The Lost Apothecary

The premise sounded strong and promising, but I can't help but feel a little disappointed at how things played out. It wasn't thrilling enough to be a thriller or mysterious enough to be a mystery, and while I really enjoyed the historical setting, it just wasn't enough for me to rate the book much higher.

This book covers two different points in time: Caroline in present-day London who is trying to make the best of an anniversary trip despite her marriage being on the rocks, and the dual viewpoints of Nella the apothecary and her brief young assistant Eliza in the 1790s. Nella has been a secret dispenser of poisons, with a very strict set of rules about who they can be used on. This personal code is called into question with one very particular client, and the book largely centers around the buildup and resolution of this one particular case. Caroline, in present-day London, stumbles on the mystery of these two individuals through finding a relic from Nella's shop while out on a spur of the moment mudlarking trip, and spends the rest of her trip unravelling the details while also trying to figure out how to move forward with her personal life.

I have to admit that I was not interested or invested in Caroline's viewpoint at all. She felt a bit bland, and her personal struggles with her marriage and life choices felt tired and not all that compelling. I feel like she existed solely to tell the reader the story of Nella and Eliza, and her personal struggles only existing so the reader can draw obvious parallels between the two points in time.

I also was disappointed at how Nella and Eliza's story played out. I was expecting something a bit darker and mysterious given the premise of a female apothecary who poisons men, but very little of the business of being an apothecary was shown. This just didn't quite scratch the I-want-to-read-about-poisonings-please itch I was expecting it to.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an advance copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.