The last 50 pages made this book for me.

Plan for the Worst, the 11th (!) book in the St Mary's series continues the adventures of Max and Co as they hurtle through time, recording impotent historical events. In this episode we see the return on Kalinda Black, Amazonian former historian and new representative from Thirsk University, with an agenda to get St Mary's to Crete to witness the height of the Minoan empire. Along the way we are sidetracked by a murder mystery into the future and a not so happy jaunt into 15th century England to witness the last day's of the princes in the tower.

As usual, its the characters that really stand out here. After 11 books I know these characters inside out and I love each and every one of them. In particular, these feels like Markham's story. With big changes afoot in his imminent future his character development over the course of these stories really come to the forefront here. He's the joker hiding a mysterious past, and the final payoff is both mind blowing and yet also strangely obvious on reflection. His plot is completed yet also leaves a lot of intrigue for the future.

Another aspect I love about these stories is Jodi's ability to immerse me in whatever historical setting she throws the reader into. Her love of history is incredibly apparent, with little titbits of knowledge and facts scattered throughout her text - just like an true historian storyteller. Her world building is excellent, with plenty of exciting scrapes and adventure to keep Max on her toes. The writing is always enjoyable and fun and never fails to make me feel emotional.

This isn't a perfect story by any means. At certain points I felt I had to suspense my logic in terms of the actions of certain characters, and the plot also falls pray to issues I found in the earlier books in the series in that certain plot points peter out without any real resolution (such as the trip into the future). At times the time lines and the extensive history of the interconnected characters can also get very confusing.

That said I love my annual escape to St Mary's and I know that I'll never not enjoy my time with these characters. The ending truly took me by surprise and I'm super excited to see the repurcussions for our beloved St Mary's team in the next installment.