The lost apothecary by Sarah Penner was gifted by me recently, naturally I had to pick it up as soon as I finished my ARCs. I was gifted the book with sprayed edges and it looks insanely good.

This book is general / woman’s fiction and plays out in London. It switches between two timeliness. The late 1700’s and present day.

The late 1700’s is when the apothecary was in business and the present is when Caroline finds a vial during mud larking and goes on a quest to find out more about it.

In the late 1700’s Nella owns an apothecary well known to women. The apothecary was previously her mother’s and had all natural remedies. When her mother passed and something awful happened to Nella, everything changed.

Now Nella was well known as someone who could make poisons, ones that makes it look like the one that ingested it died of natural causes. There are rules though.

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.

When a request has come in, it’s the first time Nella can’t shake the feeling that something bad is about to happen. Little did she know that with her next costumer, all she has built will come crumbling down.

Present.

What was supposed to be her tin anniversary trip turned into a nightmare just before they were about to embark on this 10-day adventure in London.

James, her husband of 10 years, cheated! Caroline still decides to go, but without James. She’ll make the most of her stay.

Once in London, the itinerary she made with James is something she just can’t do. So she sets out to the pub, get something to drink when she meets Alf. Alf is a guide looking for people to go mud larking with him. But… What the H is mud larking?

Turns out, when the tide kicks in you can find half buried treasure, that’s where Caroline finds a vial that will keep her busy throughout her trip.

A vial with something edged into it, looks like some kind of antique medicine vial. That’s where the adventure begins. Will she find out where this vial came from? What it was used for? And what about James, is this the end?

The genre isn’t something I would normally pick, it’s a slow read but the story is worth reading. This was a ⭐⭐⭐.5 read for me.