Thankfully this one was not as emotionally shattering as book 12 this book flung us straight into a new overarching story arc for Max and friends. This book is still set away from St Mary’s with Max and Markham thoroughly ensconced in their new roles as bounty hunters! That doesn’t mean we are not treated to just as frantic hurtling up and down the timeline. We cover everything from the signing of the Magna Carta to the gunpower plot under parliament, all in pursuit of a new nemesis for Maxwell and the Gang. Of course each of these journeys are still filled with the meticulous historical detail and insight you have come to expect from this series.

This instalment seemed a lot more relaxed we got some insight into the new enemy which sounds like it is going to be very interesting story arc for the next instalment. We also got some downtime to consider the ramifications of such frenzied time hopping, in the form of Max’s time-travel sickness. However, I feel this is Taylor’s usual ploy to lull us into a false sense of calm before launching even more craziness at us.

It was really fun to see Maxwell out of her usual well researched trips and instead playing it off the cuff, jumping into all different kinds of situations with Markham right by her side. Of course St Mary’s isn’t out of the picture completely as the favourites turn up to lend a helping hand, a cunning diversion or a quick telling off when they are needed. We also got to see Taylor flex those worldbuilding skills giving us lots of glimpses of the London of the Future. I loved how inventive these ideas were, it painted such an interesting picture of what the city could become. I also liked the hints that the British Museum might be up to something!

Filled with the usual good humour, moments of sheer panic and then those quiet moments that make you love these characters even more, this is just yet another perfect instalment of St Mary’s. It has done a lot to usher in a new ARC to get the gang into even more trouble and I can wait to see what happens next.

As I was reading this book, I had the horrible thought that it might be the last in the series since it tied together a lot of past threads, but I can reassure all fans that there must be at least one more. It doesn’t end on a cliffhanger, but there are unanswered questions.
The book starts with a bang, as Max, Markham and their new colleagues are attacked in the middle of the night. They manage to prevail, but are left with the mystery of who the attackers were, especially since one of them seems to know Max, although she doesn′t recognise any of them. Solving this mystery sends them all jumping through time, to the signing of the Magna Carta, Victorian London, the Gunpowder Plot, and involved with a seemingly benign historical research company in the future. To say nothing of a visit to St Marys, which somehow involves a dead pig.
Max seems to be a little more introspective as she gets older, and flashbacks to previous events gives more depth to the current situation.. I′ve enjoyed all of Jodi Taylor′s books, but I thought this one kept all of the pleasures that we look for, while the change of setting and the new protagonists brought a breath of fresh air.

I had a copy of this book early through Netgalley

I absolutely love this book. I have read all the St. Mary’s book and this one is by far the most unique.
SPOILERs AHEAD!
I was sad to see little of St. Mary’s but Max and Markham had me laughing for so much of the book. But because they are now recovery agents I didn’t expect to see much of the beloved research institute.
The book felt so different from the previous books. We didn’t see nearly as much of some loved characters and the vibes seemed different the whole time, but taking Max out of the comfort of St. Mary’s allowed us as readers to see so much more of her as a person rather than an historian.
Overall, I loved this book as I love all St. Mary’s books. Jodi Taylor can keep them coming!

My thanks to Headline for an eARC via NetGalley of ‘A Catalogue of Catastrophe’ by Jodi Taylor in exchange for an honest review. Thank you also for the invitation to take part in the blog tour!

‘A Catalogue of Catastrophe’ is Book 13 in Taylor’s popular Chronicles of St Mary's series. I combined reading with its unabridged audiobook edition, narrated by Zara Ramm.

While I have some familiarity with this series as well as the related Time Police series, I appreciated that Taylor provided background on characters and setting. It’s helpful for readers new to the series and it’s always possible to read earlier adventures if Chronicles appeal.

In addition, Taylor opens with an amusing ‘Dramatis Thingummy’ that serves as a handy reminder of who is who, including a few historical figures who serve as special guests for this particular story.

The novel is narrated by Dr Madeleine "Max" Maxwell. She recounts how she and her fellow ‘recovery agent’ Markham develop a theory that there is a sinister organisation founded in the future that is seeking to disrupt the course of British history. Max goes undercover in a future London in order to infiltrate what on the surface appears to be a benign historical research organisation.

Along the way, there are journeys through time and plenty of threats all conveyed via Max’s lively repartee peppered with the occasional pop culture references.

It’s hard to convey what a pleasure this novel was to read. I am a big fan of science fiction as well as both history and historical fiction, and it definitely suits my taste including detailed Taylor’s accounts of various historical periods.

Jodi Taylor manages effortlessly to blend comedy with high action and some totally mind boggling time travel loops.

Overall, ‘A Catalogue of Catastrophe’ is fast-paced, intelligent and so much fun. Its final pages provide a teaser for Book 14 and I can hardly wait!

I just adore St Mary's. It's been a little while since I last read a Jodi Taylor book, and I'm kicking myself for having left it so long. Getting back to this series was such a comfort. As soon as I picked this up it all came flooding back to me. It is so easy to get hooked on this series, in fact, I fully intend on going back and reading the ones I missed.

If you haven't read any of these before you can absolutely start with any instalment (fair warning, this is the thirteenth in the series) they can easily be read as standalones, but they also read superbly well as a series letting you see the character development arcs and how they each got to where they are now.

I was first introduced to St Mary's years ago, and even then I think I was late to the party as there were already a few books released. If I said the premise of the series as a whole is a group of accident and disaster-prone society members travelling in time and investigating famous historical events, you basically get the idea. Each book handles different events, different timelines, and so on, but they all follow that same principle.

This instalment was great fun. The banter between the main cast is impeccable and kept me laughing from start to finish, and some of the history scenes are completely bonkers. The historical events we see in this one are; the signing of the Magna Carta in 1215, the Battle of Lincoln in 1217, and the Gunpowder plot in 1605.

Now I'm back into this series I'll be keeping my eye out for the next one for sure!

4 Highly Entertaining Stars ⭐

If an international bestselling series is running into its thirteenth instalment and you’ve yet to read one, then you just know that it’s worth investigating as it must be so popular. Each book can be easily read as a standalone but as usual, reading a whole series enables you to follow all the character developments. The author has once again included her trademark cast of characters to refresh/introduce you to them but in a very informal and amusing way.

“A Catalogue of Catastrophe” is book 13 in Jodi Taylor’s ‘The Chronicles of St Mary’s’, the ongoing story of a bunch of disaster prone individuals, who investigate major historical events in contemporary time.

This time Dr. Maxwell (known as Max) is working undercover at a sinister organisation founded in the future, with a suspicious focus on the past. She needs to find out why she and her bounty hunter friends, were the target for a recent organised and brutal attack.

I adore History, and I equally adore time-travelling tv shows and movies - to be able to visit events in the past, even as just a spectator would be truly tremendous. The places Max and her unique friends visit - to prevent changes to the timeline - are wonderfully fascinating and in this adventure, we see the sealing of the Magna Carter, the Battle of Lincoln Fair and the events surrounding the Gunpowder Plot, all leading to an explosive and satisfactory denouement.

Leaping around the time-lines as Max does, is taking its toll on her and her body is slowly falling apart. Anyone who is familiar with Max will appreciate that this is not going to stop her and she continues to push herself to the brink for ‘history’.

I loved Max and Markham’s banter, though there’s a lot of witty and friendly teasing remarks between most of the characters. They can be cheesy but they are so very funny and definitely excusable!

This series is a fabulously fun read, that I defy anyone of any age not to enjoy. If you already know your history or if you just get educated from the historical facts mentioned, either way the St. Mary’s series is informative, unpredictable, action packed and thoroughly entertaining!

#ACatalogueOfCatastrophe - 4.5stars

I simply adore the Chronicles of St Mary's series as a whole. I love the concept of combining time travel and history in the simple context of learning. Jodi Taylor's writing of historical events is just so compelling, factual and yet fantastical in elements to keep things constantly interesting. The three main historical events we see in this instalment are; the signing of the Magna Carta (1215), the Battle of Lincoln (1217), and the Gunpowder plot (1605) - all pivotal moments in English history that are under threat. I really enjoyed stepping back into English history, as my personal knowledge is very limited and Taylor also ensured that each location had various elements to draw in the reader, from action, to danger to plotting and nervously waiting.

All the characters across the Chronicles of St Mary's series are brilliantly written, all having individual, fleshed-out personalities and stories. I especially enjoyed A Catalogue of Catastrophe because Markham, my all-time favourite from the series is a prominent player in the plot. I really do relish, how even after 13 instalments (and plenty of side-novels/novellas), Taylor can still show us character growth and strength and still introduce new, different characters in the same breath.

The plot of this book does follow a slightly different formula to that of the others, seeing as in the 12th instalment, (Another Time, Another Place), we saw Max left on the outs with the beloved St Mary's Institute. Taylor has really managed to mix things up whilst keeping the heart of her stories, this time adding a bit of tension and anger into the underlying emotions of both the characters and plot.

Usually, I like to give a rounded review and also state a point or two where I feel the story may have been lacking (not a critique, but a purely personal opinion), however, I am really struggling to think of something for A Catalogue of Catastrophe. After 9 years of building this universe (and building further upon it in the newer Time Police series), Taylor really has found the perfect balance for her novels and for her characters.

As I'm sure you've garnered, I loved reading A Catalogue of Catastrophe and I eagerly await the opportunity to read even more of these characters I love so much. I would recommend the book/series to any lover of sci-fi and history, although I do feel those who enjoy new adult and general adult fantasy/sci-fi may find the series more enjoyable due to Taylor's writing being more relatable for those slightly older readers. I must also shout out the audio-book version of this series (as this is how I have consumed the majority of this series) because Zara Ramm does an amazing job of bringing these characters to life and it just translates to listening material perfectly.

I love Jodi Taylors books, and this is no exception. A wonderful mix of past, present and future with several wacky historians thrown in for good measure. The timeline gets a bit confusing at times, but I rather think that is the point! I love the attention to historical detail and the additional of interesting historical characters. A brilliant book.

Somewhere along the line I've managed to miss out on a few of Jodi Taylor's St Mary's Chronicles which I'm rather sad about as this is a series that benefits & deserves to be read in the right order. Not knowing how Max & Markham came to be bounty hunters didn't bother me for long as I was soon swept up in the crazy events & remembering why Max is one of my favourite literary characters!

The story takes the dynamic duo to the signing of the Magna Carta, the siege of Lincoln & the Gunpowder plot seen from the perspective of those who were there. There is a lot of violence & tea drinking. Along with fighting a new foe Max discovers that all the jumping about History can be detrimental to your health. We are left - as always - wondering what is going to happen next!

I adored every page of this & am determined not to miss the next one.

I think that a review of a new Jody Taylor’s novel is for people who never met Max and Markham or travelled in time with the St. Mary crew.
Or maybe I’m wrong and you already read her book and I’m wondering why you’re reading this instead of reading the book but who am I to discuss people’s choices?
For instance, I discovered The Chronicles of St Mary's when I read an arc and fell hard for the series that is I had to go and read the rest because it was one of the best and funniest series I read in a while. History, time travel, quirky characters, plenty of humour and action.
This is the last addition and it’s better if you read the rest of the series because it could be a bit confusing and hard to follow.
There’s a lot of jumps through the history, I laughed a lot and thoroughly enjoyed it.
Even after a lot of books Jody Taylor is able to surprise me and deliver fresh ideas.
I was glad to catch with the characters and follow them in these adventures, I missed a bit Saint Mary’s but loved what I read.
So go, read them, and be ready to have a lot of fun.
Many thanks to Headline and Netgalley for this ARC. All opinions are mine

The Chronicles of St Mary's series is the longest book series I've ever continued with, and it's with good reason. I know going into these books that I'm going to have a good time, surrounded by characters I adore, and learning a bit about history along the way. They've become a constant source of a mood booster for me, and I eagerly wait every April for a new book to be released.

A Catalogue of Catastrophe didn't fail me. Following straight on from where Another Time, Another Place left off, we find Max and Markham still in the employ of the dynamic duo, Pennyroyal and Lady Amelia Smallhope. Still working as bounty hunters, they unfortunately find themselves as the hunted as they are ambushed by are unknown organisation from the future. What follows is an inside job into the future for Max, before hurtling back to witness the battle of Lincoln Fields and the Gunpowder plot. But all this bouncing up and down the timeline might be finally taking its toll, with disastrous consequences for Max...

As always it's the characters and the obvious love of history that permeates the narrative that really make these stories so good. Every character is so well defined at this point that you truely could imagine them as part of your own friendship group, with inside jokes and a wealth of backstory to draw on. Weave these characters into history, any history, and its a match made in heaven. At one point we have Max and Markham handing out Greggs pasties on a battlefield. It's utterly bonkers, and utterly delightful.

I will mention that I did find the pacing a bit off with this one. We have a big lull in the narrative towards the end of the story, where Max is literally doing nothing except painting and attempting to cook (attempt may be too generous a word) and I admit these paragraphs did drag. Although I want Max to have a nice bit of family time, in reality I want to see her in mortal peril. I also really missed just being at St Mary's and seeing all the extended staff there. However, the ending pulled this back again for me, ending in a flourish in typical St Mary's style of revelations and tea.

Another solid addition to the Sy Mary's Chronicles. I can feel these last few books building up to something life altering for Max and Co., and I'll be there for the ride.

I love reading this series of books. I've followed Max as she started her job at St Mary's, visited many many time periods, met some enemies and came up against the Time Police on numerous occasions. I often wonder if the next book will lose steam, but this is book 13 and Max's path has veered in another direction now she has sort of left St Mary's and become a recovery agent with Markham. We had a few new characters and I liked the freshness of this story.
This was a fairly long book and Max is certainly put through the wringer. I wasn't let down and this is a very good addition to Max's life story.

What would you get if your history teacher wrote an episode of Dr Who?

Well, I’m not sure what your history teacher was like, but hopefully the result would read like this: Jodi Taylor’s ‘A Catalogue of Catastrophe’. Because I LAUGHED. I LEARNED. And now, goddamnit, I want MORE.

Headline houses a lot of my favourite authors *coughNEILGAIMANcough* so when I saw they were releasing a new book for ‘fans of Jasper Fforde and Doctor Who’, I threw my hat in the ring immediately.

I’ll be honest: this is the 13th St Mary’s book, and I was worried the plot would be a bit tired. Some series peter out over time, so while the premise was appealing, my hopes weren’t high. LORDY was I proven wrong!

‘A Catalogue of Catastrophe’ blasts out of the gate. Literally. The gate explodes off its hinges. And then the plot just… KEEPS GOING?

You know how it is sometimes: we’re thrown into a raging action scene, then after readers are engaged and our heroes have survived the first onslaught, the writer pans back for some slower-paced scene-setting.

Taylor doesn’t do that.

This book leaps from drama to drama. Exploding ceilings, jumps in time, hired goons, gunpowder plots… Taylor keeps up a hectic pace, dropping details like a soaring balloon drops sandbags. You can choose to pick them up as you go, or just carry on with the mad sprint. As the Doctor would say: “RUN!”

I can’t believe I’d not heard of Taylor before. Her writing is deliciously British, peppered with tea breaks and dry humour. Her wit is SHARP. You’ll find pop cultural references everywhere: from Shakespeare and Hollywood, to celebs of the 13th century. I love an author who writes for a well-read audience, and Taylor does just that.

I’d be loathe to describe this as SF or HF – it’s more ‘hijinks in time’. There aren’t Verne-like pages of gadgetry. Taylor does provide broad-stroke summaries of some historical events (which, for someone who ditched history ASAP in high school, was greatly appreciated), but they’re short and sweet, not dry or dull.

Ultimately, this was a LOT of fun, and I’ll be doubling back to read the start of the series ASAP.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Thank you @NetGalley for the eARC of @Headline’s publication

A Catalogue of Catastrophe is the lucky 13 in The Chronicles of St Mary’s series. This is a set of books following historians as they travel to historical sites to study history in contemporary time. Some think of it as time travel but the members of St Mary’s would disagree with you emphatically and then someone from their R&D section would possibly accidentally blow something up in your near vicinity to prove their point. This is a series that builds on each book so you should start at book one to understand what is going on.

Max is our heroine and PoV. She isn’t your normal heroine as she is a middle-aged wife and mother who just happens to jump through time to various points in history to study them. Good thing history is on her side and jumps in to help here and there because believe me Max needs all the help she can get sometimes. She and bff Markham are currently in hiding and acting as recovery agents when someone tries to kill them. Not really a new thing, someone always seems to be trying to kill Max, but when they get a hint to who it might be, Max and Markham are off undercover to join a sinister organization to suss out what they are planning.

I really have loved these books. I’m generally not a fan of time travel books just because of the paradoxes and competing timelines etc but these where they are mostly studying history are much more fun. I do miss some of the St Mary’s crew being around more since Max is working with a new group as a recovery agent but we do run into them from time to time in unexpected places and that is always a good time because it never runs smoothly.

If you like quick wit, unlikely heroines, historical moments in time and just fun, then this could be a great series for you. Only a few books in the 13 were below a 4-5 star rating for me and even those were very fun overall.

This was my first Chronicles of St Mary's book and I loved it. What a great cast of characters, they all fit together perfectly with Max and Markham being my faves. I loved the time travel jumping around, not only was it super cool, but it was also very interesting. I cannot wait to start from the beginning of this wonderfully crazy series.

I love this series, the author mixes it up every so often so it has never any chance of going stale. Obviously for maximum enjoyment, and so you will actually understand what in the heck is going on (12 books is an awful lot to play catchup with) I would recommend you start from book one and read in order - not forgetting all the inbetweenies. I only discovered this series a year or so ago and have done that myself - both reading and listening to the wonderful audio versions. Prefer the audio to reading to be honest but I read this one (in Zara's voices though!)
So... Max and Markham are still away from St Mary's. Still working as "recovery agents". Seeking out those who abuse time and handing them over to the Time Police. In this book, after a rather interesting raid on the farm which they are based, she travels in time (although this is definitely NOT time travel) to take a desk job in a firm which has piqued the radar of "dodgy dealings". So, undercover Max she becomes. Operating in the future, their target is the past and what that target is is what Max needs to discover and then, well, stop.
It's all a bit timey wimey in the way and order that things happen so you have to have your concentration-hat firmly on your head throughout. But, as always, the author's plotting is sublime and, well, she executes that plot with her usual aplomb. More than that I can't say, spoilers, and cos it is all a bit interconnected and stuff...
Suffice to say, the gang's all here and the threads eventually converge to deliver a most satisfying ending which also draws a few of the other series arcs to some form of conclusion. See, I said you have to play catchup! We also have a bit of history to learn, well researched as usual and bent in just the right ways to allow the story to progress...
All in all, another winner from one of my favourite authors. I think it's the Time Police's turn next for a new release so I am off to wait patiently for that too...
My thanks go to the Publisher and Netgalley for the chance to read this book.

Here I am, looking for something to read and I came across A Catalogue of Catastrophe by Jodi Taylor. Never heard of the author or The Chronicles of St Mary's Series, but I thought the cover was pretty cool. The blurb was definitely appealing so I figured oh why not. So, in case you missed that, I am new to Ms. Taylor jumped into reading this book without knowing any details… like this is book #13 in a series. DOH! After finishing the book, all I can say is why have I not discovered this series before?!

I loved this book! I’m not normally one that likes stories about history, but I may have finally found THE ONE that could change my mind. I found it to be a fun, fast-paced adventure that had me completely engrossed. The characters are amazing with, of course, Max being my favorite. The time jumping, I found so unique and I just couldn’t get enough of the little history lessons tossed in.

No lies here, I did have quite a few moments of feeling lost. Normally, I get over it and just keep going. In this instance, I just kept kicking myself for never having read The Chronicles of St Mary's before. That ending…I do think not having read the series before, or fully understanding what was going on, did hurt me. I kinda/sorta understood what was going on but I don’t think I got the full impact of faithful followers of the series did. I will be rectifying that in the very near future.

Great book. Great author. And most definitely a series worth reading!

Stars: 5
I received this book from Netgalley. I was not compensated for the book other than the entertainment it provided. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Max and Markham have left St Mary's, but has St Mary's really left them? They are bounty hunte—er—recovery agents working with Lady Amelia Smallhope and her fearsome butler, Pennyroyal. Max wonders if she's going mad. Zipping around the timeline is seriously affecting her physically and mentally. She needs to reset her body clock before the ghosts of the past kill her. But her idyllic recuperation time with husband, Leon, and son, Matthew, comes to a very abrupt end. When Max and Markham set out to scupper a sinister organisation, founded in the future, but affecting the past, they really do bite off more than they can chew. Was this shadowy organisation behind their arch-enemy, Ronan?

This is excellent but it isn't the place to start with the St Marys books. I suggest you go back to the beginning and start with 'Just One Damn Thing After Another.' You can thank me later.

I’d not realised this was deep in the middle of a series. What I’ve read so far, I’ve really loved, but I’ve had to pause and start from the beginning. Absolutely racing through the first (which I adore) and will make my way back to this one eventually.

Jodi Taylor's Chronicles of St. Mary's series has been one of my favorites since I first picked it up, and this one was a much anticipated new chapter in the story.

Max and the odd and quirky characters of St. Mary's are up to their old hijinks with people from all over the timeline trying to get killed them. This time around, Max and Markham believe they have finally uncovered the shadowy figures behind so much of their trouble, and Max tries to infiltrate the organization to figure out what their end goal is.

As they work to uncover the mystery, they find themselves getting some help from a few old friends as well as some very familiar historical figures.

This newest installment of the Chronicles did not disappoint, and I can't wait to see where in time they go next.