The Cymry Ring

by Michael Allen Dymmoch

A “skillfully written, wonderfully entertaining, and fascinatingly detailed” time-travel adventure from the author of the Caleb and Thinnes mysteries (Booklist).   British detective Ian Carreg never expected his life to unfold like this. A recent widower, the fifty-five-year-old inspector has just learned he’s going to be a grandfather. But duty still calls. He’s been assigned to find and arrest Dr. Jemma Henderson, the daughter of a famous British physicist, for extradition to the United States, where she’s been convicted of murdering her lover.   But when he pursues her to the ancient stone monument of Cymry Henge, he is knocked unconscious and awakens in what appears to be Roman Britain in the year sixty AD. Ian is convinced he’s in the middle of some elaborate hoax—until he comes face to face with Celts and Romans and begins to doubt his sanity. When he and Jemma are taken prisoner by the Romans and forced to travel to Londinium, Ian realizes they must work together to foil a plot that could radically alter history . . .

286 pages, Kindle Edition

First published March 1, 2006

About the author

Michael Dymmoch was born in Illinois and grew up in a suburb northwest of Kentucky. As a child she kept a large number of small vertebrates for pets and aspired to become a snake charmer, Indian chief or veterinarian. She was precluded from realizing the former ambitions by a lack of charm and Indian ancestry and from the achieving the latter by poor grades in calculus and physics. This made her angry enough to kill. Fortunately, before committing mayhem, she stumbled upon a book titled Maybe You Should Write a Book and was persuaded to sublimate her felonious fantasies. Moving to Chicago gave Michael additional incentives to harm individuals who piss her off. On paper of course.

Reviews

[Damona · Rating 3 out of 5]

the history is very well-researched and nicely laid out, but the story itself isn't written terribly well, in my opinion. it was an interesting read, a good book, but not a great one.

[Terri · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love good time travel.

[LJ · Rating 2 out of 5]

THE CYMRY RING (TimeTravel-England-Cont/Iron Age) – Okay
Dymmoch, Michael Allen – Standalone
Five Star, 2006- Hardcover
CID detective Ian Carreg is a widower with grown children and a grandchild on the way. Dr. Jemma Henderson is a physician and daughter of a physicist; she is also wanted for murder in America. When Carreg follows Jemma into a shed on Cyrmy Henge, he is knocked unconscious. He wakes up, with Jemma in Roman Britten during the Iron Age.
*** I have always been a fan of Dymmoch’s writing. I am also a fan of time travel. Unfortunately, neither work very well in this book. Not only was there no logical explanation for how the time travel happened, there really wasn’t any explanation at all. There was also no logical loop connecting a talisman from the present to the past and back to the present, which could have been resolved with just a bit more thinking. The history was fascinating and I learned quite a bit about the period, but the characters were flat, as was the story. I kept expecting to feel more involved and just never did. So why did I rate it “Okay” rather than “Poor.” Because I did finish the book, fairly easily, shall definitely keep reading other books by Ms. Dymmoch and, overall, recommend her as an author. Just don’t judge the author by this particular novel.

[Marissa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting blend of science and historical fictions. Ian, a detective in present-day UK, follows Jemma, a woman who has been accused of murder, into the time of the Celts via a time machine.

[Tara]

7/20/12 .. I got this at Greenburgh Library today 4/$1. (& Tragic Magi by Laura Childs, Night of the Jaguar by Michael Gruber & Fallen by T. Jefferson Parker - all hardcovers in great shape!)