This is book 14 of Jodi Taylor's St Mary's Chronicles and the very fact that I'm still reading after this many books has to say something in itself. In this book Max and Markham have to take a break from St Mary's so act as bounty hunters, sorry, "recovery agents", as well as investigating the sinister organisation Insight which has some nefarious plans for the timeline. There are also key roles for Smallhope and Pennyroyal, who are a lot of fun.

As always with the St Mary's books, this is a madcap combination of hilarity, action and emotion. How Taylor manages to be so prolific with this much historical background I don't know.

If you haven't read a St Mary's book before jump onto the wild ride that followers the disaster magnet historians who investigate events in contemporary time (Dr Bairstow gets upset when people call it time travel), but start from the beginning with Just One Damned Thing After Another.

This follows straight on from the previous book ″A Catalogue of Catastrophe″ and you definitely need to read that one first. In fact this book brings in threads from many previous stories so if you've been thinking of catching up on the series this is the moment to go back and start from the beginning.
Max is one of the suspects in the shooting of the current director of St Mary′s, but even though he′s not her most popular person, she is completely innocent – of that crime at least. Managing to avoid being arrested for that, she and her current compatriots, the bounty hunters Lady Penelope and Pennyroyal, decide that visiting Peking during the Boxer Rebellion is a good idea. They should be able to acquire some rare books which can fortuitously be found in the future, resulting in a nice profit. What a pity that looter tend to get shot during wars.
And then there′s Insight, the future time travel firm where Max became an employee after they tried to kill her.
There are a lot of potentially lethal plates here for Max to keep spinning and that′s before the Time Police make their appearance in ways that might not be expected.
Although conditions have quietened down a little at the end of the book, there are indications that Max will not be enjoying a peaceful retirement.

I really enjoyed how elements from previous stories were woven into this book, and even though there are some serious and tragic events, there is also the fun you would expect in a St Mary′s story.

I had a copy of this book early through Netgalley

My review:⭐⭐⭐⭐

This is the 14th book in the Chronicles of St Mary's series.

It's another great book in this hilarious series of books!

I have loved seeing the characters develop over the series, and this didn't disappoint, with more fun and adventure for some form favourite characters!

I enjoyed the wrapping up of some loose threads from previous books.  It is a very quick follow on from the previous book.

I was given this book in exchange for an unbiased review, so my thanks to NetGalley and to Headline.

Not really my thing. Perhaps for a younger audience. May have got more out of it if I had started series from the beginning. I might come back to this in time if I enjoy book 1 and continue. Thank you Netgalley.

I loved this book I enjoyed the writing and the characters. First time to read these book and enjoyed now need to read the rest of the series. I enjoyed the book. I love these type of books. I enjoyed every paged. Plenty of plot twist and character build up to the story.

A brilliant edition to the series, wrapping up the story from the previous book.
Where do they go from here ???

I received a copy of this ebook in exchange for an honest review from netGalley UK.

I love The Chronicles of St Mary's! 10 years of amazing twists and turns though history and this one doesn't disappoint. It does have the feeling of being the last in the series but it very clearly says Not The End. Sorry spoiler I guess. I can say much about this book without giving away plot points and twist just know that if you love Jodi Taylor books you will adore this one!

Max needs to get away - fast - and a Brilliant Idea soon leads her to a full-scale uprising in twentieth-century China. If she can come by a historical treasure or two in the process, even better. That is, if she makes it out alive.

Then there's the small matter of Insight - the sinister organisation from the future hell bent on changing History for their own dark ends. Having successfully infiltrated their ranks, Max is perfectly placed to stop them. But she knows her cover will soon be blown - because it's already happened.

Can Max take down Insight before they come after her? The circle is closing, and only one can survive...

This book is a show stopper - one I would give to my friends. I would buy multiple copies of this book for people!

Thank you NetGalley and Headline for giving me an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

If you love ancient history, time travel (especially illegal time travelling), being a spy to take down a secret organisation and adventure, just as much as me, this is a book you must read. Whilst this book is part of a series, you do not need to have any previous books; before this I had never read anything by Taylor, but easily was able to pick up who the characters were etc. This book helpfully features a character list and a bit about them at the beginning.

Onto the plot - I was obsessed. I genuinely could not put this book down. The protagonist is funny and very much likeable, with so much emotional depth that you start questioning your previous thoughts in earlier chapters. Max visits many ancient cities and timelines, which for me, as an ancient history lover, I was bewitched by Taylor’s writing style - it was just so good. I cannot recommend this book enough.

I said in my last review of a Jodi Taylor book that’s she’s a genius and I’m going to make the same point again:
She’s a genius!!

This book takes off pretty much where the last one left us. Markham and Max are still working as ‘pros and cons’ with Pennyroyal and Smallhope. (Is it wrong that I’ve got a massive crush on Pennyroyal?) and they are trying to fix the dastardly insight and find out their motives. We have fewer trips back in time, although we do pop to the Boxer Rebellion, Victorian London and Rome for a bit.

It is as much fun as always, so exciting it leaves you breathless and so hard to put down.

Absolutely loved it and hate that I now have to wait f-o-r-e-v-e-r for the next one to come out!

Thank you to Netgalley, the publisher and Jodiherself for the chance to read an ARC. I bought a paperback version too because I want it on my bookcase! As always an honour and a privilege!

The Chronicles of St Mary’s is one of the most enjoyable series of books I have ever read. Jodi Taylor is a master story-teller, who weaves humour, drama and believable characters into historical events. I have read and reread all the books (not to mention listened to all the audiobooks) so many times, I have lost count. I took my time reading this one, just to savour it, although I could very easily have read it in one sitting (no sleeping, eating, work – that’s boring!)

The Good, The Bad and The History picks up where A Catalogue of Catastrophe left off. After having a Brilliant Idea, lovely Max and the even lovelier Markham are plunged back into the world of Insight via the Boxer Rebellion (as you do).

Jodi’s writing is imaginative, intelligent, and clever – I have read all her books, and I can’t wait for more – they are the literary highlight of my year! The Chronicles of St Mary’s defies the time travel genre crossing into so many others with ease, and each book in the series has become more complex and intriguing.

Many Circles Are Closed (including one huge one that we’ve all been waiting for)….and hopefully a few more have been opened. I felt bereft when I finished the book – it's starting to feel like the beginning of the end, although I truly hope it isn’t – these books are gripping and I will happily keep reading as many as Jodi chooses to write (many, many more please!)

I so, so, so enjoyed reading The Good, The Bad and The History, and was delighted to be offered an ARC. A fabulous read, and I can’t wait for the next one. Thank you Jodi.

Another ( the 14th) fabulous book by Jodi Taylor. Nearly St Mary's but not quite. Max and Markham are working with Smallhope and Pennyroyal to bring down Insight. I did read this book out of sync ( I read this before book no 13) I would definitely recommend reading this series of books in order as there are events that have happened and plot details that will not make as much sense if not read in sequence. Having said that, I loved this book. Max really featured heavily and is was so interesting to see how a mature max ( in age only!) is developing now she can no longer throw herself everywhere. The time travel part in the boxer period was interesting and I learnt something new ( as usual). I love this author and I say keep 'em coming. St Mary's or Time Police, I love them all!

Wild chases through time, Time police up against our favourite Historians!

Max and co are back for another romp through time. Tring to preserve history, make a bit of cash for St Mary's to keep them afloat and dismantle the nefarious Insight. Max is deep undercover with Insight, trying to get any kind of dirt on them that they can use to bring them down. She's also got to fend off a potential mentor and a nosy colleague. All while missing her husband and son and collecting injuries like they are going out of fashion!

From Rome to Patara to Victorian England and the Boxer Rebellion - Max and Markham and their colleagues are attempting to stave off catastrophe but Max is beginning to suffer from the side effects of all that time travel.

Max has some big decisions to make about her future with St Mary's, how her family is changing and her friends are settling down. There are some revelations around Markham too! This is like Dr Who on a wild ride. Learn some history whilst being completely taken along for the ride. Lovely to read some sci-fi shenanigans with a completely British bent. My kind of humour!

I'd recommend starting the series in order as the mayhem of shifting through timelines will leave you breathless if you attempt to insert yourself here!

Saint Mary is one of my favorite place as there's always something so weird you are left wondering how the author thought about it.
This books starts in a very St Mary way that is making you laugh but I also realised that it was a sort of second part of A Catalogue of Catastrophe and decided to refresh my memory.
It was double fun and I read both quite fast as I wanted to know what kind of disaster Max and Markham were going to cause.
There's enough disaster even for a book in this series and I thoroughly enjoyed it.
I think that this book should be read by tons of people as it's a sort of cure against the contemporary dark times.
Highly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher for this ARC, all opinions are mine

When I got Jodi Taylor’s The Good, The Bad and The History, I discovered, to a mixture of utter astonishment and delight, that I hadn’t read the previous book in the series of her Chronicles of St. Mary’s. I enjoy the books so much, I’d pre-ordered it on Kindle several months before publication date and it had been duly downloaded on the right day last year – AND I’D NEVER EVEN NOTICED!

However, that proved to be a good thing as it meant I could binge-read the two books back-to-back. That was useful as I think these two books, more than any others in the series, are really two parts of one narrative. Although it’s always been the case that anyone stumbling across the Chronicles of St Mary’s, like a historian trips over a slumbering calamity, really needs to start with Book One and read them in order, it is even more necessary with the Good, The Bad and The History.

I suspect it will be difficult to share my thoughts on the book without inadvertent spoilers (for either this book or A Catalogue of Catastrophe), but I shall try,,,

The book starts where the Catalogue ends, with Max in St Mary’s Sick Bay, being interrogated by the military police after Commander Treadwell has been shot. After the police have gone, Max is asked, “Could things get any worse?” Her reply is – all together now – “Oh, I think we both know the answer to that one.”

A rumour is spread that evidence had been buried in the veg patch of St Mary’s garden. This results in two squads of police cadets, with wellies and spades, digging the whole thing over, much to the Head of Maintenance’s deep joy. That reminded me very much of the carefree earlier books. And I reflected upon that several times: for several books now, the Chronicles have become more urgent in tone (and yes, I know, life does that as you get older). Although I still avidly read page after page, desperate to know what happens and sniggering unbecomingly at Taylor’s sardonic one-liners, I do miss the sunnier days of the earlier books when the historians were simply going to research an event / place at leisure, perhaps for a few weeks, rather than going there because the plot depends upon them to thwart some villainy – and then return asap because yet something else has hit the fan. I enjoyed the change in tension of those earlier books.

This book brings catharsis and completes the story arc started some books ago but then, I suppose, we should start worrying whether that’s the end of Taylor’s St Mary’s novels? The poor woman can’t win, can she? Either I’m whinging that it’s all too fast or I’m whinging that it’s stopped – oh, dear, sorry, Jodi!

I suppose all you need to know is that it’s a cracking action-packed story with a highly satisfactory ending – I really do recommend it.

#TheGoodTheBadandTheHistory #NetGalley

Jolly romp with the time travelling band at St Mary's. Well written and plotted, great characters and one-liners throughout. Works well as a single read so not necessary to have read earlier volumes, but you will be encouraged to go back to the earlier adventures by the quality of this offerring.

I can't help but feel that my adventures with Madeline, "Max" Maxwell are slowly winding down. I've traveled up and down the Time Line with her for many years now. From the Cretaceous, (dinosaur), period to the distant future (where there is no tea, gasp). Max has explored a dizzying number of events throughout history.

This novel has Max time jumping at a furious rate. She is trying to bring down the big bad "Insight" whose organization only exists to destroy and sway events throughout history. They have no regard of the repercussions, only their own agenda.

This novel has Max and her trusty sidekick, Markham, teaming up with the highly effective and truly devious bounty hunters/recovery agents Pennyroyal and Lady Amelia Smallhope. In the future, Max has infiltrated the notorious "Insight" organization. She works in the bowels of their headquarters as a clerk under the direction of Bridget Lafferty, super villain and head of administration. Insight hides in plain sight as an historical research facility and essentially Max is an information gopher.

Max ping pongs around the timeline putting out fires, (and sometimes engulfed in them), trying to be one step ahead of them while appearing to be a respectful, (yes we are talking about Max), new trainee on her first timeline missions. She pulls these off with aplomb, or not!

This was a fast moving, highly descriptive, beautifully executed time bounce, and at times hazardous exploration in this the 14th novel of The Chronicles of St. Mary's series.
I hope that this will not be the last we see of Max's story.

Thank you NetGalley and Headline Publishing for the ARC. All opinions expressed are strictly my own.

The Good, The Bad and The History by Jodi Taylor

Thank you Netgalley for an arc for an unbiased review.

I'm a huge Jodi Taylor fan. Huge. I even mention her in my Netgalley bio bit. I am a disaster magnet, who has merchandise as well as books, and follows groups on Facebook.
So, I had to push all that aside to try and ensure that I read this to review and be as unbiased as I could be.

Now, the one problem some readers might have picking this book up. It is not a standalone book to the series. You do need to read the others, preferably in sequence, as there is a lot referenced from previous books. Obviously as an avid reader of her books, this isn't a problem for me. However, for some it could well mar their enjoyment. I'm not marking the book down for this, as plenty of books in a series require you to read from the start, but I feel I should mention it.

So, anyway.

We have, once again, delightful chaos, brought in this instance primarily by Max and Markham. I mean, the two who probably bring the most calamity as they hop along the timeline of history. What could possibly go wrong?

What Jodi manages so well in her writing is how she can have you laughing, then crying, then laughing again within minutes. Her ability to turn from humour to angst to emotional is a ride few authors can do well. If there was a masterclass for this, Jodi would lead it. This book is no exception.

I also loved how we got some more on Markham. His story has always been tinged with a mysterious past, but Jodi recently brought in a lot more about him in a previous book. I was always worried by revealing what she had, it might diminish the character somewhat. Never fear. If anything I found it broadened Markham's character and as a result, brought fresh aspects to his relationships to those around him, with Max especially. Not always an easy feat 14 books in. But for me, that's the beauty of Jodi's writing.
We know we are getting a wonderful wordsmith, humour that is apparent, some of it less so, but once it clicks, it's just delicious to read in a new light. Again, we get these moments here.

Max starts us off and this book jumps right in where book 13, A catalogue of catastrophe left off.
Jodi is also a master at pulling in history, her research is often meticulous, and I found myself again marvelling how she brings these books to life in her own indomitable way.

Jodi has brought a slightly darker element perhaps more than usual to this book, but it doesn't feel out of place. Far from it. The tone for me was balanced.
We had a brief reappearance of xxxxxx (no names here, sorry) that made my eyebrows go up. But actually it made sense, so I'm surprised I didn't suspect it as a possibility at least.

The ending is satisfying and while I was worried this might be the last of this series, I was grateful for three words at the end that say otherwise.

If you love books with history, time travel, humour, snark, angst and love, then you really should give the series a chance. Start at the beginning, plus check out the short stories (details are all available on Jodi's website including a reading order) and I truly hope they bring you as much enjoyment as I gain from them.

How do I rate this book?
I adored it. I think this is by far the best she has written from the entire series! I do not say that lightly. It really feels as if Jodi elevates this above the rest. How on earth she does this, I'll never know.

5/5 stars 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟 if I could give more, I would.

If there is a book series that makes me laugh, loose sleep as I can’t put it down and wish I could jump through the pages to join in more than St. Mary’s I have yet to find it! If there is a fictional duo who I want to be best friends with more than Max and Markham I’ve yet to find them either!

Once again Jodi Taylor writes a book that is the perfect mix of history, humour and fast paced plot. Markham and Max speed up and down the timeline trying to stay out of trouble and inevitably finding it, normally landing in it head first. From China to Egypt, past to future can they save the day or have they taken a risk too far this time?

At this point quite honestly if Jodi Taylor was to write a plant catalogue I would read it! She makes writing look effortless and peppers her books with Easter eggs, funny one liners and so many little details that I never get fed up of reading them.

The best book of 2023 so far!

This book was wonderful. I have enjoyed every book I've read by Jodi Taylor so far and this was no exception. The St Mary's Chronicles are some of my favourite books of all time and this was just fantastic. It made me laugh and cry and everything on between. I hope there will be more books because this kind of felt like a goodbye. I love how well the book brought everything from the past 13 books together and I hope to read more in the future.