Nearly the whole time while reading this book, I planned to give it at least four stars. It is well-written, compelling, and never lost my interest.

Lady Anne saves her community from the Black Death by immediately enforcing quarantine upon first being warned of the plague's existence. The first part of the book is indeed about the plague -- it furnished me all the fear, gore, and corpses I expected. The latter two-thirds of the book focuses more on Lady Anne's barricaded community and how they are able to live together, logistically and socially. There are many unique characters (Lady Anne's insane teenage daughter, the 19-year-old steward who may or may not be in love with Lady Anne, the stupid, evil priest, the village headmen and their families, the cowardly former steward) but none that really transcend the plot. Thaddeus is really the only person who comes close, but that's fine. The plot is really the most important part of this book, like in a mystery novel.

The whole character of this book is like the zombie apocalypse, plus a murder mystery. It is TRULY shocking to me how much the Black Death epidemic has the character of a zombie apocalypse. The dead stay dead, but aside from that it must have truly seemed like the world was ending. The distrust of everyone -- are YOU clean? Are <i>YOU</i>? Lady Anne's community deals with attacks from a vicious band of looters without, and power-hungry plots within, hiding from a countryside devastated with death and human travesty. The murder mystery aspect comes when there is a foul play death within their community -- as in every murder mystery, tension rises when everyone's long-buried dark secrets start to come out. There is a lot of rape and talk of rape.

Eventually, all the rape started to get to me. I guess some amount of rape is expected, especially during the apocalypse when society is collapsing, but does there have to be rape behind EVERY narrative twist? My brain almost felt as defiled by the ubiquitous sexual violence at the end of the story as it did by the awful, morbid details of the plague. I CAME for the plague; I did <i>not</i> come to see constant, unremitting sexual crimes. At the end, I really felt like it spoiled a lot of my enjoyment of the story, and I was relieved to finally put the book down. This issue, plus the stupidly ambiguous non-ending ending that resolved absolutely nothing, is why I docked a star.

EVEN IF YOUR BOOK 👏 IS PART 👏 OF A SERIES 👏 YOU STILL 👏 NEED 👏 TO WRITE 👏 AN ACTUAL ENDING 👏

It's hard to imagine a monsterkiller like the Black Death in our modern western world. But in 1348 it thunders over England's hills, destroying everyone in its path.
Without the lord being present at their estate in Develish, lady Anne takes control, showing kindness and hospitality to her serfs, teaching them hygiene and herbal medicine.
She follows her heart and works in harmony with the serfs securing the compound and keeping them alive in these harsh conditions.
The story gives a detailed account of the Black Death in an increasingly desolate landscape where the few survivors struggle to find food by all means neccessary.
The characters are well developed, the writing captivating, the twist near the end an unexpected bonus.
Beautiful historical fiction.

In 1348 the Black Death arrived in Dorset and quickly raged throughout the country and it is against this background that Minette Walters has set The Last Hours a work of historical fiction. As the deaths mount and society breaks down one small community, Develish, struggles to deal with, and understand, what is happening. Fortunately Lady Anne instructs her people in the virtues of hygiene and quarantine. She is a very intelligent woman and has been quietly organising the demesne without her husband’s knowledge (who was killed by the plague) and it is largely due to her and her bondsmen that the small community of 200 serfs survive. Within this environment we witness petty jealousies, a murder and the struggle to endure all the fears and privation that this situation fosters.

Now Lady Anne is the hero, no doubt. But I didn’t really like her, well more likely, didn’t totally believe in her. Too good to be true, but was there a little frisson between her and Thaddeus? On the other hand, Thaddeus (an illegitimate serf) who has endured ostracism not only from his father and mother, but also the greater part of the community, I liked. It is his role to leave the security of the manor and investigate the wider area. This concept I really enjoyed. Walters showed us how isolated each manor was with only the gentry travelling further afield, whilst the serfs were bound to that small area. I am sure an enormous amount of research went into this book and it is well-written but, for me, it just doesn’t bite. As I neared the end, I was thinking ‘how can this be resolved, how can it end?’ Then I discovered it didn’t, to be continued…. NO. How frustrating.

Now I have set the book aside a few days, not really sure that I would pick up the second instalment… That is not to say that I don’t admire Minette Walters’ work for I absolutely do. Perhaps not this one quite as much.

Thank you to the publishers and NetGalley for providing an ARC via my Kindle in return for an honest review.

Thank you Netgalley and Harlequin-Mira for the eARC.
Minette Walters' psychological thrillers are terrific; I recommended her books to family and friends and all of them became fans as well.
I eagerly requested The Last Hours and was thrilled when I was sent the eARC.
To my disappointment I found it boring and did not finish it.
The story is set in 14th Century England when whole areas were decimated by the Black Death. The start of the story was promising; the descriptions of the disease horrifying. We meet Lady Anne, her husband (a brutish nincompoop), her spoilt, nasty daughter Lady Eleanor and Thaddeus, the serf close to Lady Anne. The village, on Lady Anne's instruction, seals itself off from the rest of the land in order to keep the deadly disease out. The claustrophobic conditions and the fear of running out of food cause much tension amongst the villagers, resulting in Thaddeus leaving with several young men. Their plan is to discover the progression of the disease as well as procuring food for the community.
Instead of the anticipated thrills and chills I found the read a slog and didn't finish the book. Sorry...

I was provided with an ARC of this book for my Kindle thanks to NetGalley. As I read the book, I was struck by how well written it was. In many ways, it reminded me of A Distant Mirror: The Calamitous 14th Century by Barbara W. Tuchman (which I read many years ago). The characters were written in such a way that I felt I knew them personally.

A number of reviewers felt that the characters were flat, with very little dimension or development. I disagree. Further, I’d like to remind those readers that the British are famously “emotionless” in their behavior. Lady Anne’s reserved, seeming inability to express her emotions was driven by the necessity that she appear strong and imperturbable. That said, I would have liked a bit more exploration of character histories and motivations.

The descriptions were such that I felt I could actually be there, though I certainly wouldn't have wanted to be. I could see what was happening. I could feel the emotions of the players. Truly, as I read this book, which was very difficult to put down, I had every intention of giving it 5 stars. To me, it was extremely compelling. I became fully invested in all of the characters of the story and anxiously awaited what I hoped would be an inspiring conclusion.

And therein is the reason for a four-star review rather than a five-star one. I was so disappointed to reach the end of the story and discover that it wasn't really the end. Now, I don't know if this author plans to follow up with a sequel, though at least one other reviewer mentions she does. I suppose it would begin with the end of the plague and the beginning of new lives. But, the fact that I was left in such confusion, feeling as if I was had no idea what would happen to my “friends,” left me feeling extremely disappointed. For that reason, I can only give this book 4 stars, and that really bothers me because it was worth so much more.

Grim, historical account of how The Black Death swept through the towns and countryside in 1348. In an effort to stop the disease spreading into her community, Lady Anne basically draws up the drawbridge of her Develish community (set in Dorset), and we are left with how the villagers learn to cope with lack of food etc. I don't want to give too much away, but suffice it to say the writer gives a convincing historical account of that period with limited medical knowledge and a reliance on God. I was used to reading and enjoying Minette Walters' murder books, and credit to her for this departure.

Walters takes readers to one of the darkest periods of human history, 14th century England where the Black Death holds sway. Only Lady Anne believes that the plague is caused by infection and lack of sanitation, the Church decrees the plague has been sent by God to destroy the wicked. Lady Anne has been educated and believes she can save her people if she separates them from the rest of the infected. With her husband away, Anne brings the people of her small holding inside her moated great house, hoping to keep them safe. But a woman who turns her head from God is a woman to be feared and hated and she has enemies living under own roof. Even if Anne can keep her people alive, what will await them in the world outside after the illness has passed? This book kept me up all night, I was fascinated (and horrified) at the conditions people lived in and loved Lady Anne, a strong woman who would let nothing stand in her way