An utterly hilarious Sci-Fi adventure from author of the St Mary's series. At some time in the future Time Travel was invented. Everyone from the rich to the poor tried to go back in time and change historical events, win the lottery etc. So the Time Police were formed. An elite force, who travelled through time ensuring the continuation of history, making sure Hitler doesn't get killed as a baby and the like. Previously known to shoot first and ask questions later, their new Commander realises that as times are changing, so must the time police. There are fewer instances of 'high crime' and more and more lesser criminals hoping for a quick buck. Fighting against the 'old boy' mentality, she wants people to respect the Time Police, not fear them. And little does she know that her latest team, a band of unruly misfits, might just make that change a little easier.

The book is written from three main perspectives - Jane, Luke & Matthew. Jane is a no-body, meek and mild, she joined the Time Police as a last resort to escape from the clutches of her Grandmother. More likely to jump at her own shadow than take down a criminal, she needs to realise that her weaknesses might actually make her stronger. Luke is a playboy, spending his life living off Daddy's money, his life comes to an abrupt halt when his fathers secretary informs him that he is cut off & much join the Time Police, hoping that it will fix his attitude. With a humongous chip on his shoulder & a lady's man to boot, he needs to realise that there is no I in team & shouting at his fellow team mates might not be the way to bond. Matthew is an oddball, raised between St Mary's and the Time Police his one dream in life has been working with the Time Map. A man of few words, he would do anything for his team, including getting shot.

This book had me in absolute hysterics! If you ever want to read a book so true to British culture then this is the one for you. I found the premise intriguing and the book did not let me down. Taylor manages to take you from our current generation to ancient Egypt, the colonisation of Australia, Ancient Rome and the future with relative ease and wit. If you go into this experiencing a serious look into the effects of time travel, I'm afraid you will be sorely disappointed. However if you're looking for an easy read, with some truly believable and endearing characters, and a slightly chaotic if not satisfactory ending that leave's room for further novels then pick this one up asap!

There are plenty of twists and turns throughout this book. We follow the story of our very own Team Weird, but there is another plot line in the background. One slightly more sinister that you spend nearly the entire book trying to figure out. A perfect combination of light and dark, humour and adventure, friendship and individuality. There were some parts of the book I thought went on a pretty wild tangent, but most of the strings were tied together at the end, you just have to stick with it and trust in the author that it is indeed relevant.

I would definitely pick up any further books in the series, and will be picking up her St Mary's series as soon as possible. An easy 4/5 read, and original and intriguing plot with just the right amount of humour and adventure to make you fly through the pages.

4.5 stars.

Doing Time is a new 'spin off' series from the popular historical science fiction St Mary's novels from Jodi Taylor, and follows new Time Police recruits Jane, Luke and a certain Matthew Farrell.

In the not too distant future, the world has discovered time travel. Countries, people and historical events blink in and out of existence as vigilantes seek to remake history to their own advantage. To combat this, the Time Police were born. Charged with setting these 'anomalies' right, they blast their way up and down the timeline, seeking to preserve time. They're not subtle. Think blasters, black cloaks and a menacing authoritative voice. Even if you haven't read any of Jodi's previous novels, this stands well on it's own with a suitable amount of background information and a whole host of new characters (and some very familiar ones!) to satisfy science fiction and history fans. If you have read all of the St. Mary's books to date, this is set a few years on from the 'Hope for the Best', with Matthew deciding to leave St. Mary's to join the Time Police. Past events that are relevant, such as Matthew's back story are fleshed out here, but other things are left deliberately vague so as not to spoil any future St. Mary's novels.

In Doing Time, we're introduced to our very own 'Team Weird' in mousy Jane, arrogant Luke and the enigmatic Matthew Farrell. They're the outcasts of Time Police HQ (TPHQ), thrown together because no-one else wants them on their team, and forced to band together and cooperate in order to pass their six months 'grunt work' before they can qualify as fully fledged Time Police officers. Through various assignments through time, ranging from the early 20th century Britain to 19th century South Australia and beyond, we see the team come together despite all their superiors beliefs that none of them are cut out to be Time Police. Amidst these assignments, we also have a wider arc involving the development and changing methods the Time Police are trying to employ - moving away from brute force to provide a more intelligent, creative and 'softer' side to policing the timeline. This comes with it's own difficulties, as we see Commander Hay start to loose her grip on some of the more 'old school' officers. Could a mutiny be on the horizon?

I needn't have worried about warming to these characters, or comparing them less favorably to their St. Mary's counterparts. One of Jodi's immense skills as a writer is her ability to make lovable, believably flawed characters. Jane is the ultimate wet weekend. She's one of the sole female officers in the Time Police, who has spent the majority of her life being repeatedly put down by her grandmother. After an incident with a stuffed seagull leads her to the Time Police doors, we see her really grow and come out of her shell as the book progresses. I particularly loved the chapters which document her feelings of loneliness and isolation following the introduction of Sarah Smith, and how she deals with this.

Luke immediately comes across as the polar opposite of Jane. He's cocky, confident and has had everything handed to him on a platter until his father sends him to TPHQ as punishment for his many misdeeds. He's constantly on report, and doesn't care about anyone or anything. To see his character progression was also really nice, with some particular scenes away from TPHQ which helped to make his character more likable and relatable. By dedicating various chapters to the main characters like this, the protagonists are able to flourish and be more than one dimensional. They jump from the page, and manage to get under your skin in just the right way.

The plot, as always with Jodi, is fast paced and chaotic- but this has a structure to it that I sometimes feel is lacking in the St. Mary's novels. There's a definitive overall arc, with a conclusion that is satisfactory yet also open to further novels. It's also highly atmospheric at times, with a real creepy and suspenseful feel that I wasn't expecting. I did think that some of the finer plot details had some loose threads that could have been expanded on and resolved, such as who sent the package to the 20th century, who killed Sarah Smith and all of the Jackal/Egyptian mythology aspects which felt a little out of place and petered out to nothing, but on the whole I thought this was brilliantly done, a welcome and fresh approach to the expansion of the St. Mary's novels, and I can't wait for more adventures with Team Weird.

4.5* (Posted on Goodreads- linked on twitter @BookreviewsKb)

This was amazing, funny and original-I cannot wait for more!

The Time Police is a very original and unique story that follows Jane, Matthew and Luke, three people who join the time police for very different reasons, all of whom are seen as weird and likely to fail. Jane joins after breaking her grandmothers seagull (sorry but you will have to read the book to hear more about this event ;D). She is quiet, nervous and anxious and seems extraordinarily unlikely to be particularly useful. However, as the story moves on she appears to bright, intelligent and witty- she was a wonderful character with whom I easily connected with and felt extremely sorry for at times! She is funny, interesting and, in her own right, rather badass.

Matthew is considered weird but genius. He is the most familiar with the time police, having grown up around it (though his backstory is considerably more heart-breaking than we initially realise - this has a cleverly written effect on his personality but is not so domineering that his character is based only upon the past). Matthew is relatively charming despite his stoic and silent approach and is also funny and incredibly clever. However, he is hated due to his connection with St Mary's, something he is not ashamed of and appears to take it in his stride.

Luke is the flirty, rich kid- people dislike him because he purposely irritates them. However, there is so much more to his personality than this and he is charming, funny and considerate at a lot of points in the story. He joins the time police through his father who is trying to teach him a lesson. However, this appears to have some unintended results by the end of the book. (Not sure if it was intentional but the possible Star Wars reference at the end between Luke and Mr Parrish was much loved-see if you can spot it ;D ).

These three are grouped together for their training and are given the bottom of the barrel missions (which are hilarious, interesting and perfectly showcase the depth of these characters)- they unconventionally complete them and appear to do better than originally predicted. However, that is not to say they do this perfectly, in fact there are many mishaps that keep you interested and intrigued from failing to catch a rabbit to trying to apprehend a man cheating the lottery. North and Ellis are their team leaders, they are amazing characters who can't help but have a soft spot for their odd team. Elis is already familiar with Matthew but also believes that each of them have potential. Ellis is more compassionate the North who is blunt and knows what she wants. however, even she feels for the team.

As the team work on their training they find themselves entangled in a much wider story of death, traitors and crime.

I loved the Time police. I thought it had the perfect balance of comedy, action and character development. The characters were lovable and easy to connect with, the story was fun and intriguing and the historical elements were interesting. Despite being based around a widely done concept of time-travel, the Time Police is entirely original and unique with and interesting world, structure and story. The story, despite being rather comical at times, is also serious with murder and violence ensuing- and you are constantly guessing who is the perpetrator.
There are many values to this story from how the change of institutions and society affects those use to tradition to embracing your own nature and personality.

This book is definitely a must-read and is so fun to follow.

*I received digital advance copy from #netgalley and Headline publishers in exchange for an honest review* (@BookreviewsKb)