Poisons, cats, and clocks. [The Deadly Hours by Susanna Kearsley; C.S. Harris; Anna Lee Huber; Christine Trent]

"Charming... Four interconnected visits to a world of danger, wit, beauty and genuine romance. Treat yourself!"—ANNE PERRY, internationally bestselling author

A stellar line-up of historical mystery novelists weaves the tale of a priceless and cursed gold watch as it passes through time wreaking havoc from one owner to another. The characters are irrevocably linked by fate, each playing a key role in breaking the curse and destroying the watch once and for all.

From 1733 Italy to Edinburgh in 1831 to a series of chilling murders in 1870 London, and a lethal game of revenge decades later, the watch touches lives with misfortune, until it comes into the reach of one young woman who might be able to stop it for good.

This outstanding collaboration of authors includes:
Susanna Kearsley – New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of compelling time slip fiction.

C.S. Harris – bestselling author of the Sebastian St. Cyr Regency mystery series. 

Anna Lee Huber – award-winning author of the national bestselling Lady Darby Mysteries.

Christine Trent – author of the Lady of Ashes Victorian mystery series.

More praise for The Deadly Hours:
"A fantastic read."—Tasha Alexander, New York Times bestselling author

"What a treat!"—Victoria Thompson, USA Today bestselling author 

The Deadly Hours, an anthology of short stories written by Susanna Kearsley, C.S. Harris, Anna Lee Huber, and Christine Trent, spins the grand tale of a mysterious watch wreaking havoc through the centuries and the mysteries left in its wake. Not being one for historical fiction, but also being one for long-lived mysteries, this was an unexpectedly pleasant read. I've said many a time, but it bears repeating, that I often forget the synopsis of books I have available to read before I start reading them. So essentially I go somewhat blind into a lot of my fiction reads. Therefore it was quite intriguing when the short stories, as they rolled out chronologically, interconnected. Four distinct writing styles, four different settings, four different stories unified by a common thread.

Cross-referenced characters tickled my fancy. The general structure, a well-educated female lead taking some investigative part, against the wishes of at least one male character, in the local mystery mystery, was so thematically consistent across the four works that I found myself super alert to allusions, flipping back to preceding stories for the mental ah-ha! England, the United Kingdom, as a backdrop, as a reference base, always makes me hesitate. The fondness for her history, for her perceived glories, the glossing over of her atrocities - I find myself adverse to literature favoring English sensibilities, the likely reason I don't tend towards historical fiction. But when a respective author's writing pleased I found myself contemplating their larger body of work. A great selling point for the book as someone previously unfamiliar with

The ending to the multi-generational, international saga fictionalized was interesting to say the least. In terms of rating, as I started out, the first story took me a while to get into. My favorite story was probably the third from Christine Trent, but whether that's because it was a more modern setting or I just enjoyed the characters more, who knows? I prefer my women characters more self-sufficient and enterprising, less dutiful wife centering her life round her husband. But again, the times. As it went building, the anthology, the story went expanding, improving. So while I would have given this a three in the beginning, as a whole The Deadly Hours gets 4 stars from me.

The Deadly Hours was published September 01, 2020.