Showing results by author "Jodi Taylor" in All Categories

Punching well above their weight, Max and Markham set out to bring down a sinister organisation founded in the future—with a suspicious focus on the past. Max's focus is staying alive long enough to reunite with Leon and Matthew, alternately helped and hindered by St Mary's—who aren't always the blessing they like to think they are. But non-stop leaping around the timeline—from witnessing Magna Carta to disturbing a certain young man with a penchant for gunpowder—is beginning to take its toll. Is Max going mad? Or are the ghosts of the past finally catching up with her?

History happens all around you. And, occasionally, to you. I could have been a bomb-disposal expert, or a volunteer for the Mars mission, or a firefighter, something safe and sensible. But, no, I had to be an historian. It began well. A successful assignment to 17th century Cambridge to meet Isaac Newton, and another to witness the historic events at The Gates of Grief. So far so good.

Like a smaller and much scruffier Greta Garbo - finally - Markham speaks! It's Christmas and time for the first (and almost certainly last) St Mary's Annual Children's Christmas Party - attendance compulsory, by order of Dr Bairstow. Discovered practising his illegal reindeer dance and poo-dropping routine, our hero, along with fellow disaster magnets Peterson and Maxwell, is dispatched to Anglo-Saxon England to discover the truth about Alfred and the cakes.

Everyone deserves to get away for a bit. Even the miscreants at St Mary's. Astonishingly, Dr. Bairstow has declared a holiday. Even more astonishingly - he's paying for it. Needless to say, there are strings attached. They have to record the 1601 performance of Hamlet, with Shakespeare himself in the role of the Ghost. It doesn't go well, of course.

The ninth book in the bestselling Chronicles of St Mary's series which follows a group of tea-soaked disaster magnets as they hurtle their way around History. If you love Jasper Fforde or Ben Aaronovitch, you won't be able to resist Jodi Taylor.

St Mary's has never lacked for enemies, but danger has never been closer to home. A state of war has broken out between St Mary's and the Women's Institute - the Raffia Mafia. Markham, Max, Peterson and Miss Sykes must jump to Restoration London in search of real Christmas pie - the honour of St Mary's is at stake. At least that how it all begins, but this is St Mary's after all.

It's Christmas Eve at St Mary's And all through the house Nothing is stirring... Except for Max, Peterson and Markham, sneaking out at midnight for an assignment that is very definitely off the books. It's ten years ago tonight that Senior Historians Bashford and Grey went missing in 12th century Jerusalem. So how did they end up in AD60 Roman Colchester?

Dispatched to Victorian London to seek out Jack the Ripper, things go badly wrong when he finds the St Mary's historians first. Stalked through the fog-shrouded streets of Whitechapel, Max is soon running for her life. Again. And that's just the start. Max finds herself in a race against time when an old enemy is intent on destroying St Mary's. An enemy willing, if necessary, to destroy History itself.

It's long been known that if a thing can go wrong, it will. With knobs on, usually. Disasters start to pile up. A new colleague with no respect for the past and a great deal to prove. Historians lost in time. And - worst of all - Rosie Lee on her very first jump. Then there's the small matter of Max's dishonourable discharge. From Tudor England to the Tower of Babel - it's all going horribly wrong. Jobless and homeless, Max receives an offer she can't refuse. Another time, another place. A refuge, perhaps. She's got that wrong, too.

Life is good at Frogmorton Farm. Yes, Jenny and Russell are still broke. Yes, the roof still leaks. And yes, the Checklands are about to become the long-suffering owners of a battalion of trouble-seeking Patagonian Attack Chickens. But life is still quite wonderful for someone who used to be called the Nothing Girl.

This festive collection takes you from Frogmorton Farm to the Time Police HQ in five short stories from across the worlds of Jodi Taylor - including the internationally bestselling Chronicles of St Mary's series. It wouldn't be The Most Wonderful Time of the Year without riotous misbehaviour, traditional illegal expeditions, and a story you just can't stop listening to.

I would have trusted this man with my life. Until a couple of days ago, anyway. You know what they say - hope for the best, but plan for the worst. Max is quite accustomed to everything going wrong. She's St Mary's, after all. Disaster is her default state. But with her family reunited and a jump to Bronze Age Crete in the works, life is getting back to normal. Well, normal for St Mary's. And then, following one fateful night at the Tower of London, everything Max thought she knew comes crashing down around her. Too late for plans. The worst has happened. And who can Max trust now?

It's Christmas and Jenny Checkland is beset with problems. The Vicar, who really should know better, has asked to borrow Marilyn the donkey for the nativity play thereby unleashing chaos on the already chaos-laden Frogmorton Farm.

Getting a life isn't always easy. And hanging on to it is even harder.... Jodi Taylor brings all her comic writing skills to this heartwarming tale of self-discovery. Known as The Nothing Girl because of her severe stutter and chronically low self-confidence, Jenny Dove is only just prevented from ending it all by the sudden appearance of Thomas, a mystical golden horse only she can see. Under his guidance Jenny unexpectedly acquires a husband - the charming and chaotic Russell Checkland.

It’s Christmas again at St Mary's and time for Max’s obligatory illegal jump. On this occasion, however, they’re right up against it. A loaded gun has been left behind in Ancient Egypt, and it’s up to them to retrieve it before anyone accidentally blows their own head off, thus affecting the timeline for centuries to come. And as if that’s not enough, someone (Max) has inadvertently poisoned Mr Markham. It’s hot, they’re running out of supplies, they can’t find the gun and it’s all going horribly wrong. Again.

A long time ago in the future, the secret of time travel became known to all. Unsurprisingly, the world nearly ended. There will always be idiots who want to change history. Enter the Time Police. An all-powerful, international organisation tasked with keeping the timeline straight. At all costs. Their success is legendary. The Time Wars are over. But now they must fight to save a very different future - their own. This is the story of Jane, Luke and Matthew - the worst recruits in Time Police history. Or, very possibly, three young people who might change everything.

Max is no stranger to taking matters into her own hands. Especially when she's had A Brilliant Idea. Yes, it will mean breaking a few rules, but - as Max always says - they're not her rules. Seconded to the Time Police to join in the hunt for the renegade Clive Ronan, Max is a long way from St Mary's. But life in the future does have its plus points - although not for long. A problem with the Time Map reveals chaos in the 16th century and the wrong Tudor queen on the throne. History has gone rogue, there's a St Mary's team right in the firing line and Max must step up.

Betrayed, terrified and alone, Elizabeth Cage has fled her home. With no plan and no friends, she arrives at the picturesque village of Greyston and finds herself involved in an ages-old ceremony that will end in death. And that might be the least of her problems - the Sorensen Institute would very much like to know her whereabouts. And Michael Jones is still out there, somewhere, she hopes. No matter how far and how fast she can run, trouble will always find Elizabeth Cage.

It's Christmas time again, and all is not well at Frogmorton Farm. Jenny and Russell's daughter, Joy, is growing up. Not quickly enough as far as she's concerned but far too quickly according to Russell. Father and daughter are at odds, and suddenly the outlook is very dark indeed. That is until Thomas comes to the rescue. A Frogmorton Farm short.

Question: What sort of idiot installs his mistress in his wife's house? Especially when that mistress is Cleopatra VII Thea Philopator, Queen of Egypt and the most notorious woman of her time? Answer: Julius Caesar—poised to become King of Rome. Or as good as. Question: At this potentially sensitive point in your political manoeuvrings, who are the last people you'd want crashing through the door, observing, recording, documenting ...? I think we all know the answer to that one.