Minette Walters wrote one of my favourite books - The Sculptress - so I started to read these first few pages of her new novel with trepidation. I was not sure whether she could carry off historical fiction, but I need not have worried. I was gripped from the start. I like historical fiction but the English Civil War is not an era I am too familiar with, despite living very close to the first battle of that war. This looks like a well written and researched novel, and I would love to read more. A promising start.