The Lost Apothecary

Score: 4/5 Bookmarks

Thank you to Harlequin Audio for my gifted review copy of The Lost Apothecary by Sarah Penner.

In 1791 an apothecary named Nella is dispensing poisons to women so they can kill the men who have wronged them. She’s doing it as a sort of revenge for the wrongs she’s endured, hoping that they will start to heal her heart. Instead, they weigh heavy on her. She does have rules surrounding the tinctures and potions she dolls out though, no woman must be harmed, and she must record the names of all her victims and the women so they are not lost to history.

One evening a precocious 12-year-old turns up to collect poison for her mistress and seems intent on staying in Nella’s life for as long as possible, despite Nella’s efforts to get Eliza away from herself and the danger of her business.

In the present day, Caroline Parcewell has come to London by herself, on what was meant to be a 10-year-anniversary trip with her husband. On a mudlarking tour of the Thames, she uncovers an apothecary vial and is drawn to investigate its origins. The more she investigates, the more she feels drawn to the past, to Nella and Eliza.

The story unfolds very quickly so you don’t have to wait long for intrigue and action to begin. I’ll admit that while I enjoyed the present-day chapters of the book well enough I couldn’t help myself wishing that the entire book was set in the 1700s and more time was devoted to Nella’s backstory, her victims, and her processes in the apothecary shop. That part of the story was just so interesting, and with the book split between the two times I don’t feel we got as much as I would have liked on that particular storyline.

I was glad that the present-day story had a bit of a twist I didn’t see coming, which kept things interesting, but I maintain that splitting the story meant there wasn’t quite enough of either time. It’s rare for me to say this, but I think The Lost Apothecary could have been longer, so we had more time with the characters and could go into more depth and really get to know them, their lives, and their surroundings.

The audiobook comes in at 10 hours and 17 minutes and was narrated by a full cast: Lorna Bennett, Lauren Anthony, and Lauren Irwin. So if you’re in the mood for a historical fiction mystery definitely check this one out. And can we just take a moment to appreciate how absolutely beautiful this cover is?! Grab a copy of the audiobook using the button below, or get a physical copy here.

Synopsis:

A female apothecary secretly dispenses poisons to liberate women from the men who have wronged them—setting three lives across centuries on a dangerous collision course.

Rule #1: The poison must never be used to harm another woman.

Rule #2: The names of the murderer and her victim must be recorded in the apothecary’s register.

One cold February evening in 1791, at the back of a dark London alley in a hidden apothecary shop, Nella awaits her newest customer. Once a respected healer, Nella now uses her knowledge for a darker purpose—selling well-disguised poisons to desperate women who would kill to be free of the men in their lives. But when her new patron turns out to be a precocious twelve-year-old named Eliza Fanning, an unexpected friendship sets in motion a string of events that jeopardizes Nella’s world and threatens to expose the many women whose names are written in her register.

In present-day London, aspiring historian Caroline Parcewell spends her tenth wedding anniversary alone, reeling from the discovery of her husband’s infidelity. When she finds an old apothecary vial near the river Thames, she can’t resist investigating, only to realize she’s found a link to the unsolved “apothecary murders” that haunted London over two centuries ago. As she deepens her search, Caroline’s life collides with Nella’s and Eliza’s in a stunning twist of fate—and not everyone will survive.