Also, A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens takes place in one night
Oops, I forgot you said: I'd like to avoid "and it was all a dream", time travel, or similar plot devices if possible
Wow, it's really hard to think of books that only take place in a few hours. The only ones I can think of take place over the course of a day. Yeah, I guess reading plays would be your best bet
That's kind of what gave rise to this question. Plays are so succinct and plotted accurate and characterization I was wondering what sort of novels also had that kind of accuracy.
But I haven't read many plays, regardless of the fact that I usually enjoy them for exactly the reason I'm asking.
So yeah, I'll definitely read some more plays, but I'm definitely going to check out some of these novels people are suggesting as well