Welcome to Shelf Control — an original feature created and hosted by Bookshelf Fantasies.
Shelf Control is a weekly celebration of the unread books on our shelves. Pick a book you own but haven’t read, write a post about it (suggestions: include what it’s about, why you want to read it, and when you got it), and link up! For more info on what Shelf Control is all about, check out my introductory post, here.
Want to join in? Shelf Control posts go up every Wednesday. See the guidelines at the bottom of the post, and jump on board!
Title: The Deadly Hours
Author: Susanna Kearsley, C. S. Harris, Anna Lee Huber, Christine Trent
Published: 2020
Length: 352 pages
What it’s about (synopsis via Goodreads):
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.
How and when I got it:
I picked up a paperback copy as soon as it was released, back in 2020.
Why I want to read it:
Basically, as soon as I heard that there was a book being released that included Susanna Kearsley as one of the authors, I knew I had to have it.
Susanna Kearsley is one of my go-to favorite authors, and I haven’t regretted reading (or buying) a single one of her books yet! And while I haven’t read anything by the other authors who contributed to this book, I’ve heard good things about all of them.
As for the book itself, I like the sound of interconnected stories focusing on a watch that gets handed down through generations, and I’m curious about the curse, what it is, and how it might be broken. Plus, I’d love to see how the four different authors’ pieces work together, and whether it feels like one coherent whole.
What do you think? Would you read this book?
Please share your thoughts!
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Want to participate in Shelf Control? Here’s how:
- Write a blog post about a book that you own that you haven’t read yet.
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Have fun!
Bookshelf Fantasies 
I’ve never heard of this but wow, I would definitely read it. Such a great concept!
I like the concept too! Glad I reminded myself that I own this one. 🙂
I like the sound of this one; quite unusual in the period that it covers.
I thought so too, and I’m interested to see how well the different authors’ pieces go together.
I love all of these authors (except for Christine Trent, but only because I’ve never read anything by her). I’ll have to look for this one. 🙂
So glad to hear you love the other authors too! I think I have actually read one of Christine Trent’s books and liked it a lot, so I have high hopes for this book!
I don’t as a rule read short stories and novellas because I know that they don’t work – but I have found that a book like this, where each of the author’s contributes to the tale works well for me – and I do like Susanna Kearsley very much as well.
Lynn 😀
She’s terrific, isn’t she? I’m like you, not really much of a fan of short stories, but I do find that connected stories work better for me, so I have high hopes for this one.