The Last Hours

A deadly plague is spreading across the land...





June, 1348: the Black Death enters England through the port of Melcombe in the county of Dorsetshire. Unprepared for the virulence of the disease, and the speed with which it spreads, the people of the county start to die in their thousands.



In the estate of Develish, Lady Anne takes control of her people's future - including the lives of two hundred bonded serfs. Strong, compassionate and resourceful, Lady Anne chooses a bastard slave, Thaddeus Thurkell, to act as her steward. Together, they decide to quarantine Develish by bringing the serfs inside the walls. With this sudden overturning of the accepted social order, where serfs exist only to serve their lords, conflicts soon arise. Ignorant of what is happening in the world outside, they wrestle with themselves, with God and with the terrible uncertainty of their futures.



Lady Anne's people fear starvation but they fear the pestilence more. Who amongst them has the courage to leave the security of the walls?



And how safe is anyone in Develish when a dreadful event threatens the uneasy status quo..?



Minette Walters is one of the world's best-selling crime writers. She is the author of twelve novels, winning the CWA John Creasey Award for The Ice House, the Edgar Allan Poe Award in America for The Sculptress and two CWA Gold Daggers for The Scold's Bridle and Fox Evil.The Last Hours marks an exciting new direction for Minette. She lives in Dorset with her husband.



A staggeringly talented writer.



Wonderful and sweeping, with a fabulous sense of place and history



An enthralling account of a calamitous time, and above all a wonderful testimony to the strength of the human spirit. I was caught from the first page.



Atmosphere, imagination and narrative power of which few other writers are capable



A vividly-wrought and powerful story. With The Last Hours, Minette Walters has brought her impressive skill as a writer of psychological crime to create a dark and gripping depiction of Medieval England in the jaws of the Black Death.



...as you'd expect from crime queen Minette Walters, blood will be spilled. A well-plotted page-turner.



Walters's skill and subtlety in portraying the suffering and disarray of a feudal society in which disease rampages and God has seemingly gone mad is masterly. And, as with her bestselling suspense novels, the psychological drama is gripping.



Walters's crime novels are admired for their claustrophobic atmosphere and precision-engineered suspense. With The Last Hours, she has swapped that taut plotting for a more expansive structure and ambitiously broad canvas.



Gripping and original



Historical novels depend upon the writer's ability to create a credible past world and Walters manages this very well... This is an ideal read for those who just want a good story well told. Snuggle up in a chair on a cold winter night and enjoy.