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I’ve enjoyed the previous two Ruby Vaughn books so I was happy to read this newest one. I’m enjoying keeping up with Ruby; her housemate and employer, Mr. Owen; and especially her love interest, Ruan Kivell.
The first book, The Curse of Penryth Hall, was particularly gothic in tone, though it moved on from feeling wholly gothic to more solidly a murder mystery as the book progressed. The second book, The Secret of the Three Fates, was a murder mystery with definite tones of magic or the occult, with seances and possible ghosts involved. (Both involved travel, with Ruby and Mr. Owen leaving their bookstore in Exeter and going to other locales.)
In this third book, Ruby and Mr. Owen once again leave Exeter, this time to go to Oxford, where the older man attends the annual meeting of his antiquarian society. She’s looking to just enjoy being in Oxford and is avoiding thinking about Ruan, the “pellar” folk healer she met in Cornwall in the first story. She’s not sure how to handle her feelings and the awkward way she left him at the end of the second book.
Mr. Owen gets tickets to go to an exhibition of unusual artifacts collected by Julius Harker, a scholar who somehow was disgraced and shut out of academia some time previous. Ruby agrees to go with him and … of course the evening ends up featuring a dead body. Harker is found in a large trunk, and his business partner is arrested. And, to top it all off, Ruan arrives in Oxford, for no reason Ruby can see.
Ruby would be happy to avoid the murder investigation and Ruan, but when an old friend comes to her for help, she steps in and starts making inquiries. As these things go, there’s a lot happening behind the scenes, and she once again finds herself in danger.
The Devil in Oxford was a perfectly fine murder mystery, and I enjoyed the outing with the characters, but I was disappointed that a little plot thread alluded to in the previous books wasn’t addressed here. Ruan had mentioned something about Ruby and magic ability or … something. A whole other type of mystery. But here it isn’t brought up at all. So I guess I’ll just wait to see if that thread is pulled on in book four.
Rated: Moderate. Profanity includes 1 use of strong language, around 10 instances of moderate profanity, about 20 uses of mild language, and about 20 instances of the name of Deity in vain. Sexual content includes kissing and a couple of instances of behind-closed-doors intimacy. Violence includes murders and some injuries.
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*I received an ARC in exchange for my honest review.
