There’s no shortage of corpses in these 500-plus pages, including a murder victim, but The Last Hours is not historical crime; the influence seems rather to have been Follett’s Kingsbridge novels, with their multiple story lines and large cast....Though this makes for less than complex characters, it does allow enjoyably straightforward heroes and villains, and The Last Hours is in part a morality tale; anyone who believes their birth or title sets them above their fellows will quickly learn a lesson in equality. ...Walters portrays the plague’s effects with the unflinching detail she brought to rotting and dismembered bodies in her earlier novels. Her descriptions of the Dorset landscape, the organisation of the manor and its lands, and techniques of hunting and household management show evidence of careful research... With The Last Hours, she has swapped that taut plotting for a more expansive structure and ambitiously broad canvas. Whether it will win over her previous fans remains to be seen but, as the inhabitants of Develish discover, striking out for the unknown is a worthwhile adventure, whatever the outcome.