Plan For The Worst (The Chronicles of St Mary’s #11)

I am a bad person 🙁
I have read every book in the Saint Mary’s canon and have yet to leave a review.
I would say that it is important that one read these in order and handily, there is a guide at the end of this book. If you jump in here, you’ll not understand the full implications and stunning developments of this amazing book. I won’t spoil it, I will just say that every time I finish one of Ms. Taylor’s book, I proclaim it my favorite one yet and I’m sorry it is over. I love love love this entire series. Plan for the Worst however, is my favorite. It isn’t often I am left stunned by a revelation in character development, but this time, I was thunderstruck, or as the British would say, gobsmacked. Start at the beginning of the series and read them all – they’re worth the time and money. Then you will have the same reaction I did with this book.
I am going back to the beginning and re-reading the series so I can leave proper reviews. They are all 5 star books. I tell every one of my reading friends to get them all.

Jodi Taylor is amazing! I pre-ordered this book ages ago, so it was such a happy surprise to receive notice that it had been released and delivered to my Kindle. (You know what it means to have a happy surprise right now. Invaluable!) If you have not read any of her books, lucky you! You have a wonderful back-list of book from this series and others ahead of you. And by all means, do start at the beginning. If you have already read the previous volumes in this series, then lucky you, too, because this book does not disappoint. So much happens in this book! And I dont mean just the investigation of history in contemporary time (time travel). The plot is complex, but never confusing. It is elegantly structured to make everything come together in a satisfying manner with no cheap tricks or cutting of corners. Jodi Taylor is a master of controlling a readers emotions without leaving any hint of manipulation. Once again, she made me laugh, and she made me cry. Sometimes in close proximity. She made me think, and she taught me history. The history in these books is compelling, and it feels very real. There is no resemblance to a sugar-coated period drama on Masterpiece Theater- this history is smelly, dirty, dangerous, and sometimes brutal. In this book, we are in London in 1483 and on Crete in 1628 B.C. just as it is about to be devastated by a massive volcanic eruption on a nearby island and the resulting tidal waves. But her real strength is creating characters that you care about and believe in, even as preposterous things are happening. Her books touch your heart because they always have an essential kernel of truth to them. And those human truths make you believe the time travel, the invisible horse, or whatever else is along for the story. The pacing is fast, the writing is always excellent and unpretentious, and the plotting is complex and skillfully structured. How many series have you read that lost their quality and freshness as the number of books increase? There is not one iota of decline here. It is perhaps the best of the series so far. The Chronicles of Saint Marys series is so consistently entertaining. Her Frogmorton Farm series made me laugh out loud (enough to shake the bed and wake a sleeping husband) and made me cry. A Bachelor Establishment, written under the pseudonym of Isabella Barclay is very funny and highly entertaining. The series featuring Elizabeth Cage scared the daylights out of me. And unbelievably, she managed to begin a successful series featuring the Time Police which has often been antagonistic to the heroes of Saint Marys. A very clear, unqualified 5 stars. Thank you, Jodi Taylor.

Once again, Jodi takes us on another set of wild rides. One of my favorite things about her books is that each one has multiple plots. The characters are typically involved in multiple, non-related scenarios with refreshingly original approaches of problem solving. I have all of the extras turned off on my kindle so I can’t see my progress and am always pleasantly surprised at how much more story there is than most other authors I read.

I will say it again: Jodi Taylor is my new Gold-Standard Author.

Reviews are tough because, honestly, how may ways and times can the same book be described without giving away too much? Rhetorical question. So, I like to stick to the basics.
1. Is it a good story? …………….YES
2. Has it been well edited?…. YES
3. Cliffhanger? ……..NO
4. Unnecessary and/or abundance of foul language?…. NO
5. Explicit sex? ……..NO
6. Unnecessary and/or abundance of sexual references? …NO
7. Does it leave me wanting more?…………………. DEFINITELY!

Some may want to know if it is realistic. My answer is “I don’t care because I read for pleasure”.
Does that cover the major points for ya?

I finished the two books in the series just prior to this one and thought I’d take a little break from the series to read something else. You know, a change of scenery. A change of stories. I couldn’t stand it. I read the first couple of chapters of another book and set it aside so I could go back to read Plan for the Worst – and I wasn’t disappointed! I confess that since this is a very long series, there are a few books I’ve missed along the way, but knowing the characters pretty well and the premise, I was able to catch up on what I’d missed. I do suggest reading the earlier books for that very reason or you’ll be lost because St. Mary’s lives in such a nutty, unconventional state of mind/chaos/existence, even though it’s right here on earth in good ol’ Britain. If you want something different complete with quirky, fun, interesting, intelligent, witty characters doing a very unconventional, nutty, often dangerous, highly regulated job in the most unusual ways possible – and if you like time travel and its many possibilities – this series is for you. Plan for the Worst is the best so far out of a long stream of wonderfulness! Plus Jodi Taylor’s writing has gotten better, tighter and more entertaining both as a storyteller and as an historian. I can’t say enough good about this book!

Were onto book 11 now, and Im wondering what route Jodi is planning to take. Are we nearing the end? Or is she planning to go down the route of Janet Evanovich? (26 books – at the time of writing – in the Stephanie Plum series.) Or, heaven forbid, down the JD Robb route (51 books – and counting – in the Eve Dallas series.) Theres only so many times Max can get herself – and her team – into considerable danger. Time and time again.

The thing that keeps this series fresh for me, is that Jodi doesnt stick to going to well known points in time. We land in Crete and London July 1483 and hop between other places but theyre never well known points in history (at least, not for me) and I am glad of that. As it keeps the cast of characters on their toes, wondering where their Mistress is going to dream up, to send them next.

This book is one of the funniest Ive read in the series. Theres quite a few times where I had to stop reading, because the tears were rolling down my cheeks, I couldnt see the words on the page anymore. And then when I did pick up the book again, I would read the same lines and the whole process would start over again. By page 25 or so, Id read quite a few lines out to my ever-suffering dad (who also reads the series), that he probably doesnt need to read this book now. And page 86, I nearly fell off my seat.

Markham is still the scene stealer of the series, and although hes largely underused for this book, we do see a lot of him towards the end, and at one point, my exact words were what the f***. This part is a serious mindf*** and youll either love the idea, or hate it/Markham completely.

The main issue I have with these books (and JD Robb/Janet Evanovich) is theres no real concept of time passing. Max frequently mentions that shes not as young as she used to be, and frequent time travelling adventures (with time still passing in whatever era she finds herself in), means Ive never really had any real idea of what age she actually is at the beginning and what age she is now. You would assume years have passed, but at the same time, no one else seems to be aging/retiring and everything is just plodding along, as if a couple of weeks have passed since the previous instalment.

But how long can this series carry on for? Unless youre reading each book back to back, there are a lot of salient points that youll not remember. I read the first few in the series back to back, but then I have had to wait for the rest to be released. A fresh re-read of the series may have set some points in my head for this particular entry into the series. I would highly recommend if youre a big fan of this series, to re-read the series beforehand, just to refresh your memory.

Where can this series go from here? I wouldnt say that this ends on a particular cliffhanger, not like some of the earlier instalments but youre still left wondering. Until next year.

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