Pitchforks and Penance -- Minette Walters' Historical Suspense, The Players (review)
Widespread grumblings over religion. Questions about royal succession. And a general air of growing discontent. Conditions were rife for an uprising... had it been anything other than the woefully ill-conceived “attack” by a paltry handful of pitchfork-wielding farmers against an army of well-armed military troops. As for the aftermath of such folly... well, heads—and more, so much more —were bound to roll. But there’s always someone, on the periphery of a rebellion, seeking more peaceful solutions. Or, at the very least, trying to do serious damage control, after the fact... as in Minette Walters’ latest historical novel, The Players . King James II found himself already at a disadvantage, on ascending to the throne. He’d inherited the crown from his well-liked brother, Charles II, who’d been the answer to everyone’s prayers, following Oliver Cromwell’s unpopular (and Puritanical) turn as non-royal leader. But when Char...