The Devlin Diary is my first read by Christi Phillips, and I found it to be an absorbing journey into Restoration Era London. Although it is the second in a series featuring Claire Donovan and Andrew Kent, it definitely stands on its own.

Hannah Devlin is a widow illegally doctoring the indigent citizens of London when she is taken to Whitehall and forced to treat Charles II’s mistress. During her time at Whitehall, Hannah becomes involved in the hunt for a serial killer who appears to be targeting members of the king’s court.

Claire Donovan is just starting her dream job: a temporary lecturer position at the prestigious Trinity College in Cambridge, England. Unfortunately, she soon learns that the world of academia can be just as full of back-stabbing as the world of politics. While searching for a topic for a new research paper, Claire comes across a 17th century coded diary written by Hannah Devlin. After the colleague she shares her discovery with turns up dead and the diary goes missing, Claire suspects the murder is related to the secrets in the diary.

Although it takes a while to get moving, The Devlin Diary provides a fascinating and sometimes gruesome look at medical practices in the late 17th century. The mystery is intriguing, and once all of the various storylines began to converge I couldn’t put the book down. Hannah is an especially engaging character, and the politicking of the king’s court combined with the social rules for her gender made for an interesting set of obstacles that she had to deal with. I loved that real historical people were featured as several characters in this book, and I felt like I got a sense of what life in 1672 London was really like — without any rose-colored glasses.

The weakest part of the book was the third of it set in modern-day Cambridge. First off: There were far too many unsubtle plugs for the previous book, The Rossetti Letter. Second, while I liked Claire and enjoyed learning about Trinity and academic politicking from her perspective, I felt she spent too much time worrying over her relationship with Andrew Kent. Moreover, there is no plausible justification for immediately suspecting that the murder is related to the diary. The colleague who is killed has many enemies and frankly there’s a lot of motive for murder. In spite of these nitpicks however, I did still enjoy reading the modern portions of the story.

Even though I would label this book historical fiction first and a mystery second, there is also a romance involving Hannah that is complete with a satisfying HEA. Further detail would go into spoiler territory; suffice it to say that I quite enjoyed this subplot and felt it was a nice addition to the whole story.

Overall I found The Devlin Diary to be an enjoyable and fascinating read. If you like historical mysteries and don’t mind a story that moves at a slower pace, I suggest you give this one a try.