The Hangmans Daughter, Oliver Potzsch
The Hangmans Daughter, Oliver Potzsch
10 Rating(s)
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The Hangman's Daughter

Author: Oliver Pötzsch, Lee Chadeayne

Narrator: Grover Gardner

Unabridged: 12 hr 56 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 08/02/2011

Synopsis

Germany, 1660: 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 the 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.A brilliantly detailed, fast-paced historical thriller, The Hangman’s Daughter is the first novel from German television screenwriter Oliver Pötzsch, a descendent of the Kuisls, a famous Bavarian executioner clan.

About Oliver Pötzsch

Oliver Pötzsch, born in 1970, has worked for years as a scriptwriter for Bavarian television. He is a descendant of one of Bavaria’s leading dynasties of executioners. Pötzsch lives in Munich with his family.

Reviews

Goodreads review by SoRoLi (Sonja) ♡ on June 22, 2022

Ich bin so froh, dass ich nun endlich den ersten Band dieser Reihe gelesen habe und frage mich, warum das Buch so lange ungelesen in meinem Regal stand. Es war großartig! Ab der ersten Seite hatte mich die Geschichte schon gefangen. Sie spielt im Jahr 1659; eine sehr spannende und gefährliche Zeit. I......more

Goodreads review by Stacey on January 30, 2011

(Updated 1.30) 1.27.11 (20% read) Having a difficult time with this one. That's what I get for jumping on the popularity bandwagon. So far, the titular character has been on one page. ONE! WTF translators?!! Was this the original title? And it just feels a bit anachronistic, nothing (so far) I can re......more

Goodreads review by David on April 22, 2019

I really enjoyed this historical thriller. It gives us a snapshot into the life of transitioning to modern period / medieval Germans. It just has a very authentic ring to it. Although, the translator uses some rather modern language here and there in his translation...it was originally written in Ge......more

Goodreads review by Willow on October 16, 2016

The Hangman’s Daughter is not quite the right title for this book. Yes the main character is a hangman, Jakob Kuisl, and yes, he's got a daughter, but this is not her story. She's not the main protagonist. The hangman is. The Hangman's Daughter is basically a mystery about some child murders. The bo......more

Goodreads review by Michael on July 10, 2018

This was a 3.5/4 for me. Basically I found this to be a very good genre crime novel set in 17th century Bavaria. There are good guys and bad guys, with the good guys using logic and rationality to solve a series of child murders before the killer strikes again, while others in the town think the mur......more

Quotes

“Readers who like a plot-driven story with identifiable heroes and villains will be drawn to this ambitious novel. And unlike some stories in the genre, The Hangman’s Daughter only gets better as the climax approaches—an exciting duel between the hangman and his nemesis. It truly delivers the thing so many of us look for in our novels: entertainment.” —BookPage“This work seamlessly merges brutality and compassion, and its elegant plot, appealing characters and satisfying conclusion will keep the reader wide awake and turning pages well into the night.” —Shelf Awareness“The translator has done very well by the author; both setting and characters are vividly drawn, making for a compelling read…Based on the author’s research into his own family history, this novel offers a rare glimpse into a less commonly seen historical setting. If you liked Umberto Eco’s The Name of the Rose, give this a try.” —Library Journal Xpress

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