Walters’ new novel, set in 1685, after the death of Charles II, features physician, Lady Jayne Harrier and her son, Elias, Duke of Granville. Elias proves adept at playing the envoy/agent/courier/spy, as did his father, Sir William, before him, and is a master of deception here.

The Duke of Monmouth, a protestant like his father Charles II, launches what he hopes will be a successful invasion of England, against the Catholic King James II. At the Battle of Sedgemoor, the rebels are rousted quickly, rounded up and stuffed into the Dorchester jail to await trial by the ruthless, permanently inebriated Judge Jeffreys. It is no wonder this period is nicknamed ‘the Bloody Assizes’.

Walters tells a riveting tale with an authentic focus on both real and fictional characters, interweaving them into an adventure of war and religion with a racing plot. The 1600s was a dangerous time in England and Walters keeps that edginess front and centre within her narrative. Key characters are particularly well drawn and the wry commentary from Elias is very compelling. When I read The Swift and the Harrier (2021), I did not expect a sequel, so am thrilled with this superb follow-up, rife with all the political and religious intrigue of the previous book. The novel stands alone, but it is recommended to readers to start with the first book for more complete background. I also highly recommend Walters’ Last Hours duology.

I liked the setting in this one, and the bit of background on the English Civil War aftermath that set the tone for the story. I'll have to revisit this book when it turns up in print though, because the coding for this ebook is off and most of the book is unreadable. Probably an excellent book when I get to finish it.

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.
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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...
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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.]

n 1992, I discovered Minette Walters. Book after book, I was devoted to her. Sometimes, her books, psychological thrillers or worse, were hard to read. But always, they were written so well, with amazing characters and every word well chosen that I kept reading them. And then, like so many of my favorite writers, she disappeared. I'm sorry, Minnette, but I eventually forgot you. And lo, as I looked through NetGalley for the best I could find, there you were. Writing a genre I've come to adore more recently, historical fiction. Would I have chosen late 1600s Britain if it were anyone else writing it? No, a thousand times no! I'm 19th century and up pretty much. But I figured that I would deal with the era for you, Minette.

And I read this marvelous story and learned some fascinating British history. As a former American public school student (That's state school to the British) we basically learned about the Magna Carta, Henry II, via The Lion in Winter and some of us maybe read stuff here and there about Queen Victoria and King Edward/Wallis Simpson. That, in turn might have made us watch the movie The King's Speech. Oh, and I read lots of Shakespeare along the way including some histories. In any event, I digress: I plead ignorance about King James, the "Catholic King" who, when a Protestant illegitimate son of the recently deceased King Charles decides to invade England and try to secure the crown, well, James was peeved. The novel opens with a man visiting with Lord Monmouth at his home in Holland and trying to talk him out of the invasion. Monmouth was (predictably) soundly defeated, captured and hung. All the poor men of Western England (Dorset) who took arms against the king were to be made examples of. Each was to be hung, released alive and drawn and Quartered. Thus, the "Bloody Assizes" of 1685. I'd heard of the words but never the events.

Walters takes our friend who visited Monmouth and places him here and there, but one cannot give away his secret without spoiling although mention is made in publicity blurbs of Lady Jayne Harrier and her enigmatic son. A delightful character the enigmatic son of a Lady. He engages in all kinds of subterfuge, bargaining, research, and more to save as many rebels as is possible. Along the way, he befriends an unusual young woman, a brilliant scholar who has a deformed leg from "palsy" and who stays housebound, rarely seeing anyone except her widowed father and their servants. She is the daughter of a magistrate and has developed a fine legal mind. Lady Jayne was present for her birth but has not seen her for many years. Lady Jayne maintains a hospital and is deeply knowledgeable about medicine. She's is a well known and well regarded physician.

Thus, we learn along the way about British law, particularly where treason is the charge, but also that sometimes prisoners were sold into slavery in the Americas instead of being killed, with the king or his favored people making lots of money off of this "charitable" commutation. We learn tons about 17th century medicine and how many of the old concepts were losing ground. We learn about a number of important historical figures, not the least Lord Chief Justice George Jeffreys, an irascible heavy drinker with painful kidney stones who took his chances with King James and shamelessly condemned many to the prescribed and torturous end.

Walters keeps this endlessly interesting, funny at times, always clever with characters you root for and compassion popping up in unexpected places. It is fun to read a book about a guy with a great moral compass and yet have him be just… exemplary. Not preachy. Not even that judgmental. Willing to commit crimes when necessary. Having a ball doing right. Read the book and learn who he was., a terrific but fictional son of a terrific and fictional Lady Jayne Harrier. I understand if I go back and read Walter's other historical fiction, I will meet Lady Jayne again. Woo Hoo. A resounding, could not put it down and first review of 2025 highly recommended five stars book. Seriously.

‘All the world’s a stage, and all the men and women merely players…’
-Shakespeare

The Players by Minette Walters is a well-written and compelling historical fiction novel set England in 1685. Charles II has died without leaving a legitimate heir and his younger brother, King James II, a Catholic, is on the throne. Charles II illegitimate son, Duke of Monmouth, attempts an ill-conceived invasion to take the throne with disastrous results. Now the king wants revenge and thousands, mostly from among the poorest classes, are to be quickly tried and, just as quickly, convicted and put to death. There are many who oppose this including Elias, Duke of Granville so with the aid of his mother, Lady Jayne Harrier, and Althea, the brilliant daughter of a local lawyer, they devise ways to save as many of the condemned as they could.

I enjoyed this novel a lot, with an interesting plot and plenty of action but it is the characters, of whom there are many, who kept me up late reading. They are beautifully drawn and three dimensional, even relatively minor players, but especially Jayne and Althea who are very strong, very compassionate protagonists. As well, Walter’s descriptions of the landscape really brings this story to life. Definitely a good book to start the new year.

Thanks to Netgalley and Blackstone Publishing for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review

There has never been a book by this author that I have not enjoyed. I thoroughly enjoyed the book that introduced us to Lady Jayne Harrier and her husband. In this book, it is she and her grown son who play the pivotal roles. Jayne would be an extraordinary woman in whatever age she lived. To be as accomplished as she was during the mid 17th Century in England proved she was one of a kind. Or was she. It seems there is another whom both she and her son learn to admire and love. Between the three of them, they attempt to temper the bloody vengeance that James II decided to unleash upon the west country in the form of Judge Jeffreys. Had it not been for their efforts, the bloody assizes would have been far bloodier. The story revolves around their efforts to convince Jeffreys that he was only acerbating the anger towards the King rather than tempering the feelings of rebellion.

It is a most exciting and compelling.story that is also romantic and moving. The two young protagonists are remarkable and fascinating characters whom the reader will recognize belong together long before either character does. If the book stopped there it would be most fulfilling. What it also does is provide a new insight into Judge Jefrreys whom history has painted, not without cause, as a black hearted villain. He was a man with an impossible mission whose path was set for him by his King. I love the way the book provides him with some redemption thanks to the three protagonists. It does not change the outcome but it does ameliorate how the reader might think of him. And that takes a very talented and creative writer. Five purrs and two paws up.

I so enjoyed reading The Players! It's set during the Restoration, Catholic James II (Charles II's younger brother) is on the throne, and a plan by the Protestant Duke of Monmouth (the oldest of Charles II's illegitimate sons), who has been living in the low countries, is on the cusp of an extraordinarily reckless and underfunded invasion of England, utterly convinced that the populace will rise up to support him. Some do, but those are mostly poor peasants, and Monmouth is defeated quite efficiently.

That leaves Monmouth on the run as hundreds of peasants are being taken into prison for their supposed support of the invasion. Some *did* support it, but with very little understanding of what the consequences might be; many others have been rounded up without cause, and others have been accused by neighbors or rivals seizing the opportunity to wreak havoc.

At the center of this mess are Lady Jane Harrier, her adult son, and the incredibly intelligent and reclusive daughter of a local lawyer. There's no hope for many of those who've been arrested. James II has ordered the judge hearing these cases to find *everyone* guilty of treason and to sentence them to a traitor's death: burning for women; a drawn-out process of hanging, evisceration, and dismemberment for men. But, while not everyone can be saved, the trio is working together to save as many as they can, sometimes a few at a time, sometimes in larger numbers.

Here's what makes The Players such an outstanding read: watching the trio cook up and execute their "rescue missions," one after another, always conscious that not all will be saved.

The history is solid here. The central characters are unusual and principled in some wonderful ways that have one rooting for them from the start. If you like historical fiction set in the Restoration you'll want to get going on The Players stat. It really is that engaging.

I received a free electronic review copy of this title from the publisher via NetGalley; the opinions are my own.