This was a group of novellas that was based on a cursed watched. I have read many of the authors individual works, and it was nice for them to collaborate on a few short stories. All of these stories feature the author’s famous detectives. Thus, it was nice to revisit these characters and read these stories from the authors that I love!

I enjoyed all four stories but I liked the third one the most, the second story was the one I liked the least. all stories were well written and easy to get through.

Thanks to Netgalley, Poisened Pen Press and the authors of this anthology for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This book follows the sinister path of a cursed watch through history - The SIren. Beautifully wrought in gold it is at once desired and feared. There are four stories in the anthology written by different historical mystery series writers. Some of the characters would be familiar for those who have read these series. I had read the Lady Darby Mysteries and and the Crispin books by CS Harris. The former features in the second story but C S Harris' story features original characters.

This book was obviously put together to promote and showcase the writers and their respective popular series but it was still very enjoyable. I particularly enjoyed the Violet Morgan story by Christine Trent and will definitely be checking out the Lady of Ashes series.

Loved this anthology. Like with any collection of short stories some were good and some not for me. Definitely recommend!

I never have been, nor will I ever be a fan of the genre novella. The reader-deliciousness of romance and mystery is in the sinking-in for a long, luxurious, fully-developped read. (Despite its spareness, I would say that a great category romance accomplishes this very thing as well.) BUT two of my favourite authors were featured in this inter-connected anthology of novellas and I couldn’t resist. I was especially lured by the promise of Kearsley and Harris goodness, even though Harris’s narrative isn’t Regency-set, nor features my frisson-inducing favourite hero, Sebastian St. Cyr, but I’ll take what I can get. I thought the premise and historical arc, linked by this “cursed” pocket-watch, intriguing:

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.

The four novellas are inter-connected by the watch, as well as the four elements: the watch must endure a test by air, earth, fire, and water before the curse can be broken. The anthology had everything necessary to make for a great read: mystery, a hint of mortality and fate in the cursed-watch motif, and rich historical detail. And yet, while I enjoyed the individual efforts, I can’t say it ever came together … and maybe that is just the nature of the beast. I felt the same way about Willig, Williams, and White’s All the Ways We Said Goodbye. I liked the bits, wasn’t keen on the whole. Kearsley’s and Harris’s efforts, however, were quite enjoyable

Kearsley launches the story of the cursed watch with her protagonists from A Desperate Fortune, Hugh MacPherson and Mary Dundas (now MacPherson). I loved Kearsley’s novella less for the intrigue and mystery than her control of the form and her theme of a marriage that needed some smoothing of rough edges. She opens her novella with Mary and Hugh aboard a ship bound for Rome (or Genoa?) waylaid by a storm. They shelter in an inn and friends and foes soon join them: a dubious pirate-captain and possible assassin, also bound for Rome and with the mission to murder King James (of Hugh’s Jacobite cause). What ensues is a foiling of the villain, the disappearance of the watch to appear in the next novella, and Mary gently trying to tell Hugh that she doesn’t want a protector, but a partner. Hugh is rough, gruff, and lethal, and loves Mary more than his life. But Mary is subtle and clever and begins, for friend and foe alike, to weave a story with the theme love means setting the beloved free to take a full and important place in one’s life and cause (hint, hint, Hugh). Hugh is silently reluctant and set in his ways, but Mary dissuades him by taking control not just of the narrative she weaves but the danger and mystery that besets them. In Kearsley’s writing, one can sense her touch with forces beyond the characters’ control: of fate and destiny, of a spirit that moves through things to see them bend towards the right, the light, and love. Kearsley is that writer that sides with Hamlet’s admonition, “there are more things in heaven and earth”.

Harris, on the other hand, whose novella I also enjoyed, is a rationalist and moralist: her characters want to see right done and so, they do it themselves. They do not adhere to expediency, or follow the crowd. In her novella, the last of the lot set in Kent during WWII, a young woman, Rachel Townsend-Smythe, trained in history and curatorship, sees several mysterious murders in her town, New Godwick. In town are also Jude Lowe and Remus Stokes, purportedly from Scotland Yard, secretly in search of a German spy and soon investigating the murders as well, murders linked by the mysterious “cursed” watch. If Kearsley’s romance is of a newly married couple growing in love and trust, Harris’s is of two people who fall in love as they investigate murder and solve the watch’s mystery. Kearsley launches and Harris moors the story. Jude is never quite convincing to Rachel as “Scotland Yard” and she refers to him as MI-5. Their HEA is somewhat hurried, but their encounters are entertaining and the characters so likeable, a reader wishes them happiness, especially because there is a long-war, it’s 1944, melancholy to them both, loss and heartache, and a dislocation as to “what’s next?” as the end of the war looms. Harris’s lovely answer lies in “each other” and one displaced little boy …

Though I still love Kearsley’s and Harris’s books, The Deadly Hours didn’t manage to make me a novella fan. With Miss Austen, we agree The Deadly Hours is “almost pretty,” Northanger Abbey.

Kearsley’s, Trent’s, Huber’s, and Harris’s The Deadly Hours is published by Poisoned Pen Press. It was released in September 2020 and may be found at your preferred vendors. I received an e-galley, from Poisoned Pen Press, via Netgalley.

An intriguing premise that wasn't pulled off very well

I would like to thank Anna Lee Huber, Christine Trent, Susanna Kearsley, C. S. Harris, Kensington Books, and NetGalley for allowing me to read a free ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Possible spoilers

Weapon of Choice by Susanna Kearsley – five stars

I was pleasantly surprised to find I loved this novella, and I really want to read the novel it stems from, A Desperate Fortune. This was a wonderful little story about recentlyweds Hugh and Mary MacPherson, who are on their way to protect a duke from assassination when they’re forced to make port and take shelter from a terrible storm. As fate would have it, though, all the key players find themselves staying at the same inn, along with a cursed pocket watch that may or may not have brought the storm. Tension rises and trouble ensues, and while the murder mystery and historical fiction aspects were interesting, my heart, of course, was taken by the romance. I also enjoyed Mary’s stories.

In a Fevered Hour by Anna Lee Huber – four stars

It was nice visiting Gage and Keira again, and an extra special treat to see the fascinating Bonnie Brock. A little disappointing that the timing jumped back a few books—Gage and Keira had only been married a couple of weeks—when I’m so eager to see them move forward, but whatevs. Bonnie Brock grudgingly asks for their help tracking down a pocket watch to prevent anyone else meeting with misfortune due to the curse upon it. When he falls gravely ill, Gage and Keira use Brock’s own runners to put out word that information on the watch will be rewarded. Within hours they’ve got a lead, and soon the watch is found—and then lost again, this time on purpose.

A Pocketful of Death by Christine Trent – two stars

I had a very hard time getting into this story. The lead, Violet Harper, is a perfectly nice protagonist, level-headed and intelligent, but she wasn’t particularly charismatic or unique. Rather bland. Similarly, the writing was good, but it didn’t have the energy or drive needed to make the narrative compelling. The experience was certainly of reading a story, not living it among the characters. It wasn’t until Violet had figured out whodunit and laid her trap that I was sucked in, and even then I skipped through the scene, paused to absorb the big reveal and the reasons, then was over it.

Also, the watch didn’t feel anywhere near as sinister as it did in the previous two stories. It didn’t feel like a threat, just a mundane object of mysterious origin and that was behaving strangely.

Lastly, what a pathetic husband she had. He was barely around, and when he was he came across as self-absorbed and indifferent to her goings-on. He didn’t act like he loved her or was overly concerned for her welfare, except perhaps that first night she went to keep vigil at the Ashenhursts’. Were I ever tempted to read Violet’s mystery series, it probably wouldn’t be for the romance—and therefore isn’t likely to happen at all.

Siren’s Call by C. S. Harris – three stars

My feelings on this novella were a notch above what they were for Trent’s. I had a hard time getting into it, my mind wandered terribly, but I’m not sure why. Could be the writing lacked energy or was just missing that je ne sais quoi that pulls one into a story. It wasn’t the characters, because I liked both Rachel and Jude. It wasn’t the mystery, because I was very intrigued as to who was killing and what it had to do with the watch and/or Germany. It wasn’t the setting, because that might have been my favorite aspect; a tiny little village in war-torn England, a village that had to be moved half a mile inland because the cliffs on which it was originally established were steadily crumbling into the sea.

So no, I’m not sure why this tale couldn’t hold my attention. I do know one thing I didn’t like, though; as in the previous story, the watch’s presence was much diminished. It didn’t feel sinister or dangerous; in fact, the watch was never even on screen, as it were. We didn’t witness it go through the air requirement, and we didn’t see it go through the fire requirement, only heard about them. The thing that the entire premise was built around felt more peripheral than it should have, and I feel that was a huge and disappointing error on the creators’ part.

Overall

The average of these four ratings is 3.5, so I officially give this book 3.5 stars, but since the review platforms don’t do half-hearts, I’ll be nice and round it up to four. The anthology started off strong and was a really cool premise, but the execution left something to be desired.

I enjoyed each individual story. I was really reading because I love C.S. Harris work. After reading Kearsley and Trent stories I had to know more about the characters, so I picked up the first books in the series.

This was an enjoyable anthology containing four novellas. Each story centers around a cursed pocket watch. The authors did a good job creating cohesive stories.

Thank you for the opportunity to read and review this book.

Unfortunately, I struggled to get into it and had trouble getting into the short stories. Because of this, I was unable to finish this book. I will not post my review on any retail sites as it is not a fair assessment since I did not finish it.

This collection of interrelated short stories was delightful. They are all centred around a cursed pocket watch and a great introduction to the four authors.

A beautiful watch with a bloody history is at the center of these four linked novellas. Four accomplished historical mystery authors each tell a tale, following the watch from 1730s Genoa to 1830s Edinburgh to 1870s London to an English coastal village in the 1940s. Each story contains its own mystery to be solved within the larger saga of the watch, and the first three feature characters from other books by each author.

It's a fun set-up, and well-executed by the authors. Small amounts of backstory are naturally provided for the characters brought in from other works, so readers unfamiliar with the Lady Darby series or the Lady of Ashes series can jump right in with these novellas. The mystery of the watch - is it really cursed? - passes smoothly from one author to another, with neat little call-backs here and there.

Compelling mystery, detailed historical settings, and touches of romance and adventure make this collaborative effort a real treat.

(Source note: I received a digital ARC of the book from NetGalley, but ended up reading a finished copy from my public library before writing this review.)

The Deadly Hours contains four novellas by well known historical authors with a story revolving around a cursed watch and its journey through history. I am a big fan of Susanna Kearsley and was therefore eager to read her instalment. I had not read anything by the other authors so was happy to discover that all four of them nicely complimented each other as a whole.

The history of how the watch came to be cursed is explained and what then ensues is its journey from the various owners over almost a two hundred year period. Each story relates the terrible impact of association with this watch and how it affects all who come into direct contact with it. From Italy in 1733 to England in 1944 the storylines are well presented with engaging characters and the flow between each was relatively smooth. I appreciated most the period appropriate plots yet found the first and last story to be the strongest. It is difficult to review a collection of stories from different authors, but overall I found the whole concept intriguing.

If you enjoy short stories but with the added benefit of a constant across them all, then I suggest you delve into the intrigue, mystery and danger that is, ‘The Deadly Hours’.

“He said that life will always be uncertain, and we cannot let the fear of what might happen stop us living as we choose.” She turned her face to his. “Is that not beautiful?”

This antology, written by Susanna Kearsley, Anna Lee Huber, Christine Trent and C. S. Harris is about a cursed gold watch.
Through the four stories we travel from 1733 to 1944, following the misfortune of those who have possessed the watch.

I'd like to highlight the fact that in all these four stories women are the most importat characters. They're inteligent, brave and good hearted. Thanks to them, the mysteries surrounding the watch are solved.

So why only 3⭐? Because I liked some stories more than others and I would have preferd just one story or 2 intertwined stories, like in the style of Susanna Kearsley's previous books. And she's the reason why I wanted to read this book.

Thanks to Poisoned Pen Press and NetGalley for providing me with an e-arc in exchange for my honest review.

Susannah Kearsley,Anna Lee Huber and C.S Harris are 3 of my favorite authors.
I was super excited to see this line up and I was not disappointed!!
England, Scotland,Italy, murders and mystery. This was a fantastic book!

It is all about the golden watch... Or is it.
Several novellas written by prominent historical novelists are tied together by watch chain and the watch itself. Mysterious artifact survives its owners, times and seasons only to... well to play a part in a caleidoscope of events: some more evil than others.
It was interesting to read works by different pens and voices united together under the covers of one book.
I chose this book to sample writing of C.S.Harris and was not disappointed.
A very sound collaboration and a bunch of suspenseful tidbits to get reader to want more.

I enjoyed this set of 4 novellas, each by a different author, following the history of a cursed watch. I'm already a fan of Anna Lee Huber and her Lady Darby series, so it was nice to get another story featuring Kiera and Gage. I was not familiar with Susanna Kearsley prior to reading this collection, but immediately added her novel featuring the two characters in her story, which opens the set. C.S. Harris's story seems to be a standalone, unrelated to any of her other works, and was very well done. The weakest link was Christine Trent's story, which had the most plot holes, and the least compelling heroine. Altogether an enjoyable collaboration!

I enjoyed the concept of this book and how well all the stories tied together. To have 4 authors who were able to write an anthology that fit together so well was a reading treat. I enjoyed how they all had their commonalities, but also each story had a piece of that Authors style tied to it.

The story itself was following the 'life' of a cursed pocket watch. In each event, the watch ruined lives until someone had found a way to rid themselves of it. Each time setting had a different approach and willingness to believe different aspects of this mysterious watch and how to handle it.

I was engaged through most of the story, but I found myself not getting as int0 the book as I would have initially thought based on the description.

Thank you Netgally and Poisoned Pen Press for an ARC of this book.

I requested this arc because I was attracted by the stellar cast of authors and I think it's one of the best I read in a long time.
Even if there's a common thread, a cursed watch, all the novels features different characters, most of them from other works of these authors.
They are all gripping, well written and highly entertaining.
I'm happy I discovered new authors and learned something more about characters I love.
It's strongly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine.

I have never read a book by multiple authors written as several novellas. I don't usually like novellas so I was curious to read this book. If no one told me it was separate authors, I would never know! The novellas flew together so seamlessly. I really liked this book, and the ending was SO satisfying! I received a free copy of this book from netgalley and the publisher in exchange for my honest review.

Unfortunately, I never made it through the first story in this dense book. I tried several times, but found my attention wandering off each time. Given the authors involved here, I’m chalking it up to “COVID brain” which has really affected my ability to concentrate.