The Devlin Diary by Christi Phillips

I'm a lover of books, it's true.  But the kuripot (cheapskate) in me oftentimes cheer in delight whenever I uncover an unexpected, low priced find in a book sale.  In fact, whenever buying a brand new tome , I think about it once or twice before shelling out some of my hard earned moolah (unless, of course, if it's on a title that I've been seriously waiting for.)

That being said, I've been meaning to buy Christi Phillip's The Rossetti Letter for a while now, but having found myself defeated in locating a copy at a most recent book sale I attended here (I so miss our very own Book Sale shops terribly.  *sigh*), I had to content myself with the next best thing -- The Devlin Diary (also from the same author.)


The Devlin Diary by Christi Phillips


The Devlin Diary is a book with 2 stories -- a murder mystery set in 1672 London centered around the point of view of a remarkable woman physician by the name of Hannah Devlin, whose story intertwines with a more recent 2008 crime of which Claire Donovan, an American historian, finds herself in (you can read the full review at Amazon.com here.)

It may seem an unlikely pairing but a clue to the 21st century murder is imbedded (as what the book's summary says) in the 17th century crime, which leads Claire Donovan and fellow historian, Andrew Kent, following the clues Hannah Devlin left years before in order to solve the more recent mystery.

My verdict?  A good historical mystery but not an engaging page turner.  I was totally engrossed when the chapters were focused on the 17th century murder but shift to the most recent 21st's and I find the tale a little boring (although it is a personal preference since I adore historical mysteries better than more recent ones.)  In my opinion, the former alone should have been given its own book.

The ending for Clare Donovan's tale, although a good one, left me somewhat dissatisfied and wanting more uhmmm... depth (I guess.)

All in all, a good find and will be placed in my collection (just because of the 17th century murder portions.)  J