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 Charles II died—with no legitimate heir—his brother James was granted the throne... and James, well, he was no Charles. 

 

Instead, he was a devout Catholic, whose actions were widely viewed—by the predominately Protestant population—as attempts to impose a state-sanctioned Roman Catholic religion on his subjects.

 

Which is why it seemed like a reasonable bet—at least to one James Scott, Duke of Monmouth (and his small band of supporters, who’d fled England and joined forces with Monmouth in Belgium)—that he, as the illegitimate, Protestant son of Charles, should stake a claim to the throne.

 

Of course, what a small cadre of wealthy men thought, and what they could persuade a group of ordinary farmers to undertake, were very different things... and the so-called “Monmouth Rebellion” lasted a mere few hours.

 

But in this tale, it’s the aftermath when things get really interesting... because a very-annoyed King James—out for blood—issued a decree that all those found guilty of participating in the rebellion be punished. 

 

Severely punished. As in, drawn-and-quartered punished.

 

With more than a thousand lives headed for the chopping block, an unlikely trio united in hope of preventing mass bloodshed: Lady Jane Harrier, an elderly female practitioner of medicine... her son—a land-owning lord to his friends, but a spy on the downlow... and a brilliant-but-reclusive young woman, who’d taught herself all about law by studying her lawyer-father’s books. 

 

Going up against the wishes of a vengeful king, his obedient henchmen, and everyone else merely tasked with the unpleasant jobs at hand, was an endeavor only the most foolhardy would attempt.

 

Well, that, or the very clever, with madcap ideas aplenty, and more than a few tricks up their sleeves...

 

 

It’d been several years since I’d last read anything by Minette Walters (although she’s long been one of my all-time favorite masters of psychological suspense), so I didn’t know quite what to expect.

 

I should’ve known, though, because The Players is quintessential Minette Walters. Unputdownable from the first page, it delivers all of the same psychological insights and creativity as any of her earlier books... but with the added enticement of a historical setting, framed around real events.

 

[Note: Although this book is actually the second in a series, following The Swift & the Harrier, it definitely isn’t necessary to read the first one before this—I didn’t, and had absolutely no problems following along or understanding the relationships. So, your choice.]

 

In short, if you’re a fan of historical fiction and/or psychological suspense, The Players should be one of the first books you pick up this year. It’s a real treat!
~GlamKitty

 

[My sincere thanks to Blackstone Publishing for providing this book for review consideration via NetGalley. All opinions are, as always, entirely my own.]