jacey | Booklog 71/2020: Jodi Taylor: Hard Time

The second book in the St Mary's spin off series featuring Luke, Jane and Matthew (who is the son of Max Maxwell and Leon Farrell from St Mary's). The three of them are still trainee Time Police officers, known as Team Weird for their unorthodox ways of tackling situations that alternately drive Commander Hay slightly bonkers, while actually appreciating their originality (though she'd never tell them that, of course). This time they are sent to the seventeenth century to rescue a politician's daughter who has been dumped by a team of illegal time tourists. Unfortunately she turns out to be one of Luke's exes and she's not happy to be rescued, especially by him. She does, however give away some details of the illegal time travel organisation and Luke and Jane go undercover to see what information they can ferret out while Matthew spends some quality time with the time map. Expect peril, timeslips, Marie Antoinette, and Luke's mouth on overdrive. There's a brief intervention from St Mary's, some familiar character (Officer North, Major Ellis) and a fast-paced adventure. Jodi Taylor is one of my favourite authors, and this does not disappoint. I had this as an advance review copy from Netgalley. Publication is 15^th October 2020.