Your Memberships & Subscriptions
OK
Audible sample Sample
The Hangman's Daughter (US Edition) (Hangman's Daughter Tales Book 1) Kindle Edition
This book can be read on any device, including Kindle E-readers. It may include art, animation, or video features that can be viewed on certain Fire tablets and the free Kindle app for iOS and Android. You can switch features on or off at any time. See more books like this
- LanguageEnglish
- PublisherAmazon Crossing
- Publication dateDecember 7, 2010
- File size697138 KB
-
Next 3 for you in this series
$18.47 -
Next 5 for you in this series
$31.45 -
All 7 for you in this series
$41.43
- A woman who buried her nose in books was regarded with suspicion by the men.Highlighted by 661 Kindle readers
- He had the feeling that humanity was running in place. So many centuries and they had not learned anything new.Highlighted by 519 Kindle readers
- The war brought ruin to Germany, but it couldn’t do any harm to these men. Lechner couldn’t suppress a smile. Fat will always float to the top.Highlighted by 460 Kindle readers
Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com Review
Question: What initially inspired you to write this story?
Oliver Pötzsch: As a descendant of the executioner’s dynasty Kuisl, I have been fascinated by their history since my childhood. Engaging myself with the Kuisls makes me feel connected to a greater lineage. In addition, executions are a fascinating topic often treated with undue prejudice. In this respect my books are a defense of my ancestors’ honour.
Question: What authors or books have influenced your writing?
Oliver Pötzsch: Regarding historic novels, my writing has been influenced by Paul Harding, Robert Harris, and the fantastic novel Terror by Dan Simmons. But I also look up to many authors of the fantasy genre such as Tolkien, Terry Pratchett, and the almost forgotten Fritz Leiber.
Question: What research did you do while writing your book?
Oliver Pötzsch: My grandmother’s deceased cousin was a passionate genealogist. In his life he built an enormous archive of information about my ancestors and the hangman profession, and I have been allowed free use of this resource. Also, during my career as a journalist I made several radio programs on this topic, talking to herb women and guardians of cultural heritage and searching in many archives of Bavarian cities for my ancestors.
Question: Is there any character you most identify with? Why?
Oliver Pötzsch: I am a cross between Jakob Kuisl and Simon Fronwieser. I am sometimes ferociously melancholic like Kuisl, and I have his stubbornness and his grumbling taciturnity which can drive my wife crazy. But also, like Simon, I am curious, I can be charming and at times even loquacious, and I love great coffee!
Question: Have you considered trying your hand at other genres?
Oliver Pötzsch: In March 2011, my new book, The Ludwig Conspiracy, will be released. It’s about the mysterious background of the death of King Ludwig II, the Bavarian fairy tale king. The novel is set in the present day; it is a contemporary thriller which I took great pleasure in writing. And one day I want to write a fantasy novel. As a child I couldn’t get enough of them.
Question: Have you always wanted to be an author? What other careers have you pursued?
Oliver Pötzsch: As a child I wanted to become a soccer commentator, actor, and yes, as a matter of fact, I wanted to become a writer. I always made up stories and wasted my youth on never-ending fantasy roleplaying.
Question: What's it like to have a book published for the first time?
Oliver Pötzsch: The first book is like the birth of a child, a long-cherished dream come true. Apart from that, every novel is really hard work! But I can’t think of anything else to do.
Question: What's next for you?
Oliver Pötzsch: After the thriller about Ludwig II, I am writing the fourth novel in the Hangman series. Later I will fulfil another childhood dream of mine and go live in Iceland for a while. Without my mobile or laptop. It is something I promised my family. Well, I might take a big notepad for a few new ideas...
(Photo © Dominik Parzinger)
A Look Inside The Hangman’s Daughter Deluxe EditionClick on the images below to see select illustrations from the book
From Publishers Weekly
From School Library Journal
From Library Journal
From Booklist
Review
"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 for Readers
"I loved every page, character and plot twist of The Hangman’s Daughter, an inventive historical novel about a 17th-century hangman’s quest to save a witch—from himself." —Scott Turow
From the Inside Flap
Martha Stechlin s Life Was Not Worth a Penny
Magdalena, the clever and headstrong daughter of Bavarian hangman Jakob Kuisl, lives with her father outside the village walls and is destined to be married off to another hangman s son. Except the town physician s son is hopelessly in love with her, and her father s wisdom and empathy are as unusual as his despised profession.
It is 1659, the Thirty Years War has finally ended, and there hasn t been a witchcraft mania in decades. But now, a drowning and gruesomely injured boy, tattooed with the mark of a witch, is pulled from a river and the villagers suspect the local midwife, Martha Stechlin.
Jakob Kuisl is charged with extracting a confession from her and torturing her until he gets one. Convinced she is innocent, he, Magdalena, and her would-be suitor race against the clock to find the true killer. Approaching Walpurgisnacht, when witches are believed to dance in the forest and mate with the devil, another tattooed orphan is found dead and the town becomes frenzied. More than one person has spotted what looks like the devil a man with a hand made only of bones. The hangman, his daughter, and the doctor s son face a terrifying and very real enemy.
Taking us back in history to a place where autopsies were blasphemous, coffee was an exotic drink, dried toads were the recommended remedy for the plague, and the devil was as real as anything, The Hangman s Daughter brings to cinematic life the sights, sounds, and smells of seventeenth-century Bavaria, telling the engrossing story of a compassionate hangman who will live on in readers imaginations long after they ve put down the novel.
"
From the Back Cover
Martha Stechlin’s Life Was Not Worth a Penny
Magdalena, the clever and headstrong daughter of Bavarian hangman Jakob Kuisl, lives with her father outside the village walls and is destined to be married off to another hangman’s son. Except the town physician’s son is hopelessly in love with her, and her father’s wisdom and empathy are as unusual as his despised profession.
It is 1659, the Thirty Years’ War has finally ended, and there hasn’t been a witchcraft mania in decades. But now, a drowning and gruesomely injured boy, tattooed with the mark of a witch, is pulled from a river and the villagers suspect the local midwife, Martha Stechlin.
Jakob Kuisl is charged with extracting a confession from her and torturing her until he gets one. Convinced she is innocent, he, Magdalena, and her would-be suitor race against the clock to find the true killer. Approaching Walpurgisnacht, when witches are believed to dance in the forest and mate with the devil, another tattooed orphan is found dead and the town becomes frenzied. More than one person has spotted what looks like the devil—a man with a hand made only of bones. The hangman, his daughter, and the doctor’s son face a terrifying and very real enemy.
Taking us back in history to a place where autopsies were blasphemous, coffee was an exotic drink, dried toads were the recommended remedy for the plague, and the devil was as real as anything, The Hangman’s Daughter brings to cinematic life the sights, sounds, and smells of seventeenth-century Bavaria, telling the engrossing story of a compassionate hangman who will live on in readers’ imaginations long after they’ve put down the novel.
About the Author
Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
SCHONGAU
OCTOBER 12, A.D. 1624
OCTOBER 12 WAS A GOOD DAY FOR A KILLING. It had rained all week, but on this Friday, after the church fair, our good Lord was in a kindlier mood. Though autumn had already come, the sun was shining brightly on that part of Bavaria they call the Pfaffenwinkel—the priests’ corner—and merry noise and laughter could be heard from the town. Drums rumbled, cymbals clanged, and somewhere a fiddle was playing. The aroma of deep-fried doughnuts and roasted meat drifted down to the foul-smelling tanners’ quarter. Yes, it was going to be a lovely execution.
Jakob Kuisl was standing in the main room, which was bathed in light, trying to wake up his father. The bailiff had called on them twice already, and there was no way he’d be able to send him away a third time. The hangman of Schongau sat bent over, his head lying on a table and his long straggly hair floating in a puddle of beer and cheap brandy. He was snoring, and at times he made twitching movements in his sleep.
Jakob bent down to his father’s ear. He smelled a mix of alcohol and sweat. The sweat of fear. His father always smelled like that before executions. A moderate drinker otherwise, he began to drink heavily as soon as the death sentence had been pronounced. He didn’t eat; he hardly talked. At night he often woke up screaming and drenched in perspiration. The two days immediately before the execution there was no use talking to him. Katharina, his wife, knew that and would move to her sister-inlaw’s with the children. Jakob, however, had to stay behind, as he was his father’s eldest son and apprentice.
“We’ve got to go! The bailiff’s waiting.”
Jakob whispered at first, then he talked louder, and by now he was screaming. Finally the snoring colossus stirred.
Johannes Kuisl stared at his son with bloodshot eyes. His skin was the color of old, crusty bread dough; his black, straggly beard was still sticky with last night’s barley broth. He rubbed his face with his long, almost clawlike fi ngers. Then he rose to his full height of almost six feet. His huge body swayed, and it seemed for a moment that he’d fall over again. Then, however, Johannes Kuisl found his balance and stood up straight.
Jakob handed his father his stained overcoat, the leather cape for his shoulders, and his gloves. Slowly the huge man got dressed and wiped the hair from his forehead. Then, without a word, he walked to the far end of the room. There, between the battered kitchen bench and the house altar with its crucifi x and dried roses, stood his hangman’s sword. It measured over two arm’s lengths and it had a short crossguard, and though it had no point, its edge was sharp enough to cut a hair in midair. No one could say how old it was. Father sharpened it regularly, and it sparkled in the sun as if it had been forged only yesterday. Before it was Johannes Kuisl’s, it had belonged to his father-in-law Jörg Abriel, and to his father and his grandfather before that. Someday, it would be Jakob’s.
Outside the door the bailiff was waiting, a small, slight man who kept turning his head toward the town walls. They were late as it was, and some in the crowd were probably getting impatient now.
“Get the wagon ready, Jakob.”
His father’s voice was calm and deep. The crying and sobbing of last night had disappeared as if by magic.
As Johannes Kuisl shoved his heavy frame through the low wooden doorway, the bailiff instinctively stepped back and crossed himself. Nobody in the town liked to meet the hangman. No wonder his house was outside the walls, in the tanners’ quarter. When the huge man came to the inn for wine, he sat alone at the table in silence. People avoided his eyes in the street. They said it meant bad luck, especially on execution days. The leather gloves he was wearing today would be burned after the execution.
The hangman sat down on the bench in front of his house to enjoy the midday sun. Anyone seeing him now would hardly believe that he was the same man who had been deliriously babbling not an hour before. Johannes Kuisl had a good reputation as an executioner. Fast, strong, never hesitating. Nobody outside his family knew how much drink he used to down before executions. Now he had his eyes closed, as if he were listening to a distant tune. The noise from the town was still in the air. Music, laughter, a blackbird singing nearby. The sword was leaning against the bench, like a walking stick.
“Remember the ropes,” the hangman called to his son without so much as opening his eyes.
In the stable, which was built onto the house, Jakob harnessed the thin, bony horse and hitched it to the wagon. Yesterday he had spent hours scrubbing the two-wheeled vehicle. Now he realized that it had all been in vain. Dirt and blood were eating into the wood. Jakob threw some straw on the filthiest spots, then the wagon was ready for the big day.
Product details
- ASIN : B003P9XMFI
- Publisher : Amazon Crossing (December 7, 2010)
- Publication date : December 7, 2010
- Language : English
- File size : 697138 KB
- Text-to-Speech : Enabled
- Enhanced typesetting : Enabled
- X-Ray : Enabled
- Word Wise : Enabled
- Sticky notes : Not Enabled
- Print length : 448 pages
- Page numbers source ISBN : 1935597051
- Best Sellers Rank: #100,948 in Kindle Store (See Top 100 in Kindle Store)
- Customer Reviews:
About the author
Oliver Pötzsch, born in 1970, has worked for years as a scriptwriter for Bavarian television. He himself is a descendant of one of Bavaria's leading dynasties of executioners.
He lives in Munich with his family.
Photo © Dominik Parzinger.
Customer reviews
Customer Reviews, including Product Star Ratings help customers to learn more about the product and decide whether it is the right product for them.
To calculate the overall star rating and percentage breakdown by star, we don’t use a simple average. Instead, our system considers things like how recent a review is and if the reviewer bought the item on Amazon. It also analyzed reviews to verify trustworthiness.
Learn more how customers reviews work on Amazon-
Top reviews
Top reviews from the United States
There was a problem filtering reviews right now. Please try again later.
Oliver Pötzsch
Kindle Version
Publisher: AmazonCrossing
Publication Date: December 7, 2010
Source ISBN: 054774501X
Print Length: 448 pages
A murder mystery set in 17th Century Bavaria told from the perspective of an executioner? How creative is that? Yes, I understand that Oliver Pötzsch gleaned a lot of this story from his own genealogical background, but still... I love all the originality that came out of his family history research. Believe me when I tell you that most family history study is rather boring (dates and names and full of dull farmers and peasants and such) so a truly original idea stemming from that exploration is extremely interesting to me. Had he only written this one book I might have attributed it to a flash-in-the-pan but interesting. That Pötzsch was able to add to the story for an additional three more books is an amazing accomplishment.
The Hangman's Daughter is a dark and grisly tale told from the viewpoint of Jacob Kuisl, the local Hangman, who is not at all like what executioners have been portrayed in film and fiction over the years. Kuisl is not a cold, heartless killer hiding behind a mask. He's a real, loving, caring person that understands his role as village executioner and sets out to complete his every duty to keep his family in beets and mutton. But Jacob is also a kind-hearted, compassionate, and logical-minded man that understands the harsh realities of the world he lives in even if he has to break a few noses to get to the truth. And the tortures and executions he must commit in the name of the village leaders are sometimes burdens he has difficulty shouldering, especially when he doesn't agree with the judgments handed down by the town burghers. It doesn't happen often but when it does it puts Kuisl in a precarious situation. Like when the midwife that delivered his children is accused of witchcraft.
I think that the logical, caring, scientific man behind the mask is the main reason this story worked for me. Yes, you could argue that the language or phrases could not have come from the 17th Century (but really, what fun would that read be?) You could also argue that there's too much implied violence here (especially the torture of a witch and the murder of children) but the sad reality is that the world was a very cruel place when this fictional account happened and Pötzsch does an excellent job of setting the tone for his historic scenes, which is another reason I rated this story high. But the main reason I enjoyed this story so much was that I valued the characters. The Hangman with a secret heart of gold and a fist of fury, his daughter, Magdalena, trapped by circumstance of birth to marry an executioner herself and filled with melancholy and stubbornness because of it, the town doctor's son, Simon, a new physician himself, who despises the old medicinal practices of blood letting and purging, and the accused witch who is nothing more than an innocent midwife with a few herbal remedies made The Hangman's Daughter a very enjoyable read. The character development was beautifully paced and the antagonist cleverly conceived and I began to care about the characters very quickly; a sure sign of a well-written story to me.
The Hangman's Daughter was a comparatively quick read for me and I enjoyed every moment of it very much. As a matter of fact, I appreciated The Hangman's Daughter so much that I purchased the Kindle versions of the other two available books in the series, The Dark Monk and The Beggar King and pre-ordered the forth-coming fourth book in the series The Poisoned Pilgrim, due out later this year.
File with: Historical fiction, murder mystery, Jesse Bullington, horror, history, executioners, Ellis Peters, hangmen, and witchcraft.
5 out of 5 stars
The Alternative
Southeast Wisconsin
Additional Reading:
Hangman's Daughter Series 1. The Hangman's Daughter (2010)
2. The Dark Monk (2012)
3. The Beggar King (2012)
4. The Poisoned Pilgrim (2013)
Set in the mid-1600s in Bavarian following the Thirty-Year War, it focuses on a hangman, Jakob Kuisl, who is asked to draw a confession from the town's midwife, who is accused of being a witch and murdering a young boy, whether she's innocent or not. He must illegally torture her for an expedited execution and guilty verdict that the village council desires. However, Kuisl's strong belief of her innocence and personal qualms with torturing an upstanding member of the community lead to a race to uncover the truth of the boy's murder and the answer to the existence of witches in Shongau before the town's patron returns to decide the case.
Jakob, with the help of his daughter, Magdalena, and Simon, the physician's son, disregard their reputations and question the riotous members of the town in search for any clues that might shed light on the case. But their task become more and more complicated as fear and panic grip the city and more children with ominous tattoos turn up dead around town.
The Hangman's Daughter was an extremely interesting historical fiction/murder mystery set in a period of prejudice and fear. It's amazing that the story is set in a time that would have been considered the Baroque Era (Era of Elegance) because it seemed more like it was the Dark Ages as the imagery of muck and filth the people of Shongau seemed to live in didn't seem very elevated. Also, the fact that such hysteria could be caused by the thought that a "witch" might be practicing and corrupting the children of the town was unbelievable. Growing up you hear stories of the Salem Witch Trials, but this book put that tragic bit of history into perspective. The shear ridiculousness of the accusations and the way people viewed the carrying of a plant or a birthmark to be the sign of the devil is insane, but I guess that is really how people thought. It was a time where medicine was still primitive and people were afraid of anything that could be considered against the church. Many times I found myself baffled by the people's close-mindedness and their inability to accept something that had an easily found scientific explanation. It made me glad that I didn't live in the 1600's.
But apart from the unique historical setting and glimpse into the "witch trial era," I found the learning of what an executioner did to be absolutely fascinating. I had no idea that they did so many things outside of just killing people. To make it more interesting, the fact that Jakob Kuisl turns out to be an ancestor of the author is really neat.
On the novel itself, I have to give Lee Chadeayne credit for he did a wonderful job at translating the German into English. It still had the Germanic slant to the language, while still being very easy to read and consume as a native English speaker. I found the pacing to be quite good, a nice blend of historical explanation, plot development and character development. In fact, I thought that the characters of Jakob, Madeline, and Simon were extremely robust and well-penned. However, at times I did find that the language became a bit wordy and I wanted to get on with the story.
I really hope that the success of the first book will push AmazonCrossing to translate the second and third books in the series so I can see what happens to The Hangman's Daughter.
Rating: A
Top reviews from other countries
Nein, hier spielt die Geschichte im Milieu der einfachen Leute. Der ganz einfachen sogar. Magdalena ist die Tochter des Henkers von Schongau, die ganze Familie führt aufgrund des "Berufs" des Vaters ein Dasein am untersten Rand der frühneuzeitlichen Gesellschaft, die noch sehr durch das Mittelalter (Stände) geprägt ist.
Hier ist weder das Essen besonders köstlich (wie fast immer z.B. bei Gablé), noch haben alle Leute seltsamerweise immer genug davon und auch noch praktische, genau passende Kleidung und sind recht sauber. Nein, das Personal hier darbt und leidet, Kinder sterben früh (auch in der Henkersfamilie haben von acht Geburten nur drei überlebt), Erwachsene tragen Spuren früherer Krankheiten und Verletzungen, und Simon, der Bader, fällt positiv bei den jungen Frauen auf, da er mit 25 "noch alle Zähne hat".
Die Geschichte beginnt, als ein kleiner Junge misshandelt und in den Fluss geworfen wird, das letzte Kind eines armen Mannes, der seine ganze Familie nach und nach durch Schicksalsschläge verloren hat (Pötzsch schafft es hier wirklich, dass man schluckt.). Als der Kleine stirbt, richtete sich der Zorn der Leute spontan gegen die Hebamme, da jemand behauptet, den Jungen als letztes bei der Frau gesehen zu haben (der Junge suchte aber nur einen Mutterersatz).
Der Henker und seine Tochter, die bei der Hebamme eine Lehre macht, mischen sich ein, wobei der Henker die offizielle "Justiz" vertritt, während seine Tochter mit Simon versucht, mehr über das Schicksal des Jungen zu erfahren und den wahren Täter zu finden.
Ein guter Einstieg in eine spannende Krimiserie, die in Bayern im 17. JH spielt.
The big fire burning with a pot of soup warming all day and the people in the streets with so little to live on trying to scratch out an existence. A very special author that I can't put down his books. Keep them coming Oliver!