A cursed watch is followed through different historical eras by four authors. The stories fit well together. The final story is my favorite.

Each story features strong, femal protagonists who solve a mystery concerning the watch. The cursed nature of the watch brings in a thread of the supernatural

The only author I was familiar with is Susanna Kearsley. I am glad I took the time to read the other authors.

I was given a free advance copy and I am leaving my honest review.

Many thanks to Net Galley, Poisoned Pen Press and the authors for a chance to review this anthology.

“Je suis le seul maître de mon temps”; “I am the only master of my time”



Weapon Of Choice by Susanna Kearsley

Hugh and Mary are travelling to Genoa on a mission for their king. En route, they encounter a storm and are forced to take shelter at Portofino. It is the year 1733 and the Jacobites are facing trouble in Rome and all the court of King James is under heavy guard. There are also other visitors in the inn, Anna and Edmund who have their own secrets to carry and who warns Hugh of an assassin called Douglas sent to murder the Duke of Ormonde, they are then joined by the captain Lambert Vautour and the assassin himself. As they wait out the storm, events begin to unfold in the small inn and the tale of La Sirène, a pocket watch made of solid gold, is introduced.

The story is quite intriguing with a feel of closed room mystery, with talks about the La Sirène’s curse that dooms every man that holds it, and the anticipation of having to divert the assassin’s attempt. There is a sense of something waiting to happen during the fearsome storm that is believed to be brought about by the curse and how Mary uses her skill to understand the murderer’s methods and helps in entrapping him makes for a very fascinating tale.

In a Fevered Hour by Anna Lee Huber

Edinburgh in 1831 is facing a crisis, hundreds have fallen ill to a mysterious illness and Bonnie Brock Kincaid a master criminal believes that the cause is La Sirène’s curse and seeks help from Lady Darby and her husband Sebastian Gage. Keira and Gage begin their inquiries and determine that a watch matching the La Sirène’s description is doing the rounds and if its not found in time, the whole of Edinburgh will be doomed.
The mystery behind the watch causing the illness was outstanding and how Kiera manages to find a part of the watch and bury it was quite brilliantly said.

A Pocketful of Death by Christine Trent

It is 1870 and Violet Harper who runs the Morgan Undertaking has been commissioned by the Ashenhurst family to move all dead relatives to the family cemetery. Unhappy about disturbing the dead but still forced to do the job, Violet discovers a part of La Sirène hidden in the grave and gives it to the family as an heirloom. A series of murders soon rocks the very peaceful and affluent street where the Ashenhurst reside and rumors of the cursed watch begin to do the rounds so much that is believed that the watch somehow portends the murder. Violet manages to discover the murderer and find a logical reasoning for the timepiece’s peculiar behavior but does the curse still hold?
Once again, a brilliant story that has taken the timepiece further into the years as we follow its cursed journey through centuries. How Violet uses her skill to discover the killer and find answers was interesting.

Siren’s Call by C.S Harris

The World War is still killing thousands in June 1944, but a sleepy and quiet out of the way village in Kent, New Godwick, has suddenly been noticed by the War office as mysterious transmissions in German has been discovered from the place. Jude Lowe from military intelligence along with Remus Stokes from Scotland Yard is on a trail of investigation when Major Crosby who serves as the enemy aircraft spotter is murdered and found by Rachel Townsend-Smythe. It is Rachel who brings Jude’s attention to the missing timepiece belonging to the vast collection of Major Crosby and thus the curse of La Sirène is resurrected.
German spies, murders in a small village, the devastation of war and even romance plays a part in this lovely cozy mystery.

I loved the anthology by these four brilliant authors, each novella adding to the mystique that is La Sirène. A pocket watch made with exquisite craftmanship from gold plundered from the holy city of Cartagena, the outer case engraved with a scene of ship in tempest and a beautiful inscription and balance cock engraved in the form of a mermaid, we follow the watch as the outer and inner case gets separated and each story adds to breaking of the curse of the watch. It is the brilliance of the writing by these fantastic authors that I was actually sad after completing it, coz I just realized that even being a fan of historical mysteries, I have read only Susanna Kearsely and is yet to try all the other authors’. So much catching up to do with such beguiling characters like Violet Harper and Lady Darby.

Highly recommended!

I received a free eBook from net galley in exchange for an honest review.

I bow to everyone who not only thought up this idea but saw it through to such successful completion. This book shows the talent of each author being able to seamlessly tell this story with constistancy yet were able to showcase individual writing styles to show their heart on the paper. I love that we journey through time with this cursed watch and watch each author weave a story around this watch. I love how deeply these stories touched me in such a short time. This will be a top recommendation.

Fans of Susanna Kearsley, rejoice! Weapon of Choice brings together three pairs of main characters from The Rose Garden, The Firebird, and A Desperate Fortune. Weapon of Choice is my first novella. {Coincidentally, The Rose Garden was the first novel that I read when I returned almost two year ago from a fiction-reading hiatus. Since then, I have read all but two earliest books by Ms. Kearsley.} This story centers on Hugh and Mary and, on the surface, is a murder mystery that has touches of folklore, sorcery, and of course historical events. The underlying/secondary story is the relationship between Hugh and Mary as they begin their marriage. The scenes take place primarily at an inn and I felt as if I was reading a Clue movie. What make a good mystery are the unexpected twists and turns and Weapon of Choice has them. Additionally, Weapon of Choice is a profound title, cleverly named. I don’t think I can explain more about it without giving away a spoiler. Overall, if you are fans of Ms. Kearsley, you will appreciate the return of these wonderful characters. For others, I view this novella as an Agatha Christy like mystery set in early 18th century.
I will add soon to this review my feedback about the other three novellas in the book.

Four of today's best historical fiction writers collaborate in "The Deadly Hours" to produce a five-star book.

C.S. Harris, whose dashing Sebastian St. Cyr has been leaving readers breathless for fifteen volumes now, drew my notice. I started with part four, never planning to read any more.

But the saga of a cursed pocket watch proved so intriguing that I went back to page one and, for my efforts, discovered three new writers.

Susanna Kearsley begins the story in 1733. Highlander Hugh MacPherson, aboard a ship to Genoa with his new wife, learns the story of a watch finely crafted of gold.

Anna Lee Huber's Lady Darby tells part two, set in 1831 in Edinburgh. A talented artist whose subjects included cadavers as she illustrated her late husband's anatomy book, Lady Darby is brought into the story by Bonnie Brock Kincaid, a Robin Hood bedeviled by the watch's curse.

Christine Trent writes part three. Her lady undertaker, Violet Morgan, solves mysteries in Victorian London. Harris wraps up the mystery in England as World War II ends.

Perhaps the best thing about this book is that it offers brand new reading lists to those just discovering these unique characters.

A very promosing concept, but I couldn't get through the first story.
It's not necessarily poorly written, and I do think that there might be readers who would enjoy this, but for me it was too much of purple prose.
Maybe 'purple prose' is the wrong choice of wording; it's not so much that the writing is extravagantly ornate; more that it feels like there's... misplaced emphasis. There's not a natural flow.

I'm rarely a fan of picking up a story midways through. For that to work for me, it requires that I care about either the plot or the characters (and preferably both) from an early stage, here I just didn't.

An enchanting historical mystery that takes you from 1733 Italy to 1831 Edinburgh, then on to 1870 London. I was hooked from the start and enjoyed each story and its connection to the next. THE DEADLY HOURS is truly a masterpiece.

This book immediately caught my attention because 2 of the authors are favorites. I haven’t read much from the other 2 but this was a nice introduction to them. All 4 novellas center around a supposedly cursed watch which is what connects them all. I thought some were better than others, but that may just be because I wasn’t familiar with all of the characters in all the novellas. All 4 though were well written and entertaining to this historical mystery fan.

Full review to come closer to publication date.