Friday Shout Out, #6 - The Hangmans Daughter by Oliver Pötzsch

Friday Shout Out is a meme created here at Mo_Books where I like to post about some books from the past, not necessarily from the distant past but something that isn't current. A book that I feel is worth mentioning and it being rediscovered. Today's Shout Out goes to:




The Hangmans Daughter (The Hangman's Daughter #1)by Oliver Pötzsch
original title - Die Henkerstochter
 First published in 2008
Published by AmazonCrossing
ebook, 448 pages
Source - Library
Add it to Goodreads

Description (from Goodreads)

A historical thriller set in 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.

 My Thoughts

 First off the title of this book is kind of misleading. Even though there are some parts of the story that includes the hangman's daughter, but this book is mainly about Jakob, the towns hangman, and him trying to prove the innocence of a woman accused of witchcraft.

 The year is 1659 and some of Schongay's children are having fatal accidents. When black tattoos are discovered on the children many believe it to be witchcraft and someone must take the blame. When Jakob discovers that he must torture a confession out of Martha, the midwife that helped bring his children into the world, he refuses to believe she is guilty and does some further investigating of his own.

 Jakob has always been surround by death. His father was a hangman and his father, all the way back to who knows when. He and his family have always been somewhat shunned by the towns people. Martha was one of the few that wasn't afraid of him and helped with the birth of each his children. So when Jakob feels that she's not getting a fair trial he does everything he can to help her.

 I really enjoyed reading this book and seeing what life was like for a hangman in the seventeenth century living in Germany. I found this to be a steady paced, fast read. The horrifying torture methods, murder, conspiracy and compassion of the lead character are what made this story an exception historical thriller.

 When I read this book last year I had no idea that it was part of a series and have noticed that there are currently 4 books in the Hangman's Daughter series. This booked had a complete ending and could stand on its own.
I give this a 3 1/2 out of 5 stars.

✯ ✯ ✯ ½
Would I read it again? No

Buy it here:

Amazon

 Hope you have enjoyed my choice for a shout out this week. Thanks so much for reading :-)