I've never read Minette Walters before, but this book makes me want o read more. The setting is the brutality of the English civil war, neighbour against neighbour, brutality breeding more brutality. This story is so vivid that you are actually there, amid the hatred and intrigue in the Dorset countryside. The story starts with the savagery of the hanging and quartering of a priest in all the bloody detail as the heroine attempts a work of mercy. This is powerful writing and every line grabs your attention. The cover has the swift birds, and crossed guns of the harriers - very appropriate!