Smallhope & Pennyroyal books in order

What it is

Lady Amelia Smallhope and Pennyroyal are time-travelling recovery agents: an unconventional aristocrat and an unlikely butler whose partnership is the centre of these adventures. The Ballad of Smallhope and Pennyroyal brings them together in a world where their work crosses the timeline.

Headline’s description presents an adaptable double act with a flexible attitude towards rules and expense accounts.

A Family Affair continues their story. A threatened period of recuperation becomes a new danger when they are targeted by someone familiar with Pennyroyal’s past. The connection between the two books is therefore personal as well as professional.

These are adventures about a particular pair and the pressures on their partnership, rather than a new team assembled for each assignment. Their work supplies movement; their loyalty supplies the reason to follow them.

Who it suits

The site’s view is that this is the best fit for readers who want two contrasting central figures rather than a large workplace cast. An aristocrat and a butler suggest familiar social roles, but the publisher’s premise puts both into a much less conventional line of work.

That contrast is an appealing invitation before any knowledge of the wider setting is required.

We recommend this strand if the partnership itself interests you: confidence, capability and the question of what two people can rely on one another to do.

The comic presentation comes with danger, so we would choose it for a lively adventure rather than assume the humour removes the stakes. It is also a useful change of scale for readers already familiar with Taylor’s larger institutions.

Where to start

Read The Ballad of Smallhope and Pennyroyal before A Family Affair. The first novel establishes the pair’s story; the sequel opens with circumstances that already carry history between them. Looking at the second book’s title alone would miss that continuity.

Starting with the first also lets the partnership develop without needing a retrospective explanation from a guide.

Our recommendation is to keep these two novels together when you begin this strand. You need not assemble a tour of every associated short story beforehand. Read the opening premise, choose the format you enjoy, and let the first book supply the detail.

Afterwards, the next novel is the direct continuation if spending more time with the pair is what you want.

How it connects

Headline’s author page places the Smallhope and Pennyroyal series in the world shared by St Mary’s and the Time Police. That gives the pair a wider setting without making this guide a catalogue of appearances in other books.

Their own novels put their relationship and adventures in the foreground.

In the site’s view, existing St Mary’s or Time Police readers can choose this strand when they want that world at a more intimate scale.

Readers meeting the pair first can use The Ballad of Smallhope and Pennyroyal as their introduction, then explore the other series if an institution’s viewpoint appeals. We would not turn the connection into a requirement to interrupt one novel sequence with another.

The practical choice is which central characters you most want to follow next.

Listening

The Headline audio edition of A Family Affair credits Zara Ramm. Use the individual book listings for the recording attached to each novel, since edition details belong to the title you are choosing.

The order for listening is the same as the order for reading: the Ballad first, then A Family Affair.

Our listening suggestion is to approach the opening as a complete novel, with space to get to know the pair rather than treating it as background preparation for another series. Sample a recording if the voice will influence your choice of format.

If you switch from text to audio for the sequel, the change does not require a different reading route; continue with the characters where their own sequence leaves them.