The Hangman's Daughter - bookrastinating.com

Hardcover, 464 pages

Published Nov. 22, 2011 by Brand: AmazonCrossing, AmazonCrossing.

ISBN:: 978-1-61109-149-6

Germany, 1659: When a dying boy is pulled from the river with a mark crudely tattooed on his shoulder, hangman Jakob Kuisl is called upon to investigate whether witchcraft is at play in his small Bavarian town. Whispers and dark memories of witch trials and the women burned at stake just seventy years earlier still haunt the streets of Schongau. When more children disappear and an orphan boy is found dead, marked by the same tattoo, the mounting hysteria threatens to erupt into chaos. Before the unrest forces him to torture and execute the very woman who aided in the birth of his children, Jakob must unravel the truth. With the help of his clever daughter, Magdelena, and Simon, the university-educated son of the town's physician, Jakob discovers that a devil is indeed loose in Schongau. But it may be too late to prevent bloodshed.

3 editions

Kadomi reviewed The Hangman's Daughter by Oliver Pötzsch

Review of "The Hangman's Daughter" on 'Goodreads'

4 stars

3.5 stars, rounded up. Set in 17th century Bavaria, the book is not really about the Hangman's Daughter Magdalena, but about the hangman himself. When a child is found murdered in the Bavarian town of Schongau, the town-midwife is suspected of having killed the child because of a symbol on the kid's back. She is arrested as witch, and the hangman is tasked to torture her into a confession. The hangman doesn't believe she's guilty and starts investigating, together with the son of the town's doctor, who's also in love with the hangman's daughter. But time is running out as the town council is ready to see the midwife on the pyre.

Very entertaining, but sometimes didn't make a lot of sense. I figured out the BBEG very early. The hangman is in parts ridiculously Gary Stu, he's just so good and strong and intelligent. He has it all. Still, …

3.5 stars, rounded up. Set in 17th century Bavaria, the book is not really about the Hangman's Daughter Magdalena, but about the hangman himself. When a child is found murdered in the Bavarian town of Schongau, the town-midwife is suspected of having killed the child because of a symbol on the kid's back. She is arrested as witch, and the hangman is tasked to torture her into a confession. The hangman doesn't believe she's guilty and starts investigating, together with the son of the town's doctor, who's also in love with the hangman's daughter. But time is running out as the town council is ready to see the midwife on the pyre.

Very entertaining, but sometimes didn't make a lot of sense. I figured out the BBEG very early. The hangman is in parts ridiculously Gary Stu, he's just so good and strong and intelligent. He has it all. Still, made an entertaining read that I couldn't take too serious when it comes to historical facts.

Parto

rated it

Nov. 5, 2021