“The Lost Apothecary”

The Lost Apothecary by Sarah Penner is a historical mystery about an apothecary who helps other women by providing poisons and other remedies. The book focuses on Caroline, who is in present-day London trying to get a break from her husband after she finds that he was having an affair. She finds a vial that has a bear etched into it and finds out that it might have been from an apothecary hundreds of years ago. The other parts of the book focus on Nella, the apothecary, and Eliza who is a young girl who gets help from Nella.

I had a hard time reading this one when I first started it. I was not really feeling the characters or what they were going through because it was very repetitive. But once I got to the halfway point of the book I started to enjoy it a lot more. The personality of Eliza was the saving grace for this book for me. I needed to know what happened to her so I was able to finally finish it!

I ended up actually being so full of emotion towards the end and that is what changed my rating from 3 stars to 4. I do have to say that I would recommend this one to others who love a historical mystery. It is different than others I have read but it's refreshing. I don't have that much more to say or I will give away too many spoilers!

4/5 stars