‘The Devil in Oxford’ by Jess Armstrong

Published by Allison & Busby,
4 November 2025.
ISBN: 978-0-7490-3204-3 (HB)

 It is December 1922,  and Ruby Vaughan is taking a break from the Exeter bookshop that she runs with her employer, Mr Owen, and has accompanied him on a trip to Oxford. Mr Owen is revelling in catching up with his antiquarian friends, but Ruby is finding the crowded rooms and continual talk about antiquities overwhelming.

 Ruby is a strong and courageous person, but deep inside she is still struggling to cope with her past history of injustice, fear and grief: this ranges from being sent away from her home in America because she had ‘lost her good name’ to a man who used her for his own pleasure; the loss of her parents and sister when the Lusitania was sunk; and her service as an ambulance driver in the First World War. Added to this are the psychological and physical wounds inflicted upon her by the two murder investigations she has become embroiled with, and distress and confusion she feels because of the problems in her relationship with Ruan Kivell, whom she had first met in his native Cornwall, and encountered again in Scotland. Ruan is a witch and healer, born with the ability to hear the thoughts of those around him, and he and Ruby have a tumultuous and intense relationship.

 For Ruby, one of the best things about her stay in Oxford is reuniting with her wartime friend, Leona Abernathy. Leona is living and working in Oxford, translating ancient manuscripts and inscriptions, under the supervision of Professor Frederick Reaver, a high-flying academic, whom people either admire intensely or dislike with equal vehemence. Ruby is geared up to endure another claustrophobic and potentially tedious evening, attending a viewing of the ancient artefacts collected by Julius Harker at his small museum. Harker had once had a career that was as potentially stellar as that of Reaver, but some undisclosed misdemeanour caused him to be disgraced.

 There is quite a lot of doubt about whether Harker will bother to turn up to the event, because he has not been seen around Oxford for several days. However, Mr Owen wishes to attend the gathering at the museum and Ruby feels duty bound to go as well. When Harker does not appear to give his presentation, many members of the audience comment upon his unreliability, but, on this occasion, Harker’s detractors wrong him, because he is present in the museum: he has been murdered and stuffed into the stone funerary box that is the centrepiece of his display.

 Ruby has no intention of getting mixed up in another murder investigation. Her recent experiences in trying to discover the truth about violent deaths have brought her close to death and scarred her both physically and mentally. This resolution is supported by Ruan, who has arrived in the city in which he had once been a student. He is renewing his acquaintanceship with people he had known there and spending time with Emmanuel Laurent, the father of his best friend, who had not survived the First World War. However, Ruby’s resolution to not get involved is shaken when Leona begs her to discover the truth, especially because a man has been arrested for the murder and Leona is convinced that he is innocent. The deeper Ruby delves into the mystery, the darker and more convoluted the matter becomes until it is impossible to distinguish whether the crime is the result of the theft or the forgery of artefacts, or of something far more sinister and evil. It soon becomes evident that something very dark and dangerous is happening in Oxford, which threatens Ruby, Ruan and those close to them.

 The Devil in Oxford is the third book in the series featuring Ruby Vaughan. It is an excellent addition to a fascinating series. The historical details of academic Oxford are vividly drawn and the protagonists are multilayered and engaging as they struggle to overcome their conflicting needs and the traumas of their past lives. This is a beautifully paced, Gothic mystery, which keeps the tension going until the very end. The Devil in Oxford is an outstandingly good read, a page-turner, which I recommend.
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Reviewer: Carol Westron

Jess Armstrong's debut novel The Curse of Penryth Hall won the Mystery Writers of America/Minotaur First Crime Novel Competition. She has a masters degree in American History but prefers writing about imaginary people to the real thing. Jess lives in New Orleans with her historian husband. When she's not working on her next project, she's probably thinking about cheese, baking, tweeting or some combination of the above. 

Carol Westron is a Golden Age expert who has written many articles on the subject and given papers at several conferences. She is the author of several series: contemporary detective stories and police procedurals, comedy crime and Victorian Murder Mysteries. Her most recent publications are Paddling in the Dead Sea and Delivering Lazarus, books 2 and 3 of the Galmouth Mysteries, the series which began with The Fragility of Poppies. 

www.carolwestron.com