Author Janet Hannah takes some time to have a quick discussion about her book, Mystery Time.

Mystery Time is set in the beautiful and history rich city of Prague. Why did you choose this city for the setting of your third book featuring microbiologist Alex Kertesz?

I chose Prague because it’s a beautiful and intriguing city.  I read mysteries for entertainment, and my goal in writing them is to provide entertainment for other readers who enjoy the same things – interesting settings and  characters and entertaining dialogue.

There is an antique watch that is at the center of Mystery Time. But the watch is more than a simple time piece and even seemed to come with its own moral compass. Where did the idea for this magical watch come from? Did any of its effects develop organically in the story?

The mysterious watch is outwardly one of  the early watches created by Swiss watchmaker Abraham-Louis Breguet, but I brought it into the story as a link between modern times and the fascinating Louis-Joseph-Amour, Marquis de Bouille, on whom the character Julien-Christophe is based.  The marquis, who was a contemporary of Napoleon, wrote one of the most impressive memoirs I have ever read, bringing the events and personages of his era to vibrant life. As for the unusual qualities of the watch – people do “see” things that science hasn’t yet been able to explain. This is something that has always interested me.

There was a mysterious bond between Alex and Hildegard that I found to be intriguing. How did their relationship develop while you were writing the story?

That developed as I tried to follow a relationship between two such people through its natural progression.

Will there be a fourth book featuring microbiologist Alex Kertesz? If so when can your fans expect it to come out?

There is a fourth book in the series, but it has only been published as a Kindle book.  It takes Alex and his son on a trip to Albania in search of a missing Gypsy.

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Mystery Time An American microbiologist dies on stage as he is about to lecture at a scientific congress in Prague, an apparent victim of local criminals. Professor Hildegard Kraus from Heidelberg and her Hungarian born colleague Alex Kertész from Jerusalem, who hear his last words, are left wondering whether one the the assembled scientists might be the real killer. Whoever it was has also taken Hildegard’s watch, a treasured family keepsake with an intriguing history.