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Chronicles Of St. Mary's Books in Order

Part ofJodi Taylor Books in Order

Explore more Chronicles of St Mary's stories by Jodi Taylor in order, with novellas, Christmas specials, collections, and guidance on how they fit around the main novels.

Last updated: December 24, 2025

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Publication Order

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34 books

1

Murder at Martingale Manor

by Jodi Taylor

2025

Hoping to help Max recover from serious injuries, Leon books them a quiet holiday at a Devon manor house in 1924. Their fellow guests look like a classic country house cast, and when a body appears Max realises they have walked straight into a murder mystery where Leon is the only one without an alibi.

2

Lights! Camera! Mayhem!

by Jodi Taylor

2024

A notorious film producer returns to St Mary's with plans to use the institute as the backdrop for his latest project. Max knows this can only end one way. When cameras, egos and time travel collide, the result is a Christmas special full of stunts, misunderstandings and very expensive breakages.

3

The Good, the Bad and the History

by Jodi Taylor

2023

St Mary's comes under formal investigation when its director is shot and Max is treated as the obvious suspect. To clear her name and protect the institute, she plunges into uprisings and undercover work, confronting a shadowy group determined to rewrite history for its own benefit.

4

Christmas Pie

by Jodi Taylor

2023

A turf war erupts between St Mary's and the local Women's Institute, also known as the Raffia Mafia, over the proper definition of Christmas pie. Max, Markham, Peterson and Miss Sykes jump to Restoration London in search of the real thing, only to find that the season of goodwill does not extend to time travelling historians.

5

A Catalogue of Catastrophe

by Jodi Taylor

2022

Disaster has always followed St Mary's, but in this instalment the pace accelerates. From royal courts to ruined cities, Max faces a string of missions where every small choice seems to spawn another crisis, and a quiet conspiracy threatens everything the institute has built.

6

The Toast of Time

by Jodi Taylor

2021

Max and Markham plan their first Christmas away from St Mary's, hoping for something almost normal. Instead they acquire a legendary sword, a Fabergé egg, a belligerent ram and a fresh appreciation for how hard it is to have a quiet life when time travel is involved.

7

Another Time, Another Place

by Jodi Taylor

2021

Jobless and cut loose from St Mary's, Max is offered a new role that may not be as generous as it seems. From Tudor England to the Tower of Babel, she has to navigate unfamiliar power structures, old friends and dangerous temptations without the safety net of her old life.

8

The Ordeal of the Haunted Room

by Jodi Taylor

2020

A Victorian country house, a murderous family legend and a storm raging outside should make for a perfect Christmas jump. When Max and her companions agree to stand in for a nervous heir during his traditional ordeal, they uncover something far nastier than a campfire ghost story.

9

Plan For The Worst

by Jodi Taylor

2020

Max has learned to hope for the best while planning for disaster, but even she is not ready for the revelations that follow a fateful night at the Tower of London. With trust shattered and the future uncertain, St Mary's must fight on more than one front at once.

10

Why is Nothing Ever Simple?

by Jodi Taylor

2019

A straightforward task for St Mary's, complete with clear instructions and a simple objective, unravels almost immediately. What follows is an object lesson in how minor complications, awkward relatives and the odd assassination attempt can turn simplicity into utter chaos.

11

When Did You Last See Your Father?

by Jodi Taylor

2019

Max has survived dinosaurs, battles and bureaucrats, but introducing her husband to her father may be the most nerve wracking mission yet. A family encounter collides with St Mary's uncompromising attitude to people it does not like, with predictably unpredictable results.

12

Long Story Short

by Jodi Taylor

2019

This second St Mary's collection brings together later short stories, including Christmas chaos in Victorian London, civil uprisings, experimental powdered water and an unforgettable nativity play. It is a fast moving companion for readers who want more history soaked mayhem in smaller doses.

13

Hope for the Best

by Jodi Taylor

2019

As St Mary's faces pressure from both the future and the past, Max is pulled into a chase that crosses centuries and worlds. Old enemies, new alliances and a mission that changes everything force her to decide how much she is willing to sacrifice for the institute.

14

The Steam Pump Jump

by Jodi Taylor

2018

Laid up in Sick Bay and technically forbidden from fieldwork, Max still manages to involve herself when an experiment with Victorian engineering goes wrong. With Markham improvising in the field and St Mary's leaking chaos at every seam, even a short hop turns hazardous.

15

The Battersea Barricades

by Jodi Taylor

2018

Set during the Battersea uprising, this story looks back at a younger generation fighting on the streets long before St Mary's existed in its current form. It gives glimpses of familiar names in their radical youth and shows how revolution looks from ground level.

16

And Now for Something Completely Different

by Jodi Taylor

2018

In search of a fresh twist on the traditional Christmas jump, Max and her colleagues find themselves gate crashing someone else's illegal expedition. Swapped snow for red dust, they end up on a perilous side trip that proves Mars is no place for under prepared historians.

17

An Argumentation of Historians

by Jodi Taylor

2018

A simple jump leaves Max stranded far from home with no obvious way back to her own time. As colleagues argue over how to rescue her and outside forces move in, she discovers just how tangled the web of St Mary's past and future has become.

18

The Long and Short of It

by Jodi Taylor

2017

This collection gathers early St Mary's short stories, from Christmas capers and Roman misadventures to a very first day out for the historians. It is a quick way to sample the series' blend of chaos, history and deadpan humour in bite sized form.

19

And the Rest is History

by Jodi Taylor

2017

Old scores come due when St Mary's faces its most determined enemy head on. Max and her colleagues fight on multiple fronts in multiple eras, with the fate of the institute and the people she loves balanced on a series of brutal, time bending choices.

20

A Perfect Storm

by Jodi Taylor

2017

On what should be a routine assignment, Max and her team find themselves caught between appalling weather, local trouble and the ever present risk of nudging history off course. The storm outside mirrors the tensions inside St Mary's as loyalties are quietly tested.

21

The Great St Mary's Day Out

by Jodi Taylor

2016

A supposedly harmless staff outing turns into a masterclass in how St Mary's can find trouble anywhere. What begins as a day trip rapidly involves lost historians, local authorities and more destruction than any picnic should reasonably cause.

22

My Name is Markham

by Jodi Taylor

2016

Seen through Markham's eyes, this novella follows St Mary's most incorrigible security officer as he attempts to survive Christmas, weddings and a mission that goes sideways in record time. It is part love letter, part disaster report and entirely St Mary's.

23

Lies, Damned Lies, and History

by Jodi Taylor

2016

Max has never been good with rules, but one reckless decision leaves ruined lives and wrecked timelines in its wake. Grounded and under scrutiny, she has to find a way to repair the damage while enemies circle and the future of St Mary's hangs in the balance.

24

What Could Possibly Go Wrong?

by Jodi Taylor

2015

Promoted to Chief Training Officer, Max must turn a batch of keen but hapless recruits into functioning St Mary's historians. Their curriculum includes Joan of Arc, Stone Age hunters and a very large mammoth, and every lesson proves that training other people can be far worse than risking your own neck.

25

The Very First Damned Thing

by Jodi Taylor

2015

This prequel shows how St Mary's became the disaster magnet readers know. Dr Bairstow assembles his first ragtag team, battles sceptical backers and tests the earliest time pods, discovering that stolen furniture, experimental tea urns and risky field trips are baked into the institute from the start.

26

Ships and Stings and Wedding Rings

by Jodi Taylor

2015

Christmas at St Mary's means an illegal jump, this time to retrieve a misplaced gun from ancient Egypt before it can damage the timeline. Between sandstorms, poisonings and wedding chaos, Max and her crew once again prove that nothing involving St Mary's ever goes smoothly.

27

No Time Like the Past

by Jodi Taylor

2015

St Mary's is back in business after rebuilding, and Max is juggling an ill fated fete, a trip to the Great Fire of London and a comfort break that nearly derails the Battle of Thermopylae. Everyday life at the institute has rarely been more dangerous or more entertaining.

28

Roman Holiday

by Jodi Taylor

2014

On a mission nicknamed Roman Holiday, the historians head out expecting a straightforward observation assignment and a bit of sunshine. Instead they find the usual mix of local unrest, awkward disguises and the nagging feeling that history has other plans for them.

29

Christmas Present

by Jodi Taylor

2014

In this St Mary's Christmas special, Max and the team head out on what should be a simple seasonal jump. Naturally it delivers blood soaked history, bad weather, too much tinsel and the reminder that even at Christmas the past is never safe or simple.

30

A Trail Through Time

by Jodi Taylor

2014

Reality has started to fray for Max, and an enemy who knows far too much is hunting her through the ages. From Roman Britain to the Blitz, she and her allies race along a trail of altered timelines, trying to put history back together before St Mary's itself is erased.

31

A Second Chance

by Jodi Taylor

2014

Max leads jumps to seventeenth century Cambridge to meet Isaac Newton, witnesses catastrophe at the Gates of Grief and finally reaches the long promised Trojan War. Faced with history's bloodiest moments and a terrible personal loss, she has to decide what a second chance is really worth.

32

When a Child is Born

by Jodi Taylor

2013

Christmas at St Mary's means an unofficial jump, this time into the path of Queen Boudicca's rebellion. What should have been a simple seasonal jaunt turns into a brutal reminder that even the most festive missions can end in blood, smoke and very hasty exits.

33

Just One Damned Thing After Another

by Jodi Taylor

2013

When historian Max Maxwell is recruited by the secretive St Mary's Institute of Historical Research, she discovers that history is studied up close and in person. Her first jumps, from medieval England to dinosaur infested prehistory, prove that time travel, office politics and survival make a very volatile mix.

34

A Symphony of Echoes

by Jodi Taylor

2013

Now a fully fledged St Mary's historian, Max hurtles from fog shrouded Victorian London in search of Jack the Ripper to the murder of Thomas Becket and an ill advised encounter with dodos. An old enemy resurfaces, and protecting St Mary's may mean risking the whole of history.

Series background & context

Alongside the main Chronicles of St Mary's novels there is a whole constellation of shorter pieces that fill in gaps, answer side questions and let favourite characters take the spotlight. This strand gathers those novellas, Christmas specials and collections into one place so it is easier to see how they relate to the core series.

Many of the stories revolve around St Mary's unofficial festive tradition, the illegal Christmas jump. Tales such as When a Child is Born, Christmas Present, Ships and Stings and Wedding Rings, The Toast of Time, Christmas Pie, Lights! Camera! Mayhem! and Murder at Martingale Manor all start with the simple idea of a seasonal excursion. Max and the team set out to witness a historical moment, tidy up a loose end or simply enjoy a change of scene. Within a few pages they have usually acquired enemy soldiers, collapsing buildings, murderous ghosts, film crews, or all of the above.

Other stories step away from Max to focus on side characters. The Great St Mary's Day Out and My Name is Markham show events from Markham's point of view, leaning into his talent for trouble. The Ordeal of the Haunted Room strands a small group in a storm lashed country house and gradually turns a Christmas ghost story into something closer to a locked room mystery. The Battersea Barricades jumps back to an earlier generation to show how a familiar uprising actually felt from the street.

Collections such as The Long and Short of It and Long Story Short gather these pieces into handy volumes, often with brief introductions from Taylor about why each story exists. The Most Wonderful Time of the Year pulls several of the Christmas tales into a single festive collection, sitting neatly between main sequence novels. For new readers the collections offer a way to sample the tone without committing to a full length book. For long time fans they are a chance to revisit favourite moments and pick up extra context.

Because the shorts were written in and around the novels, their internal chronology can look tangled at first glance. Read in publication order, though, they slide naturally into the larger arc. Some explain why a character reacts the way they do in a later book. Others quietly set up plot threads that pay off much later. All of them showcase Taylor's knack for taking a simple premise and letting it gather chaos, jokes and unexpected emotion in just a few pages.

Taken together, these stories round out the St Mary's universe. They show quieter days at the institute, offer sideways views of major events and prove that even a supposedly low key staff outing or nativity play can turn into a full scale catastrophe once time travel is involved.

Edited by

Richard Reis

Software engineer whose passion for tracking book recommendations from podcasts inspired the creation of MRB.

Anurag Ramdasan

Lead investor at 3one4 Capital whose startup expertise and love for books helped shaped MRB and its growth.

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All 34 Chronicles Of St. Mary's Books in Order (2026)