Chronicles of St Mary's

The first 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. 

When Madeleine Maxwell is recruited by the St Mary's Institute of Historical Research, she discovers the historians there don't just study the past - they revisit it.

But one wrong move and History will fight back - to the death. And she soon discovers it's not just History she's fighting...

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.

From the Hanging Gardens of Nineveh to the murder of Thomas a Becket, via an unscheduled dodo rescue mission, join the historians of St Mary's as they hurtle around History on more hilarious, hair-raising escapades

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.

But then came the long-awaited jump to the Trojan War that changed everything. And for Max, nothing will ever be the same again.

With the bloody Battle of Agincourt playing out around her, Max risks everything on one last desperate gamble to save a life and learns the true meaning of a second chance.

The St Mary's Institute of Historical Research has finally recovered from its wounds and it's business as usual for those rascals in the History Department.

From being trapped in the Great Fire of London to an unfortunately timed comfort break at Thermopylae, which leaves the fate of the western world hanging in the balance, Max must struggle to get History back on track.

But first, they must get through the St Mary's Fete - which is sure to end badly for everyone.

With great privilege comes great responsibility, something Max knows only too well, and as newly appointed Chief Training Officer at the St Mary's Institute of Historical Research, it's up to her to drum this guiding principle into her five new recruits.

With a training programme that includes Joan of Arc, an illegal mammoth, a duplicitous Father of History, a bombed rat, Stone Age hunters and Dick the Turd, the question everyone is asking themselves is - what could possibly go wrong?

Max has never been one for rules. They tend to happen to other people.

But this time she's gone too far. And everyone at St Mary's is paying the price.

With the History Department disintegrating around her and grounded until the end of time, how can she ever put things right?

When an old enemy appears out of nowhere with an astonishing proposition for Max - a proposition that could change everything Max is tempted. Very tempted.

With an end to an old conflict finally in sight, it looks as if St Mary's problems are over with. Can they all now live happily ever after?

As everything hangs in the balance, Max and St Mary's find themselves engulfed in tragedies worse than they could ever imagine.

January 1536 - the day of Henry VIII's infamous jousting accident. Historians from St Mary's are there in force, recording and documenting. And, arguing - obviously.

A chance meeting between Max and the Time Police leads to a plan of action. And, it's one that will have very serious consequences - especially for Max. Her private life is already more than a little rocky. But with Leon recovering and Matthew safe in the future there will never be a better opportunity to bring down Clive Ronan, once and for all.

From Tudor England to the burning city of Persepolis - and from a medieval siege to a very nasty case of 19th century incarceration - Max is determined that this time, he will not escape.

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.

You know what they say. Hope for the best. But plan for the worst.

It's Christmas at St Mary's and time for the traditional illicit jump. Except this one is perfectly legal. It's Major Guthrie's last jump. To the Battle of Bannockburn, no less. An important moment in History for two nations - one that warrants everyone's full attention.

But Max soon finds herself grappling with a near-lethal game of pooh sticks, another avian incursion and two turbulent teenagers intent on piloting their own illegal jump. And that's all before they even get near fourteenth-century Scotland.

For this is St Mary's and nothing is ever simple... 

On the longest night of 1895, a terrible storm rages above Harewood Hall. Max, Markham and an injured Peterson are welcomed in by the Harewood family, but soon realise that, in true St Mary's style, they couldn't have arrived at a better moment. For tonight marks the Ordeal of the Haunted Room. Dum...dum...dum ...

Every Harewood heir must endure one terrifying night alone in the Haunted Room before he can inherit the family seat. Legend says that a ghost will murder anyone who isn't the true successor.

Henry Harewood's ordeal will begin at midnight and end at dawn, but it isn't long before everything goes horribly wrong...

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?

Book 11 in the Chronicles of St Mary's series.

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.

It's that most wonderful time of the year once more. But Max and Markham are a long way from St Mary's. What sort of Christmas will it be without their loved ones?

Settle down with a mince pie and a small sherry and prepare for an unlikely combination of Flying Auctions, Fabergé eggs, duped Time Police officers, the Parish Council, a TWOCed Bentley (no, not that one), legendary swords and a belligerent ram.

Will it be Peace and Goodwill to all men? Well, we all know the answer to that...

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?

Meet Lady Amelia Smallhope, for whom there is no problem that can't be solved by a drink and a think.

And Pennyroyal, for whom there is no problem. Ever.

Everyone's favourite time-travelling bounty hunters. Sorry - 'recovery agents'. No bad guy they can't handle. No expense account too flexible. No rule they cannot break.

As long as they're together, the world is their oyster. And they'll always have each other, right?

Fasten your seatbelts. The timeline doesn't know what's about to hit it.

Part of the Chronicles of St Mary's series.

It's drama, darling! In this year's festive tale, the nation's favourite film producer, Calvin Cutter, returns to darken the doors of St Mary's once again...

A novella from the Chronicles of St Mary's series.

Have you ever wondered what would happen if Max's husband met Max's father? What would Leon do?

They're normally a fairly amiable bunch, but this is the story of what to expect if St Mary's doesn't like someone. As in, really doesn't like someone. Warning: contains a unit-wide criminal enterprise, a great deal of illegal activity and a sad misuse of public resources. All the things a father will do to protect his family.

It is also a story of revenge. Because this is payback - St Mary's style.