This is the fourth installment of the Hangman’s Daughter series written by Oliver Potzsch. He has based the books on a 17th century German hangman an his family. As hangman, Jakob Kuisl investigates local mysteries in effort to ensure the right person is punished for the crimes. His daughter and son-in-law also help ferret out the true culprit.
In this book, Kuisl’s old war buddy is wrongly suspected of being a sorcerer and Kuisl must travel to a nearby monastery to clear his friend’s name. A series of strange adventures transpire involving automatons and mystery of a missing holy relic. In the end, everything works out– of course not without a little pain and a few twists and turns.
While I liked the book and it was a quick read, I cannot help but feel as is Potzsch is pumping these books out too quickly. I cannot quite put my finger on it, I felt as if the book did not have the same kind of love and attention as his previous works. The setting was not as developed and the writing seemed to be more plot than character driven. In his past novels, I connected with the main characters more and felt a greater sense of time and place. These are all qualities I am looking for in historical novels. I am not a great lover of suspense, so it was these other qualities that originally drew me into the books. Additionally, the characters and story maybe be played out for me as a reader. I am not sure that if he composes a 5th book I am going to rush to read it.
My Other Hangman’s Daughter Reviews:
Having read Gone Girl, I decided to give another of Gillian Flynn’s novels a try. It is, of course, another mystery-suspense novel. Those of you who know my reading tastes, know mystery-suspense is probably my least favorite genre. Still, when I read Gone Girl with my book club I loved it so much that simply had to give Dark Places a try.
The Booky Mom 