Murder By Degrees

I was privileged and honored to do a Q&A with Ritu Mukerji talking about her debut mystery novel Murder By Degrees, and then through the Simon & Schuster Buddy program I got an early copy of the book. I started it yesterday and finished it this morning. Murder By Degrees takes place in the year 1875 in Philidelphia where we meet our protagonist Dr. Lydia Weston who is a professor and anatomist at the Womens Medical College of Pennsylvania. When the body of Lydia’s patient Anna Ward is found in the Schkuylkill River at first Anna’s death is labeled a suicide but is quickly found to be foul play. A book of poetry helps Lydia discover more about the wowman she thought she knew. Something is also uncovered from the past that has something to do with the present, something that someone would kill Lydia for that kept Anna silent.

Pros

The writing was excellent and even though this was Ritu’s debut novel, you wouldn’t tell you would have thought she had written for years. Ritu you could tell put a lot of hard work into the book because she had prior medical knowledge and did a ton of research for the time period. I also love the characters especially Lydia and Davies. When you think you have an idea of what’s going on there are twists and turns that take you by surprise.

Cons

I don’t have any complaints about this book. I only wish that it were longer because it was that good. I also can’t wait for the sequel as in our Q&A, Ritu told me she was working on the sequel now.

Overall

This book is definitely for those who enjoy mysteries mixed with a historical period to create a historical mystery. Thank you @ritumukerji for writing this fantastic debut. Thank you @simonbooks  #simonbooksbuddy for the early copy. If you don’t have a netgalley or early physical copy of Murder By Degrees pre-order this novel coming out on October 17^th 2023.