I've read and enjoyed so many of Thomas Perry's Jane Whitefield series, so I finally got my hands on this first book in the series. The book does contain a history of the character, a Native American Seneca - I was particularly interested in this because I have Seneca in my family tree. So I was very interested in the history aspect of the book, but some readers may not be as interested in this background information, which you can easily skip past, but I don't recommend that. It does help explain what makes Jane the way she is.
Having read quite a few books in the series, you don't really need to read them in order. Even though this book builds her history, there are nuggets of that history sprinkled throughout the series. I do recommend this series very highly, but don't wait to read other titles until you've read this first book. Read whatever part of the series you can get your hands on - excellent and total worth your time.