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How to use the placements
Choose a series first, then add the smaller adventures when you reach their suggested position. A number such as 4.5 sits after novel 4 and before novel 5. These numbers are shelf markers: they help you organise a reading route, but they do not make a short story another numbered novel. The main books remain the simplest route for someone meeting the characters for the first time.
The author’s chronology places the early St Mary’s stories alongside the novels and recommends leaving the prequel until you know the world. We show The Very First Damned Thing after book 5 for that first read. Its chronological designation is 0.5. Later placements and the Farm decimal markers follow this bookshelf’s suggestions; where the author has not confirmed a decimal, do not treat one as an official series number.
Collections and the stories included
| Collection | Stories included | Source |
|---|---|---|
| The Long and the Short of It | The Very First Damned Thing; When a Child Is Born; Roman Holiday; Christmas Present; Ships and Stings and Wedding Rings; The Great St Mary’s Day Out; My Name Is Markham; A Perfect Storm | Headline contents |
| Long Story Short | Christmas Past; Battersea Barricades; The Steam-Pump Jump; And Now for Something Completely Different; When Did You Last See Your Father?; Desiccated Water; Markham and the Anal Probing; Little Donkey | Headline contents |
| The Most Wonderful Time of the Year | Why Is Nothing Ever Simple?; The Ordeal of the Haunted Room; The Toast of Time; Santa Grint; Joy to the World; A Storm in a Teacup | Headline contents |
Collections and repeated stories
Reading a collection and reading its individual stories are two routes to overlapping material. The collection column names the books whose contents include that piece. If you are filling gaps in a shelf, compare titles before choosing an edition. Buying every collection and every individual story can mean acquiring the same text more than once. A story’s publication year also need not be the date on a later ebook or audiobook reissue.
The Long and the Short of It gathers the earlier St Mary’s pieces. Long Story Short mixes another set of St Mary’s adventures with Little Donkey from Frogmorton Farm. The Most Wonderful Time of the Year brings festive stories from several worlds together and includes A Storm in a Teacup as a bonus scene. That scene is listed above with its own work type on its book page, so it is not confused with a separate novel.
Two new pieces inside Short on Time
| Title | Series | Year / format | Collection |
|---|---|---|---|
| Home in Time for Tea | St Mary’s | 2027 · collection text and audio announced | Short on Time |
| Clean-up Crew 29 | Time Police | 2027 · collection text and audio announced | Short on Time |
The announced collection also lists Home in Time for Tea, a St Mary’s story, and Clean-up Crew 29, a Time Police story. Their individual chronology positions are not confirmed here. Follow the collection page for their announced text and audio formats rather than assuming separate editions exist. The collection’s ebook date is 20 May 2027. Publisher-listed date; may change.
Online stories without a numbered shelf entry
- The Coo of Warning · no exact decimal confirmed
- St Mary’s Goes Corporate · no exact decimal confirmed
- The Flux Capacitor · no exact decimal confirmed
- The Last Laugh · no exact decimal confirmed
- Markham and the Fox · no exact decimal confirmed
Free stories and listening routes
Some stories are available directly from the author; others have separate audio recordings or appear as collection text. The formats column links to the relevant record without assuming all formats contain identical material. For the additional online pieces that have no book entry or confirmed decimal, use the free-story directory. Read its placement notes before jumping into an established cast. Listening to a collection can introduce material from later novels even when its first story feels familiar.
To keep a clear record, tick the individual adventures you have finished in your bookshelf and note the collection you used. You can return to the numbered novels whenever you prefer; these companion works are optional additions to the main route.
Sources: author’s chronology · The Long and the Short of It · Long Story Short · The Most Wonderful Time of the Year · Short on Time contents.