Books like The Witchfinder's Assistant

This year, I've been reading books set in 17th century England (around the time of the English civil war), as background to my potential new series. I was having doubts about taking this time period because I thought it may be rather dour, but boy was I wrong!
This book had everything. Set at the time of the restoration of the monarchy, it's a thriller / murder mystery based on the conspiracies and political manoeuvring of the time. What was even better was that there was a strong female lead character (Lady Anne Winter) and her fearsome maid, who were at the centre of the controversies.
The book is technically number six in The Seeker series, but can be read as a standalone. After reading this, I went back and read book one. It was almost on a par with this, but I decided I shouldn't put two books from… show more.

This is another book from the 17th century, this time just prior to the English civil war.
The book was written in an easy style which helped to understand the political and religious tensions of the day. The main focus was on the murder mystery contained within it, but with war approaching it was difficult to know who to trust. Once again, there was a strong female character who added greatly to the story. A thoroughly enjoyable read, which made me want to read the two other books in the series.