A Murder in Time

I have long been on record as being a total coward when it comes to my reading but recently I've been trying to open myself up to some mysteries. I've been looking for not quite cozies but not nightmare-inducing either and when I read the jacket copy for A Murder in Time by Julie McElwain, I thought it sounded like it might hit that sweet spot. Note to self that if the main character is an FBI profiler and she's tracking a serial killer, even if she has time traveled from the present to 1815, the book is likely to be far too gruesome for my overly active imagination. I had to sit and read this through in one sitting to make sure that the baddie was appropriately punished and I still managed to have nightmares about the graphic and truly show more evil murders. I loved the premise but the rest was too much and over the top for me, in multiple ways.

Opening in 1815 with a clandestine gathering that culminates in an unnamed man reveling in the fear and pain of a specially chosen prostitute, the book then moves to present day US. Kendra Donovan is a former prodigy and the only woman on an elite FBI SWAT team tasked with taking down a terrorist. She has uncovered a larger web of involvement than her superiors anticipated and when she lobbies to be on the field team to make the bust, she is granted her wish. So she's in the thick of it when the mission goes horribly wrong, team members are killed, and Kendra herself is badly wounded. After a long and grueling recovery, she is determined to deliver justice to the man who got away. In trying to administer justice, she inexplicably stumbles through time, ending up in 1815, where, posing as a servant, she will be caught up in the dangerous investigation into a serial killer.

Aside from the grisly descriptions of murders, which were always going to be hard for me to read, McElwain has done a beautiful job describing the era, the clothing, and stately Aldridge castle. Her characters are, unfortunately, less believably drawn than the setting is. Kendra, despite being incredibly smart, can be beyond stupid in order to move the plot along. She ignores her own highly specialized training during the investigation, placing herself in dangerous situations, she is incapable of even trying to fit into the time and society in which she finds herself despite knowing she absolutely must stay at the castle to have any chance of going back through the wormhole to her own time, and she cannot simply observe rather than diving in head first before thinking, a trait that actually wouldn't serve her well as a profiler, a job at which she is said to have excelled. The reader is repeatedly told she is incredibly smart but, frustratingly, the bulk of the plot happens to her rather than because of her. And it may seem silly to say that there are unbelievable things in a murder mystery predicated on time travel, but avoidable anachronisms in other pieces of the plot belittle the reader's intelligence. For instance, few of the men, gentry all, exhibit more than a token resistance to not only a woman, but a woman of the servant class, taking charge of an entire investigation and ordering them about. This is passed off as entertaining to them but they will allow it because they recognize her superior intellect and because of her American origins. And Kendra's language is so unchecked and modern that it should be almost incompehensible to the men who rarely seem to need a translation. Their immediate acceptance of everything unusual about Kendra is simply a signal of how enlightened, forward thinking, and intelligent they are.

The narration focuses mainly on Kendra but there are occasional shifts to other characters which, while illuminating their take on this odd person in their midst, also effectively rules them out as the murderer, despite the fact that they should be suspects right up until the final reveal. Brief chapters through the murderer's eyes are dropped into the narrative very occasionally to highlight his utter depravity and they are effective and rather stomach churning. There are quite a few historical mistakes, multiple etiquette breaches (in addition to the ones that Kendra seemingly makes intentionally), and the romance in the end feels tacked on for no apparent reason. Yet something kept me reading. I personally won't be reading the next in the series, mainly for the gory bits, but I can see why people who can suspend disbelief would want to continue on despite the very obvious flaws here. This had a strange and intriguing premise, lacked in the execution, and yet I almost liked it. Rather a conundrum at that. show less

How would a contemporary FBI agent conduct a murder investigation in the early 19th century without the 21st century forensic technology and being required to navigate through the gender and social class constraints? This is the premise behind the first in the Kendra Donovan historical-suspense series.

When a FBI sting operation goes terribly wrong resulting in the death of Agent Donovan's comrade, she goes rogue and seeks personal justice. Going undercover in England, she is hired as a maid in an upcoming reenactment of life at an early 19th British manor. While escaping a shooting, she escapes down a private staircase into the 19th century and, shortly after her arrival, to the scene of a serial murder.

The technology behind the time show more travel is not revealed. It appears to be only a plot device to implement the premise I opened this review with and not an essential element to the story. Although Kendra does use contemporary jargon which confused the British aristocracy, it isn't overused. Overall the novel was well written, characters well developed, and an enjoyable mystery and murder investigation. I will be reading further in the Kendra Donovan series. show less

Kendra is a profiler with the FBI. She is injured in a shoot out that involved one of her own as a traitor; someone else died. (I missed a bunch of activity, then) suddenly she wakes up in the early 19th century where a teenage girl is found murdered. For the brief time Kendra has been here, she’s been pretending to be a servant. She can tell right away this murder is the work of a serial killer and he will kill again, but how does she convince the aristocracy to believe her so she can help find the killer? They mostly tended not to think women were terribly smart at the time, and how could she know some of the things she knows?

I really liked this. I listened to the audio and except for the present day stuff (I did miss a bunch at show more the very beginning and had a hard time focusing at the very end when we were back in current day), the entire rest of the book was interesting and appealing to me. I liked that the current-day investigator was unable to rely on many current-day technologies, and instead had to use “traditional” style techniques in her investigation. I really liked this and will continue the series. show less

I absolutely loved this novel. I loved the blending of the present with the past and I think the author did a fantastic job with this through the character of Kendra. What I enjoyed most about this novel was the process by which Kendra solves the murders. The author isn't too detailed but the information presented is done in an artful way such that it remains interesting to read. All of the different characters were drawn up really well and did a great job of supporting the main character. The murders were graphic, and there is definitely profanity in the story but it worked with the kind of story being told here; it all made the story seem more realistic. This book was fast-paced and intriguing and I could not put it down! I heard show more there is a second novel coming out and I am definitely placing it on my list to read as soon as it is released! If you like historical fiction and murders, then this is the novel for you! show less

Kendra Donovan appears to have everything going for her. She's gorgeous, a child prodigy who went to Princeton at fourteen, and now works as a profiler for the FBI. The trouble is, all those assets just seem to make her a liability among her coworkers. During an important mission Kendra is shot multiple times. After several weeks of recovery she is told one of the suspects has been given a deal in return for helping them in the future.

Now Kendra is out for justice, but she is forbidden to go near the witness. She follows him to a party at an old English manor house, but when she finally confronts him, something happens and she is suddenly thrust back to the same house, but in 1815. She's completely confused and is put to work as a show more ladies maid, until a woman's body is found in the river, strangled and slashed in a way that Kendra notes is similar to a serial killer. She decides to do the investigation herself. She doesn't have the tools that a 21st Century profiler has, but she feels like she's the only one who can find the killer.

I wasn't sure if I would actually like this novel when I started it but it incorporates two genres I really enjoy......time travel and mystery. I found this story to be atmospheric, packed with lots of action, and plenty of lively characters. I thought the author made Kendra a bit too stereotypical for this type heroine....too beautiful, too brilliant, etc. But that's not the worst thing that can happen in this type of book either. I found it an entertaining, fast paced read and much better than I originally expected. In fact, I see Book 2 is going to be released on April 4. I might head over to the library website and see if I can put it on hold. show less

I have a love/hate relationship with A Murder in Time, so it earns a solid 3-stars. I enjoyed the overall story and I really liked when Kendra took charge of her ‘destiny’ in the beginning of the novel.

However, the pacing of A Murder in Time was way off. Plenty happened during the beginning and ending of the story, but essentially nothing happened for the entire middle of the book. My biggest complaint is Kendra’s insta-love for her companions at the end of the novel, which seemed to come out of nowhere. Nearly every interaction that the readers view throughout the story was regarding the case, so it felt false and unsubstantiated that these people were suddenly her very dear friends. That time travel was easier to believe than show more the characters’ relationships was a big misstep by the author. I do not intend to continue the series. show less

I nearly chucked this book after the first chapter (figuratively, since it's an ebook from the library). I'm glad I didn't, as it ended up being a more-than-serviceable time traveling mystery. The only downside is that it is apparently the first in an intended series, which I need like another hole in the head.

Kendra Donovan is an FBI agent in present-day America. She is part of a multi-agency raid on a terrorist hideout that goes awry, with bullets flying everywhere and people screaming and dying by the handful. That's the point where I nearly gave up on it, because it seemed so ridiculously like every other bog-standard espionage thriller. I mean, the kind of stuff Nelson DeMille probably writes in his sleep, only without the show more racism.

Fortunately, I kept reading and the book improved dramatically when — through a rather strained MacGuffiny device — Kendra finds herself transported back to Regency England, where she finds herself living in the home territory of a serial killer of young prostitutes. She brings all her 21st century knowledge to bear on the problem while trying to avoid the suspicions of the Duke and other assorted aristocracy that she's landed amongst, who wonder just who she is and how she knows what she knows.

All in all, the 19th century mystery is entertaining. It's fun to see uber-agent Donovan try to solve a crime without having the modern crutches of DNA analysis, computer searches, and X-rays. And if the dialogue sometimes sounds like the author swallowed Georgette Heyer's entire oeuvre and then spit it back up on on her word processor's screen, well ... she could have had worse source material to draw from.

If you like murder mysteries, and you like Heyer's Regency works, you'll probably find this one to your liking.

Note: This book was offered as a Big Library Read by Overdrive, which is a program that allows unlimited downloads of a select ebook across all libraries that use Overdrive. The last book I read from this program was [Shakespeare Saved My Life]. There have been others since but none of them appealed to me. show less