We learned a lot in this book about some of the characters we thought we already knew well. There were some amazing surprises! I really appreciated gaining some backstory on a certain recovery professional that was intense, well drawn, and absorbing. Then they were two places where the author pulled the rug out from under my feet! I definitely did not see either of those things coming! Jodi Taylor made my heart ache for a couple who longed for a child, and also for Max's connection with a young girl who took her back to her early trauma. But this installment still offered up the belly laughs and gripping action, along with Max's salty internal responses to her disasters (that sounds much like my own). I read this twice and loved it. I did find one passage where I felt rushed and that it was not clear that A. was deliberately left behind with Mrs. P. Max just dashed and I wondered, "what about A.?" for several pages.

This is the fourteenth book in the Chronicles of St. Mary's series so, for full enjoyment, please don't start here. And please read the short stories too as they contain plot lines pertaining to the main series.
Max, our narrator, is still battling Insight and their illegal time travel activities. Needless to say she takes us on a rollercoaster of historical events,emotional trauma and a head spinning breathless finale.
However, long time followers of Max and her colleagues at St Mary's can relax as the ending is both satisfying and slightly wistful as many loose ends are tied up. The St Mary's books are now syncing with the popular and rather marvellous Time Police series, although there is one particularly interesting and slightly left field event which may crop up in further books.
For now though, I think we can safely leave Max and the rest of St Mary's drowsing happily under a timeless blue sky until the next disaster….. Until then -I'm off for a reread!
Thank you to Netgalley for an advance copy.

I have never been so excited as when my wish was granted to receive an early copy of this book. Thank you to the God of Historians.
First of all, I need to state that every time Jodi puts out a new book I quiver and think this will be the one where she drops the ball. What-ho, not so. Without giving away any spoilers, this is the book that offers a bit of a wrap up, a new thread to follow and a blast from the past that lifted my spirits. Seamless story telling, comedy and a couple of ‘oh no’ out loud moments, I read the book in two days flat. Elation at the story and disappointment that I had finished plagued me in equal measure. If you are a St Mary’s Fan, you will not be disappointed.

Wow. I never know where Jodi can possibly take her characters and books next but she always finds a way to spring a surprise or two on her readers. The 14th St. Mary's book is one of the best in the series as Max attempts to uncover the motives of a mysterious and sinister organisation. Despite picking up where the last book left off and initially placing Max in a similar situation, Jodi cleverly turns readers' expectations on their heads, dazzling you with twists, turns, revelations, and so much history. Max is literally all over the place in the book and we're with her every step of the way as she fights to save what she loves and brings down what threatens her very existence. There are lots of surprises in The Good, the Bad, and the History which you just don't see coming (new faces, old faces, and future faces!). The climactic scene of the book is genuinely one of the most exciting things I've ever read. Total page-turning, heart-in-your-mouth stuff. Just amazing!

This is the my favourite so far- a roller coaster of a ride. Jodi surprises again and again as so many threads are bought to a satisfying conclusion.

Max and Markham are once again at the sharp end of protecting history. The suspense kept me reading late into the night as I couldn't put the book down.

After galloping my way through this book I'm stocking up on margaritas and chocolate in preparation for a slow re-read.

Thank you Jodi- this is the most pleasure I've had between the covers (of a book) for a long time

Max’s To do list:

1. Go collect some books
2. Go on holiday, see old friends
3. Go back to work
4. Get a promotion
5. Save history

Wow, just come back from an immersive experience into the latest Jodi Taylor book, ‘The Good, The Bad and The History’. Our friends from St Mary’s are at it again. Well, Maxwell is no longer working there but that does not stop her from getting everyone involved anyway.

This is book 14 in Jodi Taylor’s Chronicles of St Mary’s series so don’t think you can just pick up this one and start, it will confuse the heck out of you. Start at the beginning and get swept along for the ride of your life.

Thank you, Netgalley and Headline Publishing, for providing me with one of the advance reader copies to read, evaluate and give my honest opinion.

Continuing where the last book left off, the shooting of the Director, Max is trying to regain her strength while staying under the radar of the authorities looking for her. She continues to work as a bounty hunter, sorry, recovery agent with Markham, Pennyroyal and Smallhope.

On her first jump in a while, she experiences some side effects due to having jumped around the time line too much, however, all’s well that ends well and no damage seems to have been done.

After a deserved holiday visiting old friends, Max is ready to return to work for Insight where is she is promptly offered a promotion which she accepts.

Working undercover at Insight, a historical research organisation, Max is put on a rapid promotional path and soon learns about the darker side of the organisation, something she was sent to find out. Desperately trying to save some innocents and prevent the premature start of the Time Wars, Max must do all she can to stay alive, help bring down the baddies and ensure history is not corrupted.

As always, Jodi Taylor manages to fill the pages with excellently researched history, humour, sarcasm, heartbreak. Over the whole series of books, the characters are like close friends and you see the world through their eyes, laugh and cry with them, accompany them through highs and lows. This book is no different. There are time when you are on tenterhooks hoping the right decision is made.

Go ahead and enjoy a new adventure in the Chronicles of St. Mary's series.

In the aftermath of the Director being shot, Max is once again on the run from the authorities, many of whom want to arrest her for any number of reasons. She reunites with former colleagues and, as usual, puts herself in danger, trying to save history from those who want to destroy it.

The Chronicles of St. Mary's series follows a group of rowdy and hilarious, but caring, historians up and down the timeline as they "investigate historical events in contemporary time." In other words--time travel--but don't let Dr. Bairstow hear you say that. In this book, Max continues to deal with the physical effects of taking way too many time jumps for far too long while she tries to save history.

This is the fourteenth book in this wonderful series. If you are new to the Chronicles of St. Mary's, I advise you to start with Book 1, Just One Damned Thing After Another, and read it from the beginning to get the best experience. And I envy you the experience of reading it for the first time.

Once again and for the fourteenth time, I laughed, gasped, and sometimes cried all over the timeline as I followed Max on her adventures. These characters have become dear friends and it's so great to see them again and laugh at their shenanigans. Jodi Taylor has the most amazing ability to have the reader laughing one minute and crying the next. The uproarious ride throughout time is also a wonderful rollercoaster of emotions. There are surprises in this book. When I say you are going to gasp, I am not kidding. It's another fabulous adventure with the St. Mary's crew. I cannot stress enough how much I love these books, and I believe you will love them too.

I received a free advanced review copy from Headline via Netgalley. My review is voluntary and the opinions expressed are my own.

Four and a half stars.

First off, this is book 14 in a series. These books are not standalone. I barely can keep up and I've read all 14 books. Do not start here. There will be spoilers for earlier books.

At the end of the last book an unknown person had shot Commander Treadwell, the Time Police operative acting as Director of St Mary's whilst Dr Bairstow was being held by Martin Gaunt. As a consequence St Mary's is in lockdown whilst various military regimes investigate. Max no longer works for St Mary's instead she is a time traveller bounty hunter with Markham (who is officially on paternity leave), Pennyroyal and Smallhope. Because Max is wanted by various organisations for various things she is masquerading as Nicola Hay, librarian, while she recovers from Insight's attempts to assassinate her. Are you keeping up?

Insight appears to be a benign historical research organisation, however Max and Markham discovered that it was trying to alter the course of history by interfering in moments such as the signing of the Magna Carta. Max has infiltrated Insight and they have foiled three attempts to alter the timeline, but the recent attack means that Insight will soon find out that Max is a spy.

Can Max bring down Insight before she is caught? How far is she willing to go to get in with the real power at Insight? Why are they altering history? And given the need to time travel to the future to work for Insight and back to the past on missions, how is Max going to cope with her time travel sickness?

With all Jodi Taylor's trademark humour, this was a great book in the series, even Clive Ronan makes a brief re-appearance. Could it be the end? Who knows.

I received an ARC from the publisher via NetGalley in return for an honest review.

Once again, the indomitable disaster magnet that is Dr Maxwell is careering up and down the timeline even though, as with so many things when you get older, it hurts more these days. Along with the faithfully protective and often surprising (not always in a good way) Markham, will she finally manage to avert the early onset of the Time Wars without getting herself shot by… well, just about anyone with whom she crosses paths?
This picks up immediately after the events of the last book and as ever, takes the reader on a breathless journey through historical events, twisty plotting, the mind-bending issue of things happening in the correct order for History but completely backwards in one’s personal timeline, and the perennial importance of a cup of tea (and the occasional margarita). Although the majority of the story takes place away from St Mary’s, most of the old familiar faces make an appearance and without spoilers, a lot of long-running questions are answered satisfactorily. There aren’t many authors who can make me snort with laughter, well up with tears, keep me on tenterhooks and also get completely immersed in historical detail that I’d never learn about otherwise… in fact, reading that back, Jodi Taylor is definitely the only author who can do all that. It’s another triumph, and from a few little things left unresolved, there’s surely more to come.

I've been waiting, salivating, for this latest volume of Max's Adventures in History. It didn't disappoint, lots of rushing around, plenty of sarcastic humour, and Markham showing his fiercer, masculine side (snigger). All so good. I would say, I'd have liked a little more historical jumping around to pleasure the history nerd in me, but hopefully, that's for next time. Another up-until-3-in-the-morning all-in-one-g0 read. If you like Jodi, you'll love this.

What a wild ride! The only difficulty here is how to review this without spoilers. What I can say is that this is NOT a roller coaster of a book; it reminds me more closely of the time I got to go for an aerobatic ride in an open-cockpit biplane. Keep your hands in the cabin and your seat belt on while reading - you’ll need it. And start early in the morning because you’re not going to want to put it down to go to sleep.

There are a bunch of formatting errors in the Kindle file of this book; I assume they will be corrected before publication but I’d be happy to provide more details info needed (the Dramatis Thingummy is one notable example.)