Rachel Reviews: Timeblink by MJ Mumford
Taut and tense, MJ Mumford has written a time-travelling romantic mystery thriller, a new genre on me but one I rather enjoyed!
I think that sometimes it is harder to write a review for a book that is good than it is for one that you didn’t like because if all of the elements are well-written for the most part, there’s not a lot to say. And Timeblink falls into this category: it was a really enjoyable read, tense and suspenseful with a plot that kept you guessing and a story that absorbed your attention.
I liked the characters and the premise of time travel and the way that MJ Mumford intertwined narratives so that different perspectives and different voices were presented to the reader rather than just Syd, the main narrator. This was used as a device throughout to develop the plot but was timely and controlled in the book, not a clunky narrative tool to further the action and suspense.
From the opening where Syd’s twin sister Isla goes missing to the discovery that Syd is able to time travel and how having this skill could benefit her, Mumford writes with conviction so that Syd’s narration is sound and, as a result, what could have become a contrived and odd idea on which to base a book is, in fact, very well executed.
The events of the book unfolded at just the right pace for me so that I was keen to find out where the story was headed and rattled through it at a fair old rate. There are twists and nice touches all the way through, including incidents that this jaded and cynical reader hadn’t seen coming which only added to my enjoyment of the book. In my experience, if you can see what’s coming in a book, it might make you as a reader feel a bit clever at the time but it takes something away from the pleasure of reading that book – there were no instances of that here.
So, all that’s left to say is that if you had told me that I would really enjoy a time travelling, romantic, missing person’s mystery, I would probably have knitted my brows and looked sceptically at you, thinking that you obviously know nothing about the kind of fiction I like but it’s true – MJ Mumford has made it a surprisingly good mix.
Rachel Rating: 4/5 stars
This review was first published on Reedsy Discovery where I was privileged to read it as an ARC:
This review was published a long time ago but I've revived it here because MJ Mumford has the third one in this series launching soon and I will be reviewing it on here as well as the second.
Thanks for stopping by! If you do read this, please do drop a comment. If you read the novel, let me know what you think of it as I love to discuss books.


Comments (5)
Sounds like a good read. And loved the review, even if you meant "skeptically" rather than "sceptically" (which is truly rich & wonderfully appropriate here as a descriptive term).
Oooo, I love time travel and mysteries in general, not limited to missing person. I'll add this to my TBR. Looking forward to the second book's review and the upcoming third one!
Another well written review, Rachel! This one has me intrigued!
Interesting story recommendation. Thanks for sharing.
Fair to say I'm knitting my brows...on the other hand I have a long flight coming up and I like to have something easy and engaging.