Cover retrieved from Goodreads
The Hangman's Daughter
Oliver Pötzsch
Ullstein Taschenbuchvlg: 2008, 448 pages
English version published by AmazonCrossing in 2010
Reviewed by Jessie Park
The first in the Hangman's Daughter series, the historical fiction novel is set in Germany in 1659. Jakob Kuisl comes from a long line of executioners; he himself is the current hangman in the town of Schongau. When a young boy is fished out of the river, dying not from drowning but from a brutal attack, the people notice a crude tattoo on his shoulder. The townspeople are convinced that it is a witch's mark and that the local midwife murdered him. Jakob is not convinced and neither is the young physician Simon or Magdalena, Jakob's headstrong daughter. As more children are found slaughtered with the same mark on their shoulders, the main characters race against the clock in order to save the midwife and save the town from the hysteria that will surly bring a bloodbath if it is not stopped. Readers should be aware that there is violence, including scenes of torture but it is not excessively gory.
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