The Last Hours: A deadly plague is spreading across the land... - The Last Hours (Hardback)

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..?

A bestselling British crime writer, Minette Walters published her first full-length novel, The Ice House in 1992, winning the Crime Writers’ Association John Creasy Award for best first novel. Her other novels include The Sculptress and The Scold’s Bridle. Her first novel for ten years, The Last Hours is also her first work of fiction outside of the crime genre.