Booklog 21/2021: Jodi Taylor: Another Time, Another Place - Chronicles of St Mary's #12

[jacey]

St Mary's Institute of Historical Research investigates historical events in contemporary time. (Don't ever call it time travel!) Having got arch enemy Ronan out of the way in the previous book, things should be looking up for St Mary's in general and Max, Leon and their son, Matthew, in particular, but Dr Bairstow is worried that the authorities are likely to interfere in the running of St Mary's. He sends Leon off on a jaunt to discover a new remote site, a secret bolt-hole to which all the staff can decamp (with the archive) at a moment's notice. So Leon, Matthew and the two teenage geniuses (Adrian and Mikey) who are currently sheltering from the Time Police, are not involved (much) in this book. And it looks as if we've lost Markham too (one of my very favourite characters). He's taken his family somewhere safe (away from Governmental Powers That Be) since he and Hunter now have a baby daughter. Why is that a problem? You'll have to read the big reveal about Markham in 'Plan for the Worst.' Ms Taylor is careful not to divulge Markham's origin in this book, though there are little Easter Eggs for those in the know. (Yes I do know Markham's origin story and no I'm not revealing it in this review.)

So the scene is set for something to happen. The first thing is Hyssop's arrival - designated as the new Head of Security in Markham's absence. She's got two huge faults: lack of experience in the kind of security time travelling historians need, and unshakeable faith that she can sweep in, change everything and do a better job than anyone else. Ignorance and overconfidence don't make a good combination.

And then there's Dr Bairstow, suddenly replaced, and gone forever. His replacement is Treadwell, a money-conscious pen-pusher who is quite OK to ignore St Mary's motto of 'We never leave our people behind.' That's a pity because Hyssop makes a terrible mistake in ancient Babylon and Clerk and Prentiss (historians) pay the price.

Max, as usual, has a terrible time banging up against authority in the shape of Treadwell, and incompetence in the shape of Hyssop. She's more or less on her own without Leon, Matthew and Markham, with only the utterly reliable Dr Peterson for backup, though there's little he can do against the new regime.

I spent a lot of this book being outraged for Max, but by the time I got to the end things had clicked into place. As usual the characters are well drawn, the pace good, and the plot twists twisty. There's a reveal at the end that shows that this book is a transition piece from the threat of Ronan - who overshadowed the first eleven books - to a looming threat which could be far worse.