the last hours minette walters book review

• ADMIN AREA MY BOOKSHELF MY DASHBOARD MY PROFILE SIGN OUT SIGN IN

THE LAST HOURS

by Minette Walters ‧ RELEASE DATE: Aug. 7, 2018

Deeply researched and engrossing, this masterful series opener leaves readers hanging—Rats!—so they’ll eagerly await the...

With her first full-length novel in 10 years, an award-winning British crime writer launches a series about the Black Death.

In the summer of 1348, Sir Richard of Develish journeys to Bradmayne on business. While he’s away, news reaches Develish of a deadly pestilence. His wife, Lady Anne, brings her serfs within the moat of her manor house and then wisely refuses her husband’s re-entry, fearing he will bring the disease with him. She’s a woman ahead of her time, dismissing as superstition the idea of “a plague sent by God.” Years before, she’d had sewage pits dug well downwind of Develish; other villages didn’t dig any at all. Anne’s compassion for her serfs contrasts sharply with the attitude of her 14-year-old daughter, Eleanor, who hates everyone but her father and likes having serfs whipped. The living conditions in Bradmayne are vile; one might think “Men urinated where they stood” would say it all about a village, but the author spares no detail in showing what grossness causes stench and attracts vermin. People seem not to connect these godawful conditions with the “killing sickness in the village” that carries “a deadly pestilence with putrid boils” and requires the digging of mass graves. Before he succumbs, Sir Richard observes that “In twelve days, the world had changed beyond all recognition.” Yet no one knows how extensive that changed world is. Lady Anne has the serf Thaddeus Thurkell lead a small band of brave serfs to learn how other villages have fared. She is the central figure in this compelling saga in which people are either all virtuous and wise or all the opposite. While the serf Gyles Startout is a man of “courage and generosity,” Lady Eleanor opines how sweet it would be if he dies. As the plague continues at book’s end, Lady Anne still faces a dangerous enemy in her daughter.

Pub Date: Aug. 7, 2018

ISBN: 978-0-7783-6931-8

Page Count: 544

Publisher: Harlequin MIRA

Review Posted Online: May 14, 2018

Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2018

HISTORICAL FICTION | MYSTERY & DETECTIVE | HISTORICAL MYSTERY | GENERAL MYSTERY & DETECTIVE

Share your opinion of this book

More by Minette Walters

BOOK REVIEW

by Minette Walters

A CONSPIRACY OF BONES

by Kathy Reichs ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 17, 2020

Forget about solving all these crimes; the signal triumph here is (spoiler) the heroine’s survival.

Another sweltering month in Charlotte, another boatload of mysteries past and present for overworked, overstressed forensic anthropologist Temperance Brennan.

A week after the night she chases but fails to catch a mysterious trespasser outside her town house, some unknown party texts Tempe four images of a corpse that looks as if it’s been chewed by wild hogs, because it has been. Showboat Medical Examiner Margot Heavner makes it clear that, breaking with her department’s earlier practice ( The Bone Collection , 2016, etc.), she has no intention of calling in Tempe as a consultant and promptly identifies the faceless body herself as that of a young Asian man. Nettled by several errors in Heavner’s analysis, and even more by her willingness to share the gory details at a press conference, Tempe launches her own investigation, which is not so much off the books as against the books. Heavner isn’t exactly mollified when Tempe, aided by retired police detective Skinny Slidell and a host of experts, puts a name to the dead man. But the hints of other crimes Tempe’s identification uncovers, particularly crimes against children, spur her on to redouble her efforts despite the new M.E.’s splenetic outbursts. Before he died, it seems, Felix Vodyanov was linked to a passenger ferry that sank in 1994, an even earlier U.S. government project to research biological agents that could control human behavior, the hinky spiritual retreat Sparkling Waters, the dark web site DeepUnder, and the disappearances of at least four schoolchildren, two of whom have also turned up dead. And why on earth was Vodyanov carrying Tempe’s own contact information? The mounting evidence of ever more and ever worse skulduggery will pull Tempe deeper and deeper down what even she sees as a rabbit hole before she confronts a ringleader implicated in “Drugs. Fraud. Breaking and entering. Arson. Kidnapping. How does attempted murder sound?”

Pub Date: March 17, 2020

ISBN: 978-1-9821-3888-2

Page Count: 352

Publisher: Scribner

Review Posted Online: Dec. 22, 2019

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2020

GENERAL MYSTERY & DETECTIVE | GENERAL THRILLER & SUSPENSE | MYSTERY & DETECTIVE | SUSPENSE | THRILLER | DETECTIVES & PRIVATE INVESTIGATORS | SUSPENSE | GENERAL & DOMESTIC THRILLER

More by Kathy Reichs

by Kathy Reichs

Awards & Accolades

Our Verdict

New York Times Bestseller

IndieBound Bestseller

THE TATTOOIST OF AUSCHWITZ

by Heather Morris ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 4, 2018

The writing is merely serviceable, and one can’t help but wish the author had found a way to present her material as...

An unlikely love story set amid the horrors of a Nazi death camp.

Based on real people and events, this debut novel follows Lale Sokolov, a young Slovakian Jew sent to Auschwitz in 1942. There, he assumes the heinous task of tattooing incoming Jewish prisoners with the dehumanizing numbers their SS captors use to identify them. When the Tätowierer, as he is called, meets fellow prisoner Gita Furman, 17, he is immediately smitten. Eventually, the attraction becomes mutual. Lale proves himself an operator, at once cagey and courageous: As the Tätowi erer, he is granted special privileges and manages to smuggle food to starving prisoners. Through female prisoners who catalog the belongings confiscated from fellow inmates, Lale gains access to jewels, which he trades to a pair of local villagers for chocolate, medicine, and other items. Meanwhile, despite overwhelming odds, Lale and Gita are able to meet privately from time to time and become lovers. In 1944, just ahead of the arrival of Russian troops, Lale and Gita separately leave the concentration camp and experience harrowingly close calls. Suffice it to say they both survive. To her credit, the author doesn’t flinch from describing the depravity of the SS in Auschwitz and the unimaginable suffering of their victims—no gauzy evasions here, as in Boy in the Striped Pajamas . She also manages to raise, if not really explore, some trickier issues—the guilt of those Jews, like the tattooist, who survived by doing the Nazis’ bidding, in a sense betraying their fellow Jews; and the complicity of those non-Jews, like the Slovaks in Lale’s hometown, who failed to come to the aid of their beleaguered countrymen.

Pub Date: Sept. 4, 2018

ISBN: 978-0-06-279715-5

Page Count: 272

Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins

Review Posted Online: July 16, 2018

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2018

RELIGIOUS FICTION | HISTORICAL FICTION

More by Heather Morris

by Heather Morris

• Discover Books Fiction Thriller & Suspense Mystery & Detective Romance Science Fiction & Fantasy Nonfiction Biography & Memoir Teens & Young Adult Children's
• News & Features Bestsellers Book Lists Profiles Perspectives Awards Seen & Heard Book to Screen Kirkus TV videos In the News
• Kirkus Prize Winners & Finalists About the Kirkus Prize Kirkus Prize Judges
• Magazine Current Issue All Issues Manage My Subscription Subscribe
• Writers’ Center Hire a Professional Book Editor Get Your Book Reviewed Advertise Your Book Launch a Pro Connect Author Page Learn About The Book Industry
• More Kirkus Diversity Collections Kirkus Pro Connect My Account/Login
• About Kirkus History Our Team Contest FAQ Press Center Info For Publishers
• Privacy Policy
• Terms & Conditions
• Reprints, Permission & Excerpting Policy

© Copyright 2024 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.

Popular in this Genre

Hey there, book lover.

We’re glad you found a book that interests you!

Please select an existing bookshelf

Create a new bookshelf.

We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!

Please sign up to continue.

It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!

Already have an account? Log in.

Trouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.

Almost there!

• Industry Professional

Welcome Back!

Sign in using your Kirkus account

Contact us: 1-800-316-9361 or email [email protected].

Don’t fret. We’ll find you.

Magazine Subscribers ( How to Find Your Reader Number )

If You’ve Purchased Author Services

Don’t have an account yet? Sign Up.

• Member Login
• Library Patron Login

SUBSCRIBE TO OUR

FREE NEWSLETTERS

Search: Title Author Article Search String:

The Last Hours : Book summary and reviews of The Last Hours by Minette Walters

Summary | Reviews | More Information | More Books

The Last Hours

by Minette Walters

Critics' Opinion:

Readers' rating:

Published Aug 2018 544 pages Genre: Historical Fiction Publication Information

Rate this book

About this book

Book summary.

Compelling and suspenseful, The Last Hours is a riveting tale of human ingenuity and endurance set against the worst pandemic in history. In Lady Anne of Develish - leader, savior, heretic - Walters has created her most memorable heroine to date.

When the Black Death enters England through the port in Dorsetshire in June 1348, no one knows what manner of sickness it is - or how it spreads and kills so quickly. The Church cites God as the cause, and fear grips the people as they come to believe that the plague is a punishment for wickedness. But Lady Anne of Develish has her own ideas. Educated by nuns, Anne is a rarity among women, being both literate and knowledgeable. With her brutal husband absent from the manor when news of this pestilence reaches her, she looks for more sensible ways to protect her people than daily confessions of sin. She decides to bring her serfs inside the safety of the moat that surrounds her manor house, then refuses entry to anyone else, even her husband. Lady Anne makes an enemy of her daughter and her husband's steward by doing so, but her resolve is strengthened by the support of her leading serfs...until food stocks run low. The nerves of all are tested by continued confinement and ignorance of what is happening in the world outside. The people of Develish are alive. But for how long? And what will they discover when the time comes for them to cross the moat again?

• "Beyond the Book" articles
• Free books to read and review (US only)
• Find books by time period, setting & theme
• Read-alike suggestions by book and author
• Book club discussions
• and much more!
• Just $45 for 12 months or $15 for 3 months.
• More about membership!

Media Reviews

Reader reviews.

"Starred Review. Deeply researched and engrossing, this masterful series opener leaves readers hanging - Rats! - so they'll eagerly await the sequel." - Kirkus "Thanks to the characters' early withdrawal to inside the manor walls, the plague itself mostly takes its toll offstage, rendering the story much less exciting, and an abrupt cliff-hanger ending after more than 500 pages is more frustrating than suspenseful." - Library Journal "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. Whether it will win over her previous fans remains to be seen but, as the inhabitants of Develish discover, striking out for the unknown is a worthwhile adventure, whatever the outcome." - The Guardian (UK) "The book has none of the intellectual weight, nor brilliance and subtlety, of Britain's two greatest contemporary historical novelists, Hilary Mantel and Dorothy Dunnett?, but it remains a gripping read. Walters uses this often grisly tale to explore questions of class relations, gender relations, and the societal aftermath of the Norman conquest." - Sydney Morning Herald (Australia)

Author Information

• Books by this Author

Minette Walters Author Biography

Minette Walters is one of the world's bestselling crime writers and has sold over twenty-five million copies of her books worldwide. She has won the CWA John Creasey Award, the Edgar Allan Poe Award, and two CWA Gold Daggers. The Swift and the Harrier is her third historical novel. She lives in Dorset with her husband.

Author Interview Link to Minette Walters's Website

Other books by Minette Walters at BookBrowse

More Recommendations

Readers also browsed . . ..

• The Sicilian Inheritance by Jo Piazza
• The Painter's Daughters by Emily Howes
• The Djinn Waits a Hundred Years by Shubnum Khan
• James by Percival Everett
• Clear by Carys Davies
• The Curse of Pietro Houdini by Derek B. Miller
• The Ballad of Jacquotte Delahaye by Briony Cameron
• The Warm Hands of Ghosts by Katherine Arden
• Glorious Exploits by Ferdia Lennon
• The Women by Kristin Hannah

more historical fiction...

Support BookBrowse

Join our inner reading circle, go ad-free and get way more!

Find out more

BookBrowse Book Club

Win This Book

Bright and Tender Dark by Joanna Pearson

A beautifully written, wire-taut debut novel about a murder on a college campus and its aftermath twenty years later.

Solve this clue:

and be entered to win..

Your guide to exceptional           books

BookBrowse seeks out and recommends the best in contemporary fiction and nonfiction—books that not only engage and entertain but also deepen our understanding of ourselves and the world around us.

Subscribe to receive some of our best reviews, "beyond the book" articles, book club info and giveaways by email.

Free Weekly Newsletters

Keep up with what's happening in the world of books: reviews, previews, interviews and more.

Spam Free : Your email is never shared with anyone; opt out any time.

Seeing the world through books and travel

Review: The Last Hours by Minette Walters

Review of The Last Hours by Minette Walters, an historical fiction novel set in 14th century England during the Black Death.

This post may contain affiliate links, which means I may receive a commission, at no extra cost to you, if you make a purchase through a link. Please see our full disclosure for further information.

The Black Death has arrived in the English port of Melcombe and is spreading north through Devonshire. Contrary to the church’s recommendations, Lady Anne takes the people of Develish within the manor’s moat.

Initially, things are good. No one within the compound sickens. The one man from her absent husband’s retinue that everyone likes returns healthy. Then, with food stores running low, the workers grow bored with nothing to do and no news from outside.

Tensions erupt when a teenaged boy, Jacob, is found dead of a stab injury. Having made some discrete inquiries, Lady Anne’s young steward, Thaddeus, takes a group of Jacob’s contemporaries into the outside world. Seeing the destruction around them makes these young men think of their futures and forces them to grow-up quick.

I found The Last Hours completely unputdownable. It enjoyably captured many aspects of the period around the Black Death. These included widespread ignorance, fear, and superstition. I particularly enjoyed looking at how the shift in power and new beginnings caused by the Death affected this community.

The characters are well thought out, realistic, and fascinating people. Some are strong (like Lady Anne and Thaddeus) and take charge of the situation, while others struggle with change. The religious and moral conflicts within the community seemed real, like I was watching real people interact with each other.

I liked Lady Anne. She’s fair, compassionate, clever, and understands her serfs. However, she is a bit too much like a modern woman. She has modern ideas around hygiene and treats the serfs like equals.

‘I’ve never been on a demesne where serfs were educated, milady. The practice is an unusual one. A villein’s role in life is to labour for his master, not steal time in order to learn letters.’ [Said by a clerk hired by Lady Anne’s husband]

Eleanor (Lady Anne’s daughter) was horrible, but I liked the conflict she added; without her, there would be very little story and the book would suck. I also liked how she gained layers and became more understandable as the story progresses.

I hope the next book resolves Eleanor’s storyline (and maybe brings some much-needed change to her character). I would also like a better reason for Thaddeus’s ramble through the countryside (other than obtaining information and supplies. They were away too long just for that).

Other than that (and a slightly ponderous middle), The Last Hours is a fantastic book. I’m looking forward to reading the sequel.

Have you read The Last Hours ? What did you think? Do you agree with what I’ve said about it? Let me know in the comments.

If you haven’t, you can buy it at Book Depository (they have free international shipping!) or Waterstones (free delivery on UK orders over £25, will ship internationally).

1 thought on “ Review: The Last Hours by Minette Walters ”

The plot of this book sounds weirdly perfect for the (various degrees of) lockdowns we’ve all been through – putting it on my library list, Em! Looking forward to what you think of the next in the series.

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Notify me of follow-up comments by email.

Notify me of new posts by email.

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed .

• Edward on Review: Again the Magic by Lisa Kleypas
• Dave Francis on Review: Earth’s Children series by Jean M. Auel
• Mary on Incredible Books You Must Read if You Love Outlander
• Emily on Incredible Books You Must Read if You Love Outlander
• Catie on Incredible Books You Must Read if You Love Outlander

Subscribe here

• Member Login

A Triumphant Return: Minette Walters’ The Last Hours

Lisa Redmond

While it might seem an unusual step for a writer to move out of the thriller genre towards historical fiction, the author sees it as a natural progression: “The idea for The Last Hours kept knocking at my mind, and never to have written it for the sake of remaining in ‘genre’ would have been frustrating. In any case, I wonder if it is such a big change! The Black Death was the worst killer man has ever known. Which crime author wouldn’t want to write about it… and point fingers at the culprits? There are many worse criminals in history than there are in crime fiction.” Despite the apparent change of genre, Minette Walters’ talents as a thriller writer are still very much in evidence: with a cast of characters trapped in a confined space and growing fears about their own survival, the author ramps up the tension, particularly because, with this novel, she has created some truly memorable characters who will captivate readers.

Walters is a long-time resident of Dorset, and the locality and its history seems to have gotten under the author’s skin. She explains, “My husband and I moved to Dorset nearly twenty years ago, and one of the first things we learnt about our village was that it has a plague pit. No one’s entirely sure where it is, but the 12 th -century church still stands, and visitors can still see the mounds that delineate the medieval settlement. The whole site is a scheduled monument, and it’s hard to rub shoulders with history without becoming fascinated by it.”

Living in an area so closely impacted by such a devastating event, it was probably inevitable that Walters’ writer’s brain would begin to ask “what if?” While the Black Death has been explored in fiction before, the fact that the novel focuses on the impact felt in a very particular location and among a small group of people makes it a unique and intriguing prospect for fans of medieval fiction. Walters says, “The Black Death became a particular interest when I discovered that its first port of entry into England was Melcombe (Weymouth), which is nine miles from where we live. Fourteenth-century chroniclers reported barely one in ten being left alive in Dorset by the time the pestilence passed. I wondered what that meant. Had some fled? Who were the ‘bare’ few who managed to survive? And how had they avoided it?”

Walters took a long break from writing; other than a horror novella, The Cellar (Hammer, 2015), she has not published in ten years. While she never gave up writing, she did take a step back, and with time to think, the idea for The Last Hours began to form. Walters explains, “I did indeed spend considerable time on research for  The Last Hours but, once the idea crysta llised in my head, the writing came easily.”

I’m sure her countless fans will be pleased she’s back, and she is likely to gather many more fans from those who enjoy the books of Sarah Hawkswood, Karen Maitland, and S.D. Sykes.

ABOUT THE CONTRIBUTOR: Lisa Redmond is a writer, currently working on a novel about 17th-century Scottish witches. She blogs about books, writing and women in history.

Browse articles by tag

In this section, about our articles.

Our features are original articles from our print magazines (these will say where they were orginally published) or original articles commissioned for this site. If you would like to contribute an article for the magazine and/or site, please contact us . While our articles are usually written by members, this is not obligatory. No features are paid for.

We also occasionally publish original short fiction features - on a very selective basis. We do pay for our fiction. Please read more about our original short fiction here .

Our features are original articles from our print magazines (these will say where they were originally published) or original articles commissioned for this site. If you would like to contribute an article for the magazine and/or site, please contact us . While our articles are usually written by members, this is not obligatory. No features are paid for.

Join the society

We support our members, and our members support us! As a member, you'll receive our magazines, be eligible for event discounts, and can even be listed in our directory.

Share Articles

Latest articles

Dive deeper into your favourite books, eras and themes:

Here are six of our latest Editor’s Choices:

Browse articles by Author

Browse reviews by genre, browse reviews by period, browse reviews by century, browse reviews by publisher, browse reviews by magazine., browse members by letter, search members..

• Search by display name *

We’re sorry, this feature is currently unavailable. We’re working to restore it. Please try again later.

• Our network

The Sydney Morning Herald

This was published 6 years ago

The Last Hours review: Minette Walters turns to historical fiction

By kerryn goldsworthy, save articles for later.

Add articles to your saved list and come back to them any time.

The Last Hours

Minette Walters

The Last Hours , by Minette Walters.

Allen & Unwin, $32.99

This is Minette Walters' first novel for 10 years and she has swapped genres, moving from her disquieting crime fiction to a more straightforward treatment of a historical subject. The year is 1348 and the Black Death has found its way to England. Nobody knows what this illness is or how to deal with it, but each day it becomes more obvious to the people of Develish that their lives are in danger. The book has none of the intellectual weight, nor brilliance and subtlety, of Britain's two greatest contemporary historical novelists, Hilary Mantel and Dorothy Dunnett​, but it remains a gripping read. Walters uses this often grisly tale to explore questions of class relations, gender relations, and the societal aftermath of the Norman conquest.

The Last Hours

“ 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. ” – Julian Fellowes

When the Black Death enters England through the port of Melcombe in Dorsetshire in June 1348, no one knows what manner of sickness it is or how it spreads and kills so quickly. The Church cites God as the cause, and religious fear grips the people as they come to believe that the plague is a punishment for wickedness.

But who can explain the deaths of innocent newborns? Is God so angered by His creations that He seeks to destroy all mankind?

There is one who rejects this idea: Lady Anne of Develish.

Educated by nuns, Anne is a rarity among women, being both literate and knowledgeable about Christ’s teachings of love. With her brutal husband absent from Develish at the time the news of the pestilence reaches her, she takes the decision to look for more sensible ways to protect her people than daily confessions of sin. Well-versed in the importance of isolating the sick from the well, she withdraws her people inside the moat that surrounds her manor house and refuses entry even to her husband.

She makes an enemy of her daughter and her husband’s steward by doing so, but her resolve is strengthened by the support of her leading serfs … until food stocks run low and the nerves of all are tested by continued confinement and ignorance of what is happening in the world outside. The people of Develish are alive. But for how long? When will the time come to cross the moat? And what will they discover when they do?

Compelling and suspenseful, The Last Hours is a riveting tale of human ingenuity and endurance against the worst pandemic known to history. In Lady Anne of Develish, Walters has created a memorable heroine, educator and heretic.

She Reads Novels

"she had read novels while other people perused the sunday papers" – mary elizabeth braddon, the last hours by minette walters.

The Last Hours is set in 1348 on the estate of Develish in Dorsetshire. Those of you who know your 14th century history will know that the Black Death, which had been sweeping its way across Europe, reached England in 1348 – and this forms the heart of Walters’ novel. Sir Richard of Develish falls victim to the plague early in the book, leaving his wife, Lady Anne, responsible for the demesne, the household and the serfs who work the land. Lady Anne gathers everyone inside the boundaries of the moated manor, believing that cutting off contact with the outside world will be the best way to avoid the pestilence.

With so many people forced to live together in a confined space, it is inevitable that problems will arise, old rivalries will resurface and tempers will be lost. The cause of most of the trouble at Develish is Sir Richard’s daughter, Lady Eleanor, a cruel and selfish fourteen-year-old who resents having to live with the serfs. In particular, her hatred is directed at Thaddeus Thurkell, a serf who has just been promoted to the position of Lady Anne’s steward, a move which Eleanor sees as evidence of her mother’s favouritism and unnatural affection for Thaddeus. When supplies at the manor begin to run low, it is Thaddeus who volunteers to venture out into the countryside to find food – but what is the real reason for his departure?

The Last Hours was an interesting read for me as I’ve always found the Black Death a fascinating topic (sorry if that sounds morbid). Walters explores so many different aspects of the disease: the beliefs and superstitions surrounding it; the physical effects it has on the body; the theories people had as to what was causing it; and the limited methods of preventing its spread. However, I knew as soon as I started reading that at some point our protagonists would make the connection with rats and fleas and recognise the importance of hygiene and cleanliness – and I was right. It would have been so much more convincing from a historical point of view if they had continued to think the plague was a punishment from God or that it was caused by breathing bad air.

I did like both Lady Anne and Thaddeus, even if they don’t always feel like believable 14th century people, and they (along with a young maid, Isabella) were certainly the characters I had most sympathy for. Lady Eleanor is the most unpleasant, unlikeable character I’ve come across for some time. She is horrible from her first appearance and remains horrible throughout the entire book – although we do eventually learn a little bit more about her and what possibly made her the way she is, so maybe we’ll see a different side of her in the sequel.

And yes, there is going to be a sequel. I had no idea this was the first in a series until I reached the words ‘to be continued’, so be aware that if you do choose to read this book it doesn’t have a proper conclusion and we are left with lots of loose ends. At the moment I’m not sure whether I will be looking for the second book; I found this one quite slow and unevenly paced – I enjoyed the chapters set in and around Develish, but struggled to stay interested in the adventures of Thaddeus and his companions as they wandered the countryside looking for supplies. I will probably be tempted, though, as I do have lots of questions that haven’t been answered!

Thanks to Atlantic Books for providing a copy of this book for review via NetGalley

Share this:

15 thoughts on “ the last hours by minette walters ”.

I would love to know what has prompted this change of direction and after a ten year literary silence, as well. I’m not surprised there is a really nasty character in the person of Lady Eleanor. There were some pretty nasty characters in her crime fiction as well. In fact, I gave up reading it because of some of the truly awful women Walters created.

It does seem unusual for an author to come back after a long absence with a complete change of genre. If there were characters like Lady Eleanor in her crime novels as well, I’m not surprised you were put off reading any more!

I did read and enjoy a couple of her early books, but kinda went off them after a while – credibility issues, if I remember correctly. Thanks for the “To be continued” warning – one of my pet hates in books. If I ever read this, I’ll wait till the series is finished…

That’s probably a good idea. I don’t mind having to wait for the next book (I’m not sure if I really want to read it anyway) but I wish I had known before I started that this wasn’t a standalone.

I do find the premises very interesting but I also agree that connecting Plague with rats and hygiene seems very modern instead of 14th century. However, I am still hooked and will look around for a copy. Thank you for the heads up on the Sequel; I do not like “series’ per se, but then the first of the series always determines whether to plod forward or not! Excellent review as always!

Yes, it was interesting and I think it’s worth reading, even though I didn’t love it. I don’t mind reading books that are part of a series, but I wish I’d known that this wasn’t a complete story before I started it – I was surprised when I came to the end and saw the words ‘to be continued’!

Hmm, Walters’ crime novels are complex but taut. Maybe this isn’t her genre.

I don’t think I’ve read any of her other books, but it might be interesting to read one to see if her crime novels are better than her historical fiction.

Try The Ice House, one of her first ones.

Morbid or not, I was also really interested in the Black Death setting, so I was tempted by this when I saw it on Netgalley too. However not recognising the author I managed to resist the urge to request it… just!

I recognised the author’s name but knew nothing about her books, so didn’t know what to expect. I think it was worth reading because of the fascinating setting and time period, but I’m not sure I liked it enough to want to continue with the sequel.

It sounds like Lady Eleanor was a plague all in herself. I completely agree that unlikely modern elements in historical fiction are a bad sign.

Lady Eleanor is one of the nastiest characters I’ve come across for a long time! And yes, one of the things I often dislike about historical fiction is when historical characters are given modern day attitudes and sensibilities.

How interesting: I used to gulp her crime novels, as I’d just discovered the genre shortly before she became quite the thing. This is the last kind of story I’d’ve guessed she’d be interested in writing. I enjoyed reading your thoughts on it. Another I’ve read which has the plague at its heart is Connie Willis’ Doomsday Book, which is long and character-driven and I ended up enjoying it a great deal.

It does seem an unusual sort of book from someone so well known as a crime author. I suppose she just wanted to do something different. Connie Willis is an author I’ve been interested in reading for a long time. Thanks for reminding me about her. 🙂

Please leave a comment. Thanks! Cancel reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed .

• Already have a WordPress.com account? Log in now.
• Subscribe Subscribed
• Copy shortlink
• Report this content
• View post in Reader
• Manage subscriptions
• Collapse this bar

• International edition
• Australia edition
• Europe edition

The Last Hours by Minette Walters review – mass graves and power plays

“ In the book business, when you have had a success, the smart thing to do is write the same sort of thing once a year for the rest of your life,” explains Ken Follett , in the introduction to his 1989 bestseller The Pillars of the Earth . Follett ignored that advice, frightening his publishers by abandoning thrillers to embark on a historical epic. Now Minette Walters – formerly the multimillion-selling “queen of psychological crime” – has gambled on the same change of direction. After retiring from the genre she helped popularise, amid much speculation about burnout or writer’s block, she has spent most of the last decade working on a mammoth two-part historical saga set in her home county of Dorset during the early ravages of the Black Death.

There’s no shortage of corpses in these 500-plus pages, including a murder victim, but The Last Hours is not historical crime; the influence seems rather to have been Follett’s Kingsbridge novels, with their multiple story lines and large cast. In the summer of 1348, Lady Anne of Develish is shaping her humble demesne into one of the most productive and harmonious in the county, thanks to her unusually progressive ideas about healthcare and literacy among her serfs, and despite resistance from her boorish Norman husband Sir Richard and petulant teenage daughter Eleanor. While visiting a neighbouring manor to secure Eleanor’s marriage, Sir Richard succumbs to an unknown illness: his shrewd captain notices mass graves and deserted villages along the way. When a messenger arrives in Develish forewarning that “a Black Death has fallen upon our land”, Lady Anne – who from her convent upbringing has learned the importance of segregating the sick – orders her people inside the boundary walls of her moated manor house. The gates are barred to all comers including her ailing husband and his retinue, who are left to die unshriven in the village.

This self-imposed isolation quickly breeds tensions in the small community as supplies run short and the iron-clad hierarchies of the feudal system begin to crumble. Class-consciousness afflicts every character here with an oddly modern awareness, as the devastation outside causes some to question the old certainties about divine punishment and favour.

There’s no doubt whose side the author is on; for the most part those with the least right to power – women, bastards and serfs – are repositories of practical good sense and grit, while aristocrats and priests are venal hypocrites and cowards. Though this makes for less than complex characters, it does allow enjoyably straightforward heroes and villains, and The Last Hours is in part a morality tale; anyone who believes their birth or title sets them above their fellows will quickly learn a lesson in equality. “Is it really so hard to see that a serf is as much a person as you are, as loved by God and as deserving of happiness?” Lady Anne asks her rebellious daughter, with admirable if anachronistic sentiment.

Walters portrays the plague’s effects with the unflinching detail she brought to rotting and dismembered bodies in her earlier novels. Her descriptions of the Dorset landscape, the organisation of the manor and its lands, and techniques of hunting and household management show evidence of careful research, so it’s noticeable against this backdrop that her characters often remain stubbornly contemporary in their outlook. “I question why a man of your age would find my fourteen-year-old daughter so interesting,” Lady Anne accuses her husband’s steward, displaying a 21st-century squeamishness (you’d think she could hazard a guess, since she gave birth to this daughter at 14). But there are echoes throughout of the brutality meted out to young girls in Walters’s previous fiction, from the young rape victims in Disordered Minds to the abused Muna in her recent Hammer novella The Cellar ; a suggestion that the human capacity for preying on the vulnerable remains constant through the centuries.

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. Whether it will win over her previous fans remains to be seen but, as the inhabitants of Develish discover, striking out for the unknown is a worthwhile adventure, whatever the outcome.

Comments (…)

Most viewed.

Select your cookie preferences

We use cookies and similar tools that are necessary to enable you to make purchases, to enhance your shopping experiences and to provide our services, as detailed in our Cookie notice . We also use these cookies to understand how customers use our services (for example, by measuring site visits) so we can make improvements.

If you agree, we'll also use cookies to complement your shopping experience across the Amazon stores as described in our Cookie notice . Your choice applies to using first-party and third-party advertising cookies on this service. Cookies store or access standard device information such as a unique identifier. The 103 third parties who use cookies on this service do so for their purposes of displaying and measuring personalized ads, generating audience insights, and developing and improving products. Click "Decline" to reject, or "Customise" to make more detailed advertising choices, or learn more. You can change your choices at any time by visiting Cookie preferences , as described in the Cookie notice. To learn more about how and for what purposes Amazon uses personal information (such as Amazon Store order history), please visit our Privacy notice .

• Historical Romance

Sorry, there was a problem.

Download the free Kindle app and start reading Kindle books instantly on your smartphone, tablet or computer – no Kindle device required .

Read instantly on your browser with Kindle for Web.

Using your mobile phone camera - scan the code below and download the Kindle app.

Image Unavailable

• To view this video download Flash Player

Follow the author

The Last Hours: Walters Minette Paperback – 2 Nov. 2017

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..?

• Book 1 of 2 Last Hours
• Print length 560 pages
• Language English
• Publisher Allen & Unwin
• Publication date 2 Nov. 2017
• Dimensions 15.3 x 3.9 x 23.4 cm
• ISBN-10 9781760632151
• ISBN-13 978-1760632151
• See all details

Products related to this item .sp_detail_sponsored_label { color: #555555; font-size: 11px; } .sp_detail_info_icon { width: 11px; vertical-align: text-bottom; fill: #969696; } .sp_info_link { text-decoration:none !important; } #sp_detail_hide_feedback_string { display: none; } .sp_detail_sponsored_label:hover { color: #111111; } .sp_detail_sponsored_label:hover .sp_detail_info_icon { fill: #555555; } Sponsored (function(f) {var _np=(window.P._namespace("FirebirdSpRendering"));if(_np.guardFatal){_np.guardFatal(f)(_np);}else{f(_np);}}(function(P) { P.when("A", "a-carousel-framework", "a-modal").execute(function(A, CF, AM) { var DESKTOP_METRIC_PREFIX = 'adFeedback:desktop:multiAsinAF:sp_detail'; A.declarative('sp_detail_feedback-action', 'click', function(event) { var MODAL_NAME_PREFIX = 'multi_af_modal_'; var MODAL_CLASS_PREFIX = 'multi-af-modal-'; var BASE_16 = 16; var UID_START_INDEX = 2; var uniqueIdentifier = Math.random().toString(BASE_16).substr(UID_START_INDEX); var modalName = MODAL_NAME_PREFIX + "sp_detail" + uniqueIdentifier; var modalClass = MODAL_CLASS_PREFIX + "sp_detail" + uniqueIdentifier; initModal(modalName, modalClass); removeModalOnClose(modalName); }); function initModal (modalName, modalClass) { var trigger = A.$(' '); var initialContent = ' ' + ' ' + ' '; var HEADER_STRING = "Leave feedback"; if (false) { HEADER_STRING = "Advertisement information and options"; } var modalInstance = AM.create(trigger, { 'content': initialContent, 'header': HEADER_STRING, 'name': modalName }); modalInstance.show(); var serializedPayload = generatePayload(modalName); A.$.ajax({ url: "/af/multi-creative/feedback-form", type: 'POST', data: serializedPayload, headers: { 'Content-Type': 'application/json', 'Accept': 'application/json'}, success: function(response) { if (!response) { return; } modalInstance.update(response); var successMetric = DESKTOP_METRIC_PREFIX + ":formDisplayed"; if (window.ue && window.ue.count) { window.ue.count(successMetric, (window.ue.count(successMetric) || 0) + 1); } }, error: function(err) { var errorText = 'Feedback Form get failed with error: ' + err; var errorMetric = DESKTOP_METRIC_PREFIX + ':error'; P.log(errorText, 'FATAL', DESKTOP_METRIC_PREFIX); if (window.ue && window.ue.count) { window.ue.count(errorMetric, (window.ue.count(errorMetric) || 0) + 1); } modalInstance.update(' ' + "Error loading ad feedback form." + ' '); } }); return modalInstance; } function removeModalOnClose (modalName) { A.on('a:popover:afterHide:' + modalName, function removeModal () { AM.remove(modalName); }); } function generatePayload(modalName) { var carousel = CF.getCarousel(document.getElementById("sp_detail")); var EMPTY_CARD_CLASS = "a-carousel-card-empty"; if (!carousel) { return; } var adPlacementMetaData = carousel.dom.$carousel.context.getAttribute("data-ad-placement-metadata"); var adDetailsList = []; if (adPlacementMetaData == "") { return; } carousel.dom.$carousel.children("li").not("." + EMPTY_CARD_CLASS).each(function (idx, item) { var divs = item.getElementsByTagName("div"); var adFeedbackDetails; for (var i = 0; i

Product description

Book description, from the author, from the back cover, product details.

• ASIN ‏ : ‎ 1760632155
• Publisher ‏ : ‎ Allen & Unwin; Export/Airside edition (2 Nov. 2017)
• Language ‏ : ‎ English
• Paperback ‏ : ‎ 560 pages
• ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 9781760632151
• ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1760632151
• Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 15.3 x 3.9 x 23.4 cm
• 4,641 in Medieval Historical Romance (Books)
• 23,422 in Historical Thrillers (Books)
• 41,600 in Fiction Classics (Books)

About the author

Minette walters.

Discover more of the author’s books, see similar authors, read author blogs and more

Products related to this item .sp_detail2_sponsored_label { color: #555555; font-size: 11px; } .sp_detail2_info_icon { width: 11px; vertical-align: text-bottom; fill: #969696; } .sp_info_link { text-decoration:none !important; } #sp_detail2_hide_feedback_string { display: none; } .sp_detail2_sponsored_label:hover { color: #111111; } .sp_detail2_sponsored_label:hover .sp_detail2_info_icon { fill: #555555; } Sponsored (function(f) {var _np=(window.P._namespace("FirebirdSpRendering"));if(_np.guardFatal){_np.guardFatal(f)(_np);}else{f(_np);}}(function(P) { P.when("A", "a-carousel-framework", "a-modal").execute(function(A, CF, AM) { var DESKTOP_METRIC_PREFIX = 'adFeedback:desktop:multiAsinAF:sp_detail2'; A.declarative('sp_detail2_feedback-action', 'click', function(event) { var MODAL_NAME_PREFIX = 'multi_af_modal_'; var MODAL_CLASS_PREFIX = 'multi-af-modal-'; var BASE_16 = 16; var UID_START_INDEX = 2; var uniqueIdentifier = Math.random().toString(BASE_16).substr(UID_START_INDEX); var modalName = MODAL_NAME_PREFIX + "sp_detail2" + uniqueIdentifier; var modalClass = MODAL_CLASS_PREFIX + "sp_detail2" + uniqueIdentifier; initModal(modalName, modalClass); removeModalOnClose(modalName); }); function initModal (modalName, modalClass) { var trigger = A.$(' '); var initialContent = ' ' + ' ' + ' '; var HEADER_STRING = "Leave feedback"; if (false) { HEADER_STRING = "Advertisement information and options"; } var modalInstance = AM.create(trigger, { 'content': initialContent, 'header': HEADER_STRING, 'name': modalName }); modalInstance.show(); var serializedPayload = generatePayload(modalName); A.$.ajax({ url: "/af/multi-creative/feedback-form", type: 'POST', data: serializedPayload, headers: { 'Content-Type': 'application/json', 'Accept': 'application/json'}, success: function(response) { if (!response) { return; } modalInstance.update(response); var successMetric = DESKTOP_METRIC_PREFIX + ":formDisplayed"; if (window.ue && window.ue.count) { window.ue.count(successMetric, (window.ue.count(successMetric) || 0) + 1); } }, error: function(err) { var errorText = 'Feedback Form get failed with error: ' + err; var errorMetric = DESKTOP_METRIC_PREFIX + ':error'; P.log(errorText, 'FATAL', DESKTOP_METRIC_PREFIX); if (window.ue && window.ue.count) { window.ue.count(errorMetric, (window.ue.count(errorMetric) || 0) + 1); } modalInstance.update(' ' + "Error loading ad feedback form." + ' '); } }); return modalInstance; } function removeModalOnClose (modalName) { A.on('a:popover:afterHide:' + modalName, function removeModal () { AM.remove(modalName); }); } function generatePayload(modalName) { var carousel = CF.getCarousel(document.getElementById("sp_detail2")); var EMPTY_CARD_CLASS = "a-carousel-card-empty"; if (!carousel) { return; } var adPlacementMetaData = carousel.dom.$carousel.context.getAttribute("data-ad-placement-metadata"); var adDetailsList = []; if (adPlacementMetaData == "") { return; } carousel.dom.$carousel.children("li").not("." + EMPTY_CARD_CLASS).each(function (idx, item) { var divs = item.getElementsByTagName("div"); var adFeedbackDetails; for (var i = 0; i

Customer reviews

Our goal is to make sure that every review is trustworthy and useful. That's why we use both technology and human investigators to block fake reviews before customers ever see them.  Learn more

We block Amazon accounts that violate our Community guidelines. We also block sellers who buy reviews and take legal actions against parties who provide these reviews.  Learn how to report

• Sort reviews by Top reviews Most recent Top reviews

Top reviews from United Kingdom

There was a problem filtering reviews right now. please try again later..

Top reviews from other countries

• UK Modern Slavery Statement
• Amazon Science
• Sell on Amazon
• Sell on Amazon Business
• Sell on Amazon Handmade
• Associates Programme
• Fulfilment by Amazon
• Seller Fulfilled Prime
• Advertise Your Products
• Independently Publish with Us
• Host an Amazon Hub
• › See More Make Money with Us
• Amazon Platinum Mastercard
• Amazon Classic Mastercard
• Amazon Money Store
• Amazon Currency Converter
• Payment Methods Help
• Shop with Points
• Top Up Your Account
• Top Up Your Account in Store
• COVID-19 and Amazon
• Track Packages or View Orders
• Delivery Rates & Policies
• Returns & Replacements
• Manage Your Content and Devices
• Amazon Mobile App
• Customer Service
• Accessibility

• Conditions of Use & Sale
• Privacy Notice
• Cookies Notice
• Interest-Based Ads Notice

Enter the characters you see below

Sorry, we just need to make sure you're not a robot. For best results, please make sure your browser is accepting cookies.

Type the characters you see in this image:

Sign up for Karen's newsletter about forthcoming books and other interesting stuff

The Last Hours by Minette Walters

• Karen Brooks
• November 9, 2017

Centred around two primary characters, Lady Anne Develish and a serf whom she has nurtured over many years, the maligned bastard, Thaddeus Thurkell, it also explores the complex network of familial and other relationships that make up the immediate village and manor house – from the simply villainous and narcissistic Lord of the manor, Sir Richard to his equally vile daughter, Eleanor, to the various bondmen and their families as well as the alcoholic priest. How they all respond to not only news of the spread of plague, but the various threats that are set to unravel the lives they’ve built, makes compelling reading.

The novel starts slowly, introducing the reader to these various players in what’s about to become a fight for survival against overwhelming odds – and not just the sickness kind. As the plague takes its toll and the folk of Develish retreat behind the walls and moat, it swiftly becomes clear that healthy humans, and those forced into close confinement can often pose a much greater hazard than a ravaging illness.

When a murder happens among the cloistered community, only quick and drastic action prevents a greater travesty occurring.

Left with no choice but to seek both news and vitals beyond Develish’s boundaries, and led by Thaddeus, an exiled group join the brutal, devastated wider world that’s been ravaged by the plague. In the meantime, those they’ve left behind who look to Lady Anne for leadership and so much more, are forced to deal with not only their own doubts and fears, but the murderous intentions of other survivors who see the plague as an opportunity for exploitation.

Establishing the personalities, weaknesses and strengths of the various players early, I found myself mostly investing in them. Where I struggled was in the glaring anachronisms around Lady Anne’s approach to not only health and hygiene but religion and class structures. I’ve not doubt there were exceptions to the strict rules and governance of the day, only Lady Anne seemed to buck, resist and rise above every accepted religious, social and hygiene standard set by the culture and period. This meant that most of her approaches to people and household habits smacked of 21 st Century mores and notions. Part of me quite enjoyed the justification for some of her “modern” motivations and rules, that made Develish such an exceptional place, but when set against the misogynistic attitudes of first her husband and, later, what would have been ingrained in so many people – men and women – she became a medieval superhero and the tolerance and understanding extended to her by those who looked to her for leadership, more than remarkable for the time. Again, it’s always beautifully rationalised, I just didn’t always swallow it, as much as I wanted to. Lady Anne was so good, and right and smart and bold, yet also marvellously strategic, she almost (almost) became two-dimensional – and it’s testimony to Walter’s writing that she didn’t.

Where this didn’t work quite so well was in the portrayal of Lady Anne’s husband, Sir Richard. Frankly, what an utter arse without any redeeming qualities whatsoever and who just becomes worse and worse as the novel progresses and his behaviours are uncovered. How anyone, even a Norman steward can show loyalty to such a buffoon when other options are available and commons sense dictates otherwise, is a stretch.

Likewise, the daughter, Eleanor. Once more, Walters is at pains to explain and justify her putrid behaviour. Problem is, she was so damn selfish and awful, she was more a caricature and device for showing other characters’ goodness and faults than a real person.

Still, I enjoyed many of the scenes with both these characters and learning how their utterly selfish motivations and unreasonable demands were subtly overturned.

My main beef with the book was how it ended. I wished I’d known this wasn’t a complete book in itself. No. It is part of a series. I found it fairly confusing towards the final pages, particularly those inserted to give you a taste of what’s to follow. I found they made little sense and made me cross rather than longing to learn more!

Overall, the period and the English countryside and rules and regulations governing English manors and lands and how fiefdoms were controlled is well-established and fascinating, as is the ghastly way in which the plague affected people and how its spread was managed. Religion is not treated kindly and nor are the upper classes who don’t seem to have one redeemable character among them – I struggled a bit with both of these depictions, particularly as religion was the world-view then and to dissent or hold alternate (and very contemporary views) was to be a heretic and risk the salvation of the soul. Atheism might have been around, as was alternate ways of thinking about God, but again, putting all these views and arguments in the mouth and mind of mainly one character – and one who grew up in a nunnery – was sometimes difficult to go along with.

The story, once it really starts, is suspenseful and there are times I was flipping pages to find out what was happening. It’s some of the main and subsidiary characters that caused me problems in terms of completely suspending my disbelief (which I am very happy to do). They appeared to have been invented in our century and sent back in time to educate, elucidate and rescue those deemed worthy or smart enough to understand redemption comes in other forms.

The writing is, at all times, lovely and compelling and I will keep an eye out for the next instalment in this series – presumably, the hours after these last ones!

Copyright 2024 Karen Brooks

Website created by AIC Technologies

Signup to Newsletter

Page Not Found

Oh no! We can't find the page you were looking for. Try using the navigation above or searching here.

©PTC International Ltd T/A LoveReading is registered in England. Company number: 10193437. VAT number: 270 4538 09. Registered address: 157 Shooters Hill, London, SE18 3HP. Terms & Conditions | Privacy Policy | Disclaimer