Jodi Taylor is a British author best known for the Chronicles of St Mary’s, a long-running science fiction and historical adventure series about historians who investigate the past in contemporary time.
Her bibliography is more interconnected than it first appears.
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The Chronicles of St Mary’s, the Time Police, and Smallhope & Pennyroyal all belong to the same broad fictional world. Characters cross between them, later books can reveal developments from earlier series, and the many St Mary’s short stories are often mixed into retailer numbering.
That last point causes the most confusion.
There are 14 main Chronicles of St Mary’s novels through The Good, the Bad and the History. Titles sometimes labeled Book 15, Book 16, and beyond by retailers are often short stories, not additional full-length novels.
The Main Jodi Taylor Reading Route
For a first-time reader who wants the central continuity without constantly switching series, the cleanest route is:
- Read the 14 main Chronicles of St Mary’s novels in order.
- Add the St Mary’s short stories and collections as optional material.
- Read the Time Police series in order.
- Read the Smallhope & Pennyroyal books in order.
This is not strict publication order across the shared universe.
It is the easiest spoiler-conscious route because St Mary’s establishes the characters, institutions, and history that the spin-offs repeatedly revisit.
Chronicles of St Mary’s Books in Order
The 14 main novels are:
- Just One Damned Thing After Another (2013)
- A Symphony of Echoes (2013)
- A Second Chance (2014)
- A Trail Through Time (2014)
- No Time Like the Past (2015)
- What Could Possibly Go Wrong? (2015)
- Lies, Damned Lies, and History (2016)
- And the Rest Is History (2017)
- An Argumentation of Historians (2018)
- Hope for the Best (2019)
- Plan for the Worst (2020)
- Another Time, Another Place (2021)
- A Catalogue of Catastrophe (2022)
- The Good, the Bad and the History (2023)
Read these in numerical order.
The series follows Dr Madeleine Maxwell, usually called Max, and the staff of St Mary’s Institute of Historical Research. Relationships, deaths, rivalries, family developments, and consequences from changes to History accumulate heavily from one book to the next.
Starting in the middle is not recommended.
Why Some Stores Show More Than 14 St Mary’s Books
Taylor has written a large number of St Mary’s short stories.
Some digital retailers assign these stories sequential series numbers, which can create listings such as Book 15, Book 16, Book 17, and beyond.
That numbering does not mean there are twenty or more full-length St Mary’s novels.
The main novel sequence currently ends at:
- The Good, the Bad and the History
Everything after that should be checked carefully to see whether it is a novella, Christmas story, short story, collection, or spin-off.
Just One Damned Thing After Another
This is the correct beginning of St Mary’s.
It introduces Max, St Mary’s, the historians, the pods, and the central rule that History strongly resists interference.
No prequel should replace it as a new reader’s first book.
Included: Main novel 1.
The Very First Damned Thing
The Very First Damned Thing is a prequel short story set around the founding and earliest days of St Mary’s.
Chronologically it comes before Just One Damned Thing After Another.
Do not read it first.
The story works better once the reader already knows St Mary’s and understands the significance of its characters and traditions.
Optional: Read after Book 1 or later.
St Mary’s Short Stories
Taylor has written many shorter St Mary’s adventures, often released around Christmas or between novels.
Notable titles include:
- When a Child Is Born
- Roman Holiday
- Christmas Present
- The Very First Damned Thing
- Ships and Stings and Wedding Rings
- The Great St Mary’s Day Out
- My Name Is Markham
- A Perfect Storm
- Christmas Past
- The Battersea Barricades
- The Steam-Pump Jump
- And Now for Something Completely Different
- When Did You Last See Your Father?
- Why Is Nothing Ever Simple?
- The Ordeal of the Haunted Room
- The Toast of Time
- Christmas Pie
- Lights! Camera! Mayhem!
- Murder at Martingale Manor
- The Coo of Warning
These are supplementary stories rather than replacements for the numbered novels.
Because many contain returning characters and assume knowledge of ongoing relationships, they are safest when read around their original publication point or after the main novels.
The Long and the Short of It
The Long and the Short of It collects eight St Mary’s stories.
Its contents include:
- The Very First Damned Thing
- When a Child Is Born
- Roman Holiday
- Christmas Present
- Ships and Stings and Wedding Rings
- The Great St Mary’s Day Out
- My Name Is Markham
- A Perfect Storm
Status: Short story collection.
It is not another main St Mary’s novel.
Long Story Short
Long Story Short is another St Mary’s short-fiction collection.
It gathers stories that had appeared separately, making it useful for readers who do not want to track down every individual digital release.
Status: Collection, optional.
Readers who already own the individual stories should expect duplication.
The Most Wonderful Time of the Year
The Most Wonderful Time of the Year gathers Christmas stories from Taylor’s different fictional worlds.
Its material includes St Mary’s, Time Police, and Frogmorton Farm stories.
It should therefore be treated as a cross-series festive collection rather than a numbered St Mary’s volume.
Status: Optional collection.
Should You Read Every St Mary’s Short Story?
No.
The 14 novels provide the essential backbone.
The short fiction supplies character moments, comedy, historical side trips, and occasional background that regular readers will appreciate, but a reader can understand the main novel sequence without tracking every numbered decimal position.
For the least complicated first reading, finish the novels and then use the collections.
The Time Police Books in Order
The Time Police is a direct spin-off from the St Mary’s universe.
Read:
- Doing Time (2019)
- Hard Time (2020)
- Saving Time (2021)
- About Time (2022)
- Killing Time (2024)
- Out of Time (2025)
The series follows Jane, Luke, and Matthew, collectively associated with Team Weird, inside the organisation responsible for protecting the timeline.
This is not a completely independent universe.
St Mary’s characters appear, family relationships overlap, and events in one series can matter in the other.
When Should You Start the Time Police?
Do not start the Time Police before St Mary’s if you intend to read both series.
Doing Time was designed as a spin-off, and several characters have histories established in the parent series.
For the simplest spoiler-conscious approach, read the main St Mary’s novels first.
Readers who prefer strict publication order can begin the Time Police after reaching the later St Mary’s books, but that requires alternating between the two series.
For most new readers, completing St Mary’s first is easier.
Is Out of Time Time Police Book 6?
Yes.
The current main sequence is:
- Doing Time
- Hard Time
- Saving Time
- About Time
- Killing Time
- Out of Time
Out of Time was published October 9, 2025.
Status: Main Book 6.
Is the Time Police Series Finished?
No final-series announcement has been confirmed.
Taylor has discussed further Time Police writing, so Out of Time should not be treated as a guaranteed finale.
No seventh full-length Time Police novel with a firmly confirmed publication date is included here.
Santa Grint
Santa Grint is a Time Police Christmas short story.
It is not Book 5 or Book 6 of the main sequence.
Read it after becoming familiar with Team Weird.
Status: Optional short story.
Who’s There?
Who’s There? is another Time Police short story, built around a Halloween mission.
It belongs to the Time Police continuity but should not be counted as the next full-length numbered novel.
Status: Optional shorter fiction.
Smallhope & Pennyroyal Books in Order
Smallhope & Pennyroyal is another spin-off from the world of St Mary’s.
Read:
- The Ballad of Smallhope and Pennyroyal (2024)
- A Family Affair (2026)
The books follow Lady Amelia Smallhope and Pennyroyal, recovery agents whose work repeatedly puts them in dangerous positions across the timeline.
These characters will already be familiar to readers of the wider St Mary’s world.
The Ballad of Smallhope and Pennyroyal
This novel gives Smallhope and Pennyroyal their own full-length story.
Although the pair belong to the St Mary’s universe, this is the first novel in their dedicated series.
Included: Book 1.
A Family Affair
A Family Affair was published August 6, 2026.
It continues directly from The Ballad of Smallhope and Pennyroyal, including consequences of Smallhope’s earlier injuries and Pennyroyal’s past.
Read the first book before it.
Included: Book 2.
Is A Family Affair Taylor’s Latest Book?
Yes, as of August 9, 2026, A Family Affair is Taylor’s newest confirmed full-length publication.
It was released on August 6, 2026.
It is Smallhope & Pennyroyal Book 2, not a new Chronicles of St Mary’s numbered novel.
Are Smallhope & Pennyroyal Part of St Mary’s?
Yes, they belong to the broader St Mary’s fictional world.
Headline groups:
- The Chronicles of St Mary’s
- The Time Police
- Smallhope & Pennyroyal
together as related series.
Readers who want maximum recognition of characters and background should therefore begin with St Mary’s.
The Best St Mary’s Universe Order
There are two sensible approaches.
Easy Series-by-Series Order
- Chronicles of St Mary’s Books 1 to 14
- Time Police Books 1 to 6
- The Ballad of Smallhope and Pennyroyal
- A Family Affair
Add short stories afterward or around the relevant series.
This is our recommendation for new readers because it avoids constant switching.
Publication-Based Shared-Universe Order
A completionist can alternate St Mary’s, Time Police, and later Smallhope books according to release date.
That better reproduces the order in which longtime readers encountered the crossovers.
However, it is considerably more complicated because Taylor releases short stories between nearly every major book.
For a first reading, the simpler series-by-series route loses very little.
Frogmorton Farm Books in Order
Frogmorton Farm is separate from the time-travel continuity.
The main novels are:
- The Nothing Girl
- The Something Girl
Both follow Jenny and Russell Checkland and life at Frogmorton Farm.
Read them in order.
The Nothing Girl
The Nothing Girl introduces Jenny, Russell, Frogmorton Farm, and Thomas, the extraordinary golden horse only Jenny can see.
It stands apart from St Mary’s.
Included: Frogmorton Farm Book 1.
The Something Girl
The Something Girl continues Jenny and Russell’s life after the events of The Nothing Girl.
Read it second.
Included: Frogmorton Farm Book 2.
Frogmorton Farm Short Stories
Several shorter stories return to the farm.
Little Donkey
Little Donkey is a Christmas story involving Jenny and the residents of Frogmorton Farm.
Read it after The Nothing Girl.
Joy to the World
Joy to the World takes place later in the family’s life and again belongs after the novels have established the characters.
Storm Christopher
Storm Christopher is another Frogmorton Farm short story, published in 2024.
It continues the Checkland family setting.
Status: Optional later short fiction.
Recommended Frogmorton Farm Order
For readers who want both novels and the major shorts:
- The Nothing Girl
- Little Donkey
- The Something Girl
- Joy to the World
- Storm Christopher
The only essential rule is to read The Nothing Girl before The Something Girl.
Is Frogmorton Farm Connected to St Mary’s?
Not as part of the same principal continuity.
Taylor occasionally places stories from different series together in collections, but Frogmorton Farm should be treated separately from the St Mary’s and Time Police timeline.
Separate continuity.
Elizabeth Cage Books in Order
The Elizabeth Cage supernatural thriller series is:
- White Silence
- Dark Light
- Long Shadows
- Bad Moon
These should be read in order.
Elizabeth’s abilities, identity, relationships, and the forces interested in controlling her develop across all four books.
White Silence
White Silence introduces Elizabeth Cage and her unusual ability to perceive things other people cannot.
It is the required beginning.
Included: Book 1.
Dark Light
Dark Light follows directly after the upheaval of the first novel.
Do not begin here.
Included: Book 2.
Long Shadows
Long Shadows deepens the mystery surrounding Elizabeth’s nature.
It assumes familiarity with the first two novels.
Included: Book 3.
Bad Moon
Bad Moon is Book 4.
It was published in 2025 and continues Elizabeth’s story after Long Shadows.
Included: Book 4.
Is Elizabeth Cage Connected to St Mary’s?
No required crossover places Elizabeth Cage inside the St Mary’s timeline.
Headline treats Elizabeth Cage as a separate series.
Readers can begin White Silence without reading any St Mary’s novel.
A Bachelor Establishment
A Bachelor Establishment is a historical romance originally published under the name Isabella Barclay.
Later editions identify its connection with Jodi Taylor more clearly.
It is not part of St Mary’s, Time Police, Frogmorton Farm, or Elizabeth Cage.
Separate continuity.
It can be read at any time.
Did Jodi Taylor Write as Isabella Barclay?
Yes.
A Bachelor Establishment appeared under the Isabella Barclay name.
Readers building a complete Jodi Taylor bibliography should include it, but it should remain separate from her fantasy and science fiction series.
Jodi Taylor Main Novels by Series
For readers who want only full-length fiction and no short stories, the bibliography becomes much simpler.
Chronicles of St Mary’s
- Just One Damned Thing After Another
- A Symphony of Echoes
- A Second Chance
- A Trail Through Time
- No Time Like the Past
- What Could Possibly Go Wrong?
- Lies, Damned Lies, and History
- And the Rest Is History
- An Argumentation of Historians
- Hope for the Best
- Plan for the Worst
- Another Time, Another Place
- A Catalogue of Catastrophe
- The Good, the Bad and the History
Time Police
- Doing Time
- Hard Time
- Saving Time
- About Time
- Killing Time
- Out of Time
Smallhope & Pennyroyal
- The Ballad of Smallhope and Pennyroyal
- A Family Affair
Frogmorton Farm
- The Nothing Girl
- The Something Girl
Elizabeth Cage
- White Silence
- Dark Light
- Long Shadows
- Bad Moon
Standalone
- A Bachelor Establishment
Is There a Chronological Order for St Mary’s?
Trying to arrange the books by the historical dates visited would be impossible and unhelpful.
The characters jump throughout History, often visiting several centuries in one novel.
The only chronology that matters is the characters’ personal sequence.
For that reason, publication order of the main novels is also the recommended order.
Should You Read the St Mary’s Prequels First?
No.
Taylor’s shorter prequel material was written for readers who already knew the series.
Reading it first may provide background but removes some of the intended discovery.
Begin with Just One Damned Thing After Another.
Publication Order or Recommended Order?
For each individual Taylor series, publication order is the right choice.
The complication arises only when St Mary’s and Time Police overlap.
Publication order across both series reproduces crossover timing most precisely, but it requires repeatedly changing protagonists and remembering many short-story placements.
For new readers, keeping each main series together is cleaner.
Which Jodi Taylor Series Should You Start With?
For Time Travel and Historical Adventure
Begin with:
- Just One Damned Thing After Another
This is the strongest entry to Taylor’s largest fictional world.
For Supernatural Thrillers
Begin with:
- White Silence
Elizabeth Cage is independent of St Mary’s.
For Contemporary Fantasy and Romance
Begin with:
- The Nothing Girl
For Historical Romance
Read:
- A Bachelor Establishment
For the St Mary’s Spin-Offs
Do not begin with the spin-offs if you intend to read the whole universe.
Start with St Mary’s first.
Latest Chronicles of St Mary’s Novel
The newest main St Mary’s novel remains:
The Good, the Bad and the History
It was published in 2023 and is Book 14.
Taylor has continued publishing St Mary’s short fiction since then, including Christmas and other special stories.
Those shorter releases do not change the main novel numbering.
Latest Time Police Novel
The newest full-length Time Police novel is:
Out of Time
It was published October 9, 2025 and is Book 6.
The series has not been confirmed as complete.
Latest Elizabeth Cage Novel
The newest Elizabeth Cage novel is:
Bad Moon
It is Book 4 in the supernatural series.
Latest Jodi Taylor Book
As of August 9, 2026, Taylor’s newest full-length book is:
A Family Affair
It was published August 6, 2026.
It is the second Smallhope & Pennyroyal novel.
Frequently Asked Questions
What Jodi Taylor book should I read first?
Begin with Just One Damned Thing After Another if you want Taylor’s main fictional universe.
It starts the Chronicles of St Mary’s and provides the background needed for the Time Police and Smallhope & Pennyroyal spin-offs.
How many main St Mary’s novels are there?
There are 14 numbered full-length novels through The Good, the Bad and the History.
Retailers sometimes assign later numbers to short stories, which can make the total look much larger.
What is St Mary’s Book 14?
The Good, the Bad and the History.
Is Christmas Past St Mary’s Book 15?
Some retailers label it that way in their digital series metadata.
It is actually a short story, not the fifteenth main novel.
Is The Battersea Barricades Book 16?
Again, some retailer catalogs number it that way.
It is shorter St Mary’s fiction rather than the sixteenth full-length novel.
What should I read after The Good, the Bad and the History?
If you have not read the spin-offs, move to the Time Police series.
You can also explore the later St Mary’s short stories.
What order are the Time Police books?
Read:
- Doing Time
- Hard Time
- Saving Time
- About Time
- Killing Time
- Out of Time
Should I read St Mary’s before Time Police?
Yes.
The Time Police is a St Mary’s spin-off with recurring characters and shared history.
Reading St Mary’s first gives the safest continuity experience.
What order are the Smallhope & Pennyroyal books?
Read:
- The Ballad of Smallhope and Pennyroyal
- A Family Affair
Is A Family Affair a St Mary’s novel?
It belongs to the same broad fictional world but is not Chronicles of St Mary’s Book 15.
It is Smallhope & Pennyroyal Book 2.
What order are the Frogmorton Farm novels?
Read:
- The Nothing Girl
- The Something Girl
Then add the short stories if desired.
What order are the Elizabeth Cage books?
Read:
- White Silence
- Dark Light
- Long Shadows
- Bad Moon
Is Elizabeth Cage connected to St Mary’s?
Not as a required shared continuity.
Treat it as a separate supernatural series.
What is Jodi Taylor’s newest book?
A Family Affair, published August 6, 2026.
Is there a new main St Mary’s novel after Book 14?
No later full-length numbered Chronicles of St Mary’s novel has been reliably confirmed for this update.
Later St Mary’s releases include short fiction.
The Best Order for New Readers
Start with Just One Damned Thing After Another and read all 14 main Chronicles of St Mary’s novels in numerical order.
Do not let retailer numbering persuade you that every Christmas story is another full-length sequel. The short fiction is optional and is easiest to explore through the collections once you know the main cast.
After St Mary’s, move to Doing Time and read the Time Police books through Out of Time. Then follow Smallhope and Pennyroyal from The Ballad of Smallhope and Pennyroyal into A Family Affair.
Frogmorton Farm and Elizabeth Cage are different reading paths. Begin those with The Nothing Girl and White Silence respectively.
The single safest starting point across Jodi Taylor’s bibliography remains Just One Damned Thing After Another. It establishes the world from which her largest and most interconnected body of fiction grows.
Frank is the editor of BookSeries.blog, focusing on publication order, chronological timelines, and spoiler-free reading guides for book series and fictional universes.