The Good, the Bad, and the History is the fourteenth book of the Chronicles of St. Mary’s series; it may also be the last book, although it isn’t advertised as such. It’s a solid and enjoyable entry to the series and for the first time in quite a few books, most of the loose ends have been tied up. They aren’t neatly tied up, because St. Mary’s isn’t neat.

The first thing to understand about the St. Mary’s series is that it is about time travel. The standard discussions about time travel are addressed as appropriate throughout the series, and are specifically discussed in this book. St. Mary’s is an organization tied to a greater and lesser extent to the University of Thirsk that investigates major historical events in contemporary time.

The second thing to understand about the St. Mary’s series, and the author, Jodi Taylor, is that they are funny. Full of suspense and tragedy, but Taylor injects a lot of humor, sometimes silly, sometimes slapstick, sometimes heart-breaking.

Without getting into potential spoilers, the book, and especially the end, does read as if Taylor is ending the series. The threads that have been left dangling over the course of the series have been tied up into bows–not always neat ones, but that’s St. Mary’s for you. The characters’ fates are settled, some well and some dead, but settled. Except, of course, for the one that is clearly a trigger for his own story. It’s a satisfying closure for the series, and if the author changes her mind and continues, that will be enjoyable as well.

An enjoyable, satisfying entry in the series. Now, I just have to finish off the short stories.