Miranda is a writer and historian specialising in the history of Oliver Cromwell, his family and the politics of the Interregnum period following the Civil Wars. She studied at Cambridge University, leaving with a PhD, and continues to speak at conferences and publish journal articles and book reviews. She is also a Trustee of the Cromwell Association. Alongside this, Miranda works as a commercial solicitor in the City and began writing historical novels on maternity leave. She lives in Hampshire with her husband, young son and cat Keats. Her debut novel, THE PURITAN PRINCESS, will be published in March 2020.

Hello and welcome to my author page – and thank you so much if you’ve read, listened to, or bought one of my books. I hope you enjoyed the journey.

I write dual timeline historical fiction and timeslip mysteries that uncover the lost voices of women, both real and imagined. My novels blend rich historical settings with gripping modern-day plots, linked by secrets buried in the past and their unexpected echoes in the present.

The Marquess House Saga reimagines the lives of women from Henry VIII’s Tudor court through to the English Civil War – from Catherine Howard to Arbella Stuart – weaving together conspiracy, romance and betrayal.

Other novels, including The Wind Chime, The Music Makers and The Forgotten Palace, explore the lives of Victorian women and how their hidden stories ripple into the lives of contemporary heroines.

The Secrets of Crestwell Hall shines a light on the wives of the Gunpowder Plotters of 1605 and the chilling possibility of history repeating itself today.

Published in January 2025, The House of Echoes uncovers the forgotten story of Anne Brandon, daughter of Charles Brandon, Duke of Suffolk, paralleled by a modern-day tale of deception and fractured families.

My next novel, Daughter of the Stones, a mystery rooted in ancient history and family legacy, will be released on 23 October 2025.

To hear the latest news, follow me on Twitter and Instagram: @purplemermaid25, or visit my website: www.alexandrawalsh.com.

Thanks for reading,
Alexandra xx

What reviewers have said about: The Marquess House Saga:

“Well done, Alexandra Walsh … historical fiction of the highest order!”
– Rob, NetGalley reviewer

“I especially enjoyed the importance the author has placed on the women of the time…” Book Blogger: Karen at GoBuyTheBook

“The twists to Tudor history left me breathless…” Stephanie, book reviewer @bookfrolic

“Walsh has presented through this trilogy an incredibly intriguing alternate story so realistic that it might have actually happened…” Worlds Unlike Our Own 

The Wind Chime:

“The Wind Chime will engage all of your senses as you see the beautiful Victorian mansion, feel the heartbreak, smell the ocean air, taste the tears of grief, and hear the wind chime calling you home. This is a soul-touching and captivating read. Highly recommended.” Bonnie Demoss, Editors’ Choice, The Historical Novel Society

“Beautifully written with unforgettable characters,” Carol McGrath, author The Damask Rose

The Music Makers:

“Alexandra Walsh is truly a mistress of the dual timeline, possessing that rare skill of being able to grip the reader equally in both.” Jane Cable, author The Olive Grove 

 

Angela Buckley is a historian specialising in Victorian crime and police history. Her first book, The Real Sherlock Holmes: The Hidden Story of Jerome Caminada, was inspired by her family’s roots in Manchester. Her latest book is The Bermondsey Murder: Scotland Yard’s First Great Challenge and Dickens’ Inspiration.

Angela’s work features regularly in national magazines and newspapers. She is s regular contributor to family history publications. An experienced speaker, Angela has taken part in many events, such as the Henley Literary Festival, the London Month of the Dead Festival and at the Museum of London. She is a frequent guest on radio and podcasts, and has appeared on BBC ONE’s The One Show, and The Secret Genius of Modern Life, BBC TWO.

Recently, Angela has a PhD in Victorian and Edwardian detective history for a PhD and is associate lecturer at Oxford Brookes University.

Sharon Bennett Connolly FRHistS is the best-selling author of 5 non-fiction history books, including Heroines of the Medieval World, Silk and the Sword: The Women of the Norman Conquest, Ladies of Magna Carta: Women of Influence in Thirteenth Century England, and Defenders of the Norman Crown: Rise and Fall of the Warenne Earls of Surrey. Her latest book, a biography, King John’s Right-Hand Lady: The Story of Nicholaa de la Haye, was released in May 2023. A Fellow of the Royal Historical Society, Sharon has studied history academically and just for fun – and has even worked as a tour guide at a castle. She also writes the popular history blog, www.historytheinterestingbits.com.

Sharon has also written an educational book for Pearson International, Nikola Tesla and the Battle of the Currents, for teaching English as a foreign language. Sharon regularly gives talks on women’s history; she is a feature writer for All About History magazine and her TV work includes Australian Television’s ‘Who Do You Think You Are?‘

Jane Johnson is from Cornwall and has worked in the book industry for 30 years, as a bookseller, publisher and writer, author of The Tenth Gift, The Salt Road, The Sultan’s Wife, Pillars of Light and Court of Lions.

She was responsible for publishing the works of JRR Tolkien during the 1980s and 1990s and worked on Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings movie trilogy, spending many months in New Zealand with cast and crew. Under the pseudonym of Jude Fisher she wrote three bestselling Visual Companions to the films. She has also written several books for children.

In 2005 she was in Morocco researching the story of a distant family member who was abducted from a Cornish church in 1625 by Barbary pirates and sold into slavery in North Africa (which formed the basis for The Tenth Gift), when a near-fatal climbing incident caused her to rethink her future.

She returned home, gave up her office job in London, sold her flat and shipped the contents to Morocco. In October she married her own ‘Berber pirate’ and now they split their time between Cornwall and a village in the Anti-Atlas Mountains.

She still works, remotely, as Fiction Publishing Director for HarperCollins. Her adult novels include THE TENTH GIFT, THE SALT ROAD and THE SULTAN’S WIFE (all historical novels set in Morocco); COURT OF LIONS (Granada), PILLARS OF LIGHT (Syria). THE SEA GATE and THE WHITE HARE [2022] are both set in my native Cornwall. Her latest novel is THE BLACK CRESCENT, set in 1950s Casablanca during the Moroccan struggle for independence from the French.

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Paul Walker inherited his love of British history and historical fiction from his mother who was an active member of the Richard III Society.

State of Treason is the first in a series of Elizabethan spy thrillers. The plot is based around real characters and events in London of the 1570’s. The hero, William Constable, is an astrologer and also a sceptic. He is also a mathematician, astronomer and inventor of a navigational aid for ships. The distinction between astrology and astronomy was blurred in the sixteenth century.

The second book in the series titled A Necessary Killing was published in October 2019.

The third book, The Queen’s Devil, was published in July 2020.

Shift forward a few hundred years from Elizabeth Tudor to January 1919 and the focus of the World is on Paris where terms of the peace after WW1 will be determined. Add a dash of Spanish Flu, the fallout from the Russian Revolution, and you have a background primed for intrigue as nations strive for territory, power and money. A Turbulent Peace was published in July 2022.

Paul is married and lives in a village 30 miles north of London. His writing is regularly disrupted by children and a growing number of grandchildren and dogs.