The Masked Truth, her stories don’t just ask you to suspend disbelief—they dare you to believe in something darker, something just beyond the veil of the everyday. Her books aren't designed merely to entertain; they are invitations to worlds where secrets breed monsters and survival often depends on trust that’s always a little too fragile.

Read more ...

Born and raised in Ontario, Canada, Armstrong didn’t follow a straight path into the literary world. Her early years saw her immersed in computer programming, a world of logic and structure that contrasts sharply with the instinct-driven storytelling she would later become known for. But it’s that contrast—precision meeting chaos—that now defines much of her work. Whether she’s crafting tense psychological thrillers or building layered fantasy universes, she grounds every twist and revelation in characters that feel vividly, often uncomfortably, real.

Armstrong first made waves with her Women of the Otherworld series, a genre-blending urban fantasy saga that challenged traditional narratives about power, femininity, and identity. Readers were introduced to Elena Michaels, the only known female werewolf, in a narrative that mixed horror with introspection and action with emotional complexity. The series’ success was more than commercial—it helped shape the urban fantasy landscape for a generation of readers and writers.

Her storytelling has since evolved across genres and age groups. The Darkest Powers and Darkness Rising trilogies brought her signature mix of suspense and the supernatural to young adult audiences, while her Rockton mysteries—set in a hidden town off the grid—blend thriller, isolation horror, and emotional intimacy with unsettling ease. No matter the setting, her themes remain consistent: trust under pressure, identity in flux, and the tension between instinct and reason.

Kelley Armstrong’s longevity as a bestselling author isn't rooted in formulas or trends. It's in her ability to listen—to her characters, to her readers, to the fear that simmers under the surface of everyday life. With over thirty novels translated worldwide and a loyal readership spanning genres and generations, she continues to write stories that linger long after the final page, often when the lights are off and the house is quiet.

Because in a Kelley Armstrong novel, the monsters are never just make-believe. They're reflections. They're questions. And sometimes, they’re waiting just outside the door.

Rip Through Time

In a city cloaked in gaslight and grit, where every shadow seems to whisper a secret, time tears open—and someone falls through.

Rip Through Time unspools its mystery with eerie elegance, blending historical suspense, slow-burn crime drama, and a speculative twist that sidesteps the usual time-travel tropes. The series begins not with a machine or a portal, but with a single, brutal attack that rips a 21st-century homicide detective out of her world and into the body of a woman in 1869 Edinburgh. What follows is not a frantic scramble to get home, but a calculated reckoning with the past—its brutality, its beauty, and its buried truths.

Read more ...

At the center of this atmospheric crime series is a woman out of time, forced to hide her identity while using modern instincts to navigate a world that barely tolerates her presence, let alone her intelligence. The city itself becomes a living character: dark alleys, bloodied cobblestones, and drawing rooms hiding crueler truths than any backstreet. As she becomes entangled in Victorian-era murder investigations, the clash of eras reveals not only how far we've come—but how much still lingers in the dark.

What makes this series stand apart isn’t just the clever interplay between historical detail and investigative grit—it’s the tension that hums beneath every interaction, the danger of being discovered not just as a stranger, but as a woman with knowledge no one can explain. It’s a story built on dualities: instinct vs. decorum, memory vs. illusion, and the kind of justice that doesn’t always follow the letter of the law.

For readers who crave crime fiction with a twist of the uncanny—and a setting that drips with gothic mood—this series offers a slow burn with a sharp edge, where every solved murder raises deeper questions and time itself might be the most dangerous thing of all.


Rip Through Time consists of four books and series is set to expand with the upcoming release of two more books. The current recommended reading order for the series is provided below.

A Rip Through Time (Rip Through Time #1)
not yet rated
The Poisoner's Ring (Rip Through Time #2)
  ★ 8.00 / 1
Disturbing the Dead (Rip Through Time #3)
  ★ 7.50 / 2
Death at a Highland Wedding (Rip Through Time #4)
not yet rated
Kirkyards & Kindness (Rip Through Time #4.5)
  ⧗ 8.00 / 1
Rip Through Time Book 5 (Rip Through Time #5)
  ⧗ 8.00 / 1


Back to Top
  • Risingshadow
  • Browse
  • Kelley Armstrong
  • Rip Through Time
  • The Poisoner's Ring
Follow Us: Newsletter | Facebook | X | Mastodon | RSS
Hosted by Planeetta Internet Oy
© 1996 - 2025 Risingshadow. All rights reserved.

This website uses cookies to ensure you get the best experience on our website.

Privacy Policy