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Die Henkerstochter #4
The Poisoned Pilgrim
1666: The monastery at Andechs has long been a pilgrimage destination, but when the hangman’s daughter, Magdalena, her doctor husband Simon, and their two small children arrive there, they learn that the monks have far larger concerns than saying Mass and receiving alms. It seems that once again, the hangman’s family has fallen into a mysterious and dangerous adventure.
Two monks at the monastery experiment with cutting edge technology, including a method of deflecting the lighting that has previously set the monastery ablaze. When one of the monks disappears and his lab is destroyed, foul play is suspected. Who better to investigate than the famed hangman Jakob Kuisl? But as the hangman and his family attempt to solve the mystery of the missing monk, they must deal with both the eccentric denizens of the monastery and villagers who view the monks’ inventions as witchcraft that must be destroyed at all costs.
This thrilling fourth entry of The Hangman’s Daughter series features scheming monks, murderous robots, and the action and intrigue that never seem to cease when the Kuisls are on a case.
514 pages, Kindle Edition
First published April 16, 2012
1052 people are currently reading
7333 people want to read
About the author
Oliver Pötzsch
42 books2,240 followersOliver Pötzsch is a German writer and filmmaker. After high school he attended the German School of Journalism in Munich from 1992 to 1997. He then worked for Radio Bavaria. In addition to his professional activities in radio and television, Pötzsch researched his family history. He is a descendant of the Kuisle, from the 16th to the 19th Century a famous dynasty of executioners in Schongau.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 666 reviews
November 12, 2022
Band vier dieser Buchreihe von Oliver Pötzsch hat mich wieder einmal überzeugen können. Ich mag diese Geschichten rund um den grantigen Henker Jakob Kuisl, seine Tochter Magdalena und dem Medicus Simon, der mittlerweile Kuisl´s Schwiegersohn ist.
Dieser Fall ist wieder spannend und knifflig, aber am besten gefallen mir eigentlich die Charaktere und die Dialoge. Es sind alles sehr starke Charaktere mit ganz besonderen Eigenheiten, und die Dialoge sind zum Teil recht bissig. Ich mag diesen unterschwelligen Humor.
Für mich stimmt das Gesamtpaket, und ich kann mir dieses Buch bzw. eigentlich die ganze Reihe sehr gut verfilmt vorstellen.
Zusätzlicher Pluspunkt ist die Zeit, in der die Geschichten spielen. Hier befinden wir uns im Jahr 1666. Das alleine ist schon spannend und interessant für mich, und so habe ich mich bestens unterhalten gefühlt.
Dieser Fall ist wieder spannend und knifflig, aber am besten gefallen mir eigentlich die Charaktere und die Dialoge. Es sind alles sehr starke Charaktere mit ganz besonderen Eigenheiten, und die Dialoge sind zum Teil recht bissig. Ich mag diesen unterschwelligen Humor.
Für mich stimmt das Gesamtpaket, und ich kann mir dieses Buch bzw. eigentlich die ganze Reihe sehr gut verfilmt vorstellen.
Zusätzlicher Pluspunkt ist die Zeit, in der die Geschichten spielen. Hier befinden wir uns im Jahr 1666. Das alleine ist schon spannend und interessant für mich, und so habe ich mich bestens unterhalten gefühlt.
October 18, 2021
In this 4th book in 'The Hangman's Daughter' series, the hangman's family gets involved with strange events that are blamed on magic and sorcery. The book can be read as a standalone.
*****
Mystery is afoot in a monastery in Bavaria in 1666, a popular pilgrimage destination. Monks are experimenting with lightning, relics are missing, and people are dying and disappearing. The local villagers fear magic and sorcery are involved.
On hand to look into the strange happenings are three unusual pilgrims: the hangman's daughter Magdalena, her medic husband Simon, and the hangman, Jakob Kuisl.
Unfortunately, during these times suspects are regularly tortured until they confess, so the true culprits are difficult to discover. Moreover, some dangerous people don't like feisty Magdalena and her relatives nosing into their affairs and take measures to stop them. Heightening the tension, many pilgrims and villagers have fallen ill, and if the medic can't cure the Count's son he's likely to be hanged as well.
I enjoyed this book which had plenty of colorful characters and enough twists and turns to keep it interesting.
You can follow my reviews at https://reviewsbybarbsaffer.blogspot....
August 4, 2013
OK, this is the fourth in the series and it has some issues. The story is still fun as the Hangman and his family solve another mystery. The problem is that this is a translation not only from German to English, but also from 17th century to 21st century. The translator in this case uses common turns of phrase and vernacular expressions that may be a fair enough translation, though not to 17th century English. Again, as a result, the dialogue comes off as somewhat inauthentic. I'm not sure "you're a no good, no account, good for nothing..." is a phrase from the 17th century.
The story also does the Scooby Doo thing repeatedly: "and we would have gotten away with it too if it weren't for you meddling hangman and hangman's family..." I'm not kidding. There were multiple bad guys in this one, and each explained his issue when confronted and did the Scooby Doo thing.
I read and enjoy fantasy fiction written for young adult - among lots of other things. This series began with some real violence and explained a world about which I knew very little. I had no problem forgiving some minor issues in translation, but still believed the book was for adults. Given the torture and death in the next 2 installments, along with the sophistication of the historical details, these books were written for an adult audience. This one was something of The Name of the Rose lite with lots of Scooby Doo style confessions and chase scenes. This is really a young adult style fantasy/mystery.
If you have read the first three, this one is worth a look, but I may wait for some reviews before reading the next one when and if there is another.
The story also does the Scooby Doo thing repeatedly: "and we would have gotten away with it too if it weren't for you meddling hangman and hangman's family..." I'm not kidding. There were multiple bad guys in this one, and each explained his issue when confronted and did the Scooby Doo thing.
I read and enjoy fantasy fiction written for young adult - among lots of other things. This series began with some real violence and explained a world about which I knew very little. I had no problem forgiving some minor issues in translation, but still believed the book was for adults. Given the torture and death in the next 2 installments, along with the sophistication of the historical details, these books were written for an adult audience. This one was something of The Name of the Rose lite with lots of Scooby Doo style confessions and chase scenes. This is really a young adult style fantasy/mystery.
If you have read the first three, this one is worth a look, but I may wait for some reviews before reading the next one when and if there is another.
March 26, 2019
I read the first 3 in the series a few years ago and enjoyed the first 2 more than the third, which failed to hold my interest so I set aside the series. Then recently the rest of the series was on kindle discount, only 99p each so I bought them up. I’ve really struggled with this book, finding it boring, repetitive and disappointing. Maybe I’ll get remotivated to finish the series, but it won’t be anytime soon.
March 1, 2019
While I still quite like the characters, the plot, and the overall ambience of the story set in 17th century Bavaria I have to say that the language and prose are on a constant decline for me. It’s almost as if the author hasn’t put too much effort into polishing up his book. The prose was so much better, and fresh, in volumes 1 and 2, and so-so la-la in the third installment. Now I think the shark has definitely been jumped when it comes to the form. Contentwise it’s still a great read with lots of themes worth pondering and there’s also quite a bit to learn about the society in post Thirty Year’s War German society. From the over 600 pages one could certainly extract a first-class 300-400 pages novel, if one omits the superfluous repetitions and rewrites the dialogues completely.
I will continue the series despite everything, because I have now already spent over 2200 pages with this “trio infernal”, the hangman Jakob Kuisl, his daughter Magdalena and the meanwhile married son-in-law Simon Fronwieser. You can’t just stop right in the middle of it, can you? The fourth volume ends with a tragedy. Whether and to what extent this will affect the executioner in the future must be ascertained.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.
June 19, 2013
“The Poisoned Pilgrim” is the fourth in a series of books by Oliver Potzsch based on his family history research. During the middle ages, his ancestors were hangmen, a trade that was considered dishonorable by the citizens of Bavaria at the time.
The novels revolve around Jakob Kuisl, hangman of the village of Schongau in the Bavarian Alps. Several years have passed since the earlier books and the hangman’s daughter, Magdalena is now married to Simon Fronswieser, who was the town medicus. However, having married into such an unworthy family, he has had to take the position of bathhouse surgeon rather than medicus. The couple sets off on a pilgrimage to the monastery of Andechs with a group of Schongau villagers to give thanks for the health of their two young sons, Peter and Paul.
Even on this peaceful mission, they soon find themselves entangled in the murder of a monk’s assistant as well as the mysterious disappearance of a second cleric. Magdalena finds it necessary to send for her father who has stayed back in the village with his sick wife and Magdalena’s two boys. When the hangman arrives with the two boys in tow, the whole family becomes involved.
Now deeply implicated, the trio must deal with the nefarious activities of a mysterious sorcerer and his assistant who seem determined to destroy the monastery’s annual Festival of the Three Hosts as well as the hangman’s family.
I have read all four of the books in the series and have come to think of the whole family as good friends—especially the daughter. These characters are larger than life and the dialogue rings true to the era without being stilted. The author manages to describe the settings in such a way that transports the reader to Germany’s alpine woods and yet keeps the pages turning in anticipation.
The novels revolve around Jakob Kuisl, hangman of the village of Schongau in the Bavarian Alps. Several years have passed since the earlier books and the hangman’s daughter, Magdalena is now married to Simon Fronswieser, who was the town medicus. However, having married into such an unworthy family, he has had to take the position of bathhouse surgeon rather than medicus. The couple sets off on a pilgrimage to the monastery of Andechs with a group of Schongau villagers to give thanks for the health of their two young sons, Peter and Paul.
Even on this peaceful mission, they soon find themselves entangled in the murder of a monk’s assistant as well as the mysterious disappearance of a second cleric. Magdalena finds it necessary to send for her father who has stayed back in the village with his sick wife and Magdalena’s two boys. When the hangman arrives with the two boys in tow, the whole family becomes involved.
Now deeply implicated, the trio must deal with the nefarious activities of a mysterious sorcerer and his assistant who seem determined to destroy the monastery’s annual Festival of the Three Hosts as well as the hangman’s family.
I have read all four of the books in the series and have come to think of the whole family as good friends—especially the daughter. These characters are larger than life and the dialogue rings true to the era without being stilted. The author manages to describe the settings in such a way that transports the reader to Germany’s alpine woods and yet keeps the pages turning in anticipation.
October 12, 2016
I LOVED the first three books in this series. This one just fell a little flat for me. Simon was more annoying than possible, and most of the "surprising" plot twists at the end had been easily figured out much earlier. Magdalena and Jakob are still fantastic, but even they seemed to have weaker personalities in this one. Simon was more annoying than usual. I've never particularly liked him, but this one took it to a new level. It kind of felt like I was reading a slightly more intricate Nancy Drew book. There was too much foreshadowing that made it too easy to figure everything out. I also noticed a lot more translation errors in this one than in the previous three installments. I'm really hoping that this was just a fluke, so I'll definitely continue the series and read the fifth book. This one just doesn't compare to the first three. The ending, though, broke my heart a little bit. My biggest issue with this, overall, is probably how every single villain explained in detail what he had done and why and how. It's information we needed, as readers, but I think it definitely should have been presented in a different way. Rambling monologues were not the way to go.
February 24, 2017
Just a quick review here - a good book in the series and I love the books (historical fiction mystery) but my main issue with this is the plot was repetitive if I think it was the last book. Someone in trouble, gotta save him before he's tortured to death by another hangman.... eh... it was a bit predictable. I also think Simon is a moron... even more than usual in this book. Magdalena I usually love but having kids turned her into a nag. I'm hoping this book was a fluke in the series. I enjoyed it because I love Jakob and the whole setting and premise and hope the series hasn't run out of steam.
September 27, 2013
It feels like the author either thinks his audience is stupid, or his editor told him it was too short and his solution was to add in repetition as filler. Dialogue often feels like conversations with parrots as the character continually repeat each other with slightly different wording. Plot "twists" are predictable because the author repeats the clues so frequently.
The plot in itself is intriguing, but the author presented the mystery in such a way as to be predictable thus eliminating the anticipation. This makes the novel feel more like historical fiction where the compelling features should be in the characters and relationships rather than the puzzle of "who done it?" that drives a good mystery. However, the characters.....suck. This is the fourth in a series so there is likely an assumption on behalf of the author that the reader is familiar with the main characters. Even so, the author presents only facets of their personalities rather than rounded characters. Unfortunately, he chose to focus on negative traits and negative relationship attributes. The result is that it is hard to like the verbally abusive wife or father or the spineless husband.
My final gripes is the sexism. I'm assuming (benefit of the doubt) that the sexism is a result if the author trying to make it feel authentic. But it is quite possible to demonstrate period norms and still portray women in a positive manner. The only really present female character is irrational, endangers herself even when she has young children that depend on her, makes idiotic decisions out of pettiness, constantly rails on her husband in an unreasonable way, and her only real contribution toward resolving the mystery is her sex appeal - despite being presented as unusually educated and knowledgeable for someone of her gender and social status. What's worse is that all characters....even those who, in theory, love and respect her, treat her as though her value lies only in mothering and sex appeal. All of this in the name of achieving an historical feel...and it doesn't even feel historical. The ages of the children mean that at least the youngest one would still be breast feed, and yet mom takes off for a week without them. Thier ages are also unusually close together for the time considering breast feeding tended to naturally space children at least two years apart.
(minor spoiler............................)
The author frequent weird from the woman's perspective and in all her thought and worries about her family, she never contemplated the fact that she is pregnant and it never enters her thought when she leaves herself in dange
(end spoiler...............................)
All in all, this makes the female character feel completely unreal and unrelatable.
The plot in itself is intriguing, but the author presented the mystery in such a way as to be predictable thus eliminating the anticipation. This makes the novel feel more like historical fiction where the compelling features should be in the characters and relationships rather than the puzzle of "who done it?" that drives a good mystery. However, the characters.....suck. This is the fourth in a series so there is likely an assumption on behalf of the author that the reader is familiar with the main characters. Even so, the author presents only facets of their personalities rather than rounded characters. Unfortunately, he chose to focus on negative traits and negative relationship attributes. The result is that it is hard to like the verbally abusive wife or father or the spineless husband.
My final gripes is the sexism. I'm assuming (benefit of the doubt) that the sexism is a result if the author trying to make it feel authentic. But it is quite possible to demonstrate period norms and still portray women in a positive manner. The only really present female character is irrational, endangers herself even when she has young children that depend on her, makes idiotic decisions out of pettiness, constantly rails on her husband in an unreasonable way, and her only real contribution toward resolving the mystery is her sex appeal - despite being presented as unusually educated and knowledgeable for someone of her gender and social status. What's worse is that all characters....even those who, in theory, love and respect her, treat her as though her value lies only in mothering and sex appeal. All of this in the name of achieving an historical feel...and it doesn't even feel historical. The ages of the children mean that at least the youngest one would still be breast feed, and yet mom takes off for a week without them. Thier ages are also unusually close together for the time considering breast feeding tended to naturally space children at least two years apart.
(minor spoiler............................)
The author frequent weird from the woman's perspective and in all her thought and worries about her family, she never contemplated the fact that she is pregnant and it never enters her thought when she leaves herself in dange
(end spoiler...............................)
All in all, this makes the female character feel completely unreal and unrelatable.
July 22, 2013
2.5 stars
I'm going to divide this into pros and cons.
Pros:
-I'm still enjoying the 17th century setting and all the details of the society.
-A general theme of both this book and the series seems to be the dangers of faith and superstition taken to extremes. It's definitely thought provoking to imagine a time when everyone believed everything taught by The Church literally and completely with no other framework for understanding the world. It puts modern fundamentalism into an interesting perspective.
Cons:
-As a mystery novel, this book fails completely. One of my biggest pet peeves in mysteries is when we get scenes told from the anonymous villain's perspective. This book, and the entire series is filled with these scenes. As a result of both those and some VERY OBVIOUS HINTS to the villain's identity is 100% obvious by at least halfway through the book. As is the identity of his assistant. So the big scenes at the end where we get the surprise twist reveals of who was behind it were totally laughable. Otherwise, there wasn't much to the plot, so, yeah, it was weak.
-As for the rest of the book, none of the main characters have seen much growth or development, even though 2-3 years has passed since the last one. Which means it's pretty boring to read the same old stuff about them and their relationships with each other.
-While I was suffering through the frequent villain POV scenes, I was thinking, well, I guess the advantage of this is that you don't have to have a big "villain explains it all" scene at the end. Except there was a HUGE scene at the end where the villain explained every step of his actions and his motivations in such a cliched manner that I was rolling my eyes.
I may be completely done with this series. The first book was fantastic, but none of the others has stood up to it. I'm glad I only paid $0.99 for this one. If I'd paid more, I'd be pissed, but I got my $0.99 worth.
I'm going to divide this into pros and cons.
Pros:
-I'm still enjoying the 17th century setting and all the details of the society.
-A general theme of both this book and the series seems to be the dangers of faith and superstition taken to extremes. It's definitely thought provoking to imagine a time when everyone believed everything taught by The Church literally and completely with no other framework for understanding the world. It puts modern fundamentalism into an interesting perspective.
Cons:
-As a mystery novel, this book fails completely. One of my biggest pet peeves in mysteries is when we get scenes told from the anonymous villain's perspective. This book, and the entire series is filled with these scenes. As a result of both those and some VERY OBVIOUS HINTS to the villain's identity is 100% obvious by at least halfway through the book. As is the identity of his assistant. So the big scenes at the end where we get the surprise twist reveals of who was behind it were totally laughable. Otherwise, there wasn't much to the plot, so, yeah, it was weak.
-As for the rest of the book, none of the main characters have seen much growth or development, even though 2-3 years has passed since the last one. Which means it's pretty boring to read the same old stuff about them and their relationships with each other.
-While I was suffering through the frequent villain POV scenes, I was thinking, well, I guess the advantage of this is that you don't have to have a big "villain explains it all" scene at the end. Except there was a HUGE scene at the end where the villain explained every step of his actions and his motivations in such a cliched manner that I was rolling my eyes.
I may be completely done with this series. The first book was fantastic, but none of the others has stood up to it. I'm glad I only paid $0.99 for this one. If I'd paid more, I'd be pissed, but I got my $0.99 worth.
August 11, 2013
I absolutely LOVED the first three books in this series - and I waited and waited for this one to be released! I bought it but was in the middle of reading another series and so I just finished it.
Magdalena and Simon are married now and have two children, Peter and Paul. While on a pilgrimage to a not-so-distant monastery, Simon and Magdalena, as ever, get involved in a murder case, deal with an outbreak of disease, and have an extremely chaotic time in general. The hangman, Jakob, does get involved eventually, and between the three of them they are able to ferret out the killer (and stop the disease).
I did enjoy this book but I felt it was the blandest of the books. Jakob is mentioned multiple times as being older, "too old for this", so you almost feel he's being subtly written out for Simon and Magdalena to take over. The only problem is, Simon and Magdalena aren't wonderful characters on their own; they need Jakob. Plus, Simon and Magdalena's relationship, although now married, isn't enjoyable and is fraught with annoyance. Simon comes across as a simpering wimp, and Magdalena as a nagging wife. Finally, a character dies at the end and it feels very abrupt and sad - not necessarily a main character but one whose death is somewhat bewildering.
I will still be on the lookout for more books by this author, although I hope Jakob continues to be a central part of the books.
Magdalena and Simon are married now and have two children, Peter and Paul. While on a pilgrimage to a not-so-distant monastery, Simon and Magdalena, as ever, get involved in a murder case, deal with an outbreak of disease, and have an extremely chaotic time in general. The hangman, Jakob, does get involved eventually, and between the three of them they are able to ferret out the killer (and stop the disease).
I did enjoy this book but I felt it was the blandest of the books. Jakob is mentioned multiple times as being older, "too old for this", so you almost feel he's being subtly written out for Simon and Magdalena to take over. The only problem is, Simon and Magdalena aren't wonderful characters on their own; they need Jakob. Plus, Simon and Magdalena's relationship, although now married, isn't enjoyable and is fraught with annoyance. Simon comes across as a simpering wimp, and Magdalena as a nagging wife. Finally, a character dies at the end and it feels very abrupt and sad - not necessarily a main character but one whose death is somewhat bewildering.
I will still be on the lookout for more books by this author, although I hope Jakob continues to be a central part of the books.
November 11, 2016
At this point, I'm completely entwined within this family. They can't go anywhere without me tagging along.
So when we were off solving another murder together...I was on cloud 9.
This story follows Simon and Magdalena on a pilgrimage in Andechs, Bavaria. Once there...shockingly someone dies...Simon deduces it wasn't natural...one thing leads to another...and we have found ourselves in a murder mystery!!!
Now...the person blamed for the murders, just happens to be Jakob Kuisl's long lost best friend... and Jacob comes to the rescue, bringing his 2 grandchildren along (Simon and Magdelena's kids), so that his wife Anna-Maria can rest because she has a cough/fever and needs to focus on getting better.
As per the usual...Jakob makes me love him. This man can do no wrong by me. I think what I love the most is that even though him and his family are "dishonorable" they are so comfortable in their beliefs and they're so self-assured. With truth on your side and always carrying yourself with the aim of doing good, you are beyond judgement. I truly love this family...
There is one part of the book that seriously broke my heart...Oliver Potzsch, you know what that was. Why couldn't you wait??? Don't get me wrong, I suspected you would do this to me...but I didn't like it.
Another hit!!! Can't wait to read the next one!
So when we were off solving another murder together...I was on cloud 9.
This story follows Simon and Magdalena on a pilgrimage in Andechs, Bavaria. Once there...shockingly someone dies...Simon deduces it wasn't natural...one thing leads to another...and we have found ourselves in a murder mystery!!!
Now...the person blamed for the murders, just happens to be Jakob Kuisl's long lost best friend... and Jacob comes to the rescue, bringing his 2 grandchildren along (Simon and Magdelena's kids), so that his wife Anna-Maria can rest because she has a cough/fever and needs to focus on getting better.
As per the usual...Jakob makes me love him. This man can do no wrong by me. I think what I love the most is that even though him and his family are "dishonorable" they are so comfortable in their beliefs and they're so self-assured. With truth on your side and always carrying yourself with the aim of doing good, you are beyond judgement. I truly love this family...
There is one part of the book that seriously broke my heart...Oliver Potzsch, you know what that was. Why couldn't you wait??? Don't get me wrong, I suspected you would do this to me...but I didn't like it.
Another hit!!! Can't wait to read the next one!
onhold
July 12, 2015Description: 1666: Two monks at the monastery of Andechs experiment with cutting-edge technology, including a method of deflecting the lightning that has previously set the monastery ablaze. When one of the monks disappears and his lab is destroyed, foul play is suspected. Who better to investigate than the famed hangman Jakob Kuisl? But as the hangman and his family attempt to solve the mystery of the missing monk, they must deal with both the mysterious denizens of the monastery and villagers who view the monks’ inventions as witchcraft that must be destroyed at all costs.
Opening: DARK THUNDERCLOUDS HUNG overhead as the novitiate Coelestin, with a curse on his lips, marched toward his imminent death.
In the west, beyond Lake Ammer, swirling clouds towered up, the first flashes of lightning appeared, and a distant rumble of thunder could be heard. When Coelestin squinted, he could make out gray rain clouds over the monastery in Dießen, five miles away. In only a matter of minutes the storm would be raging over the Holy Mountain, and now, of all times, the fat monk of an apothecary had sent him to fetch a carp from the monastery pond for supper.
Opening: DARK THUNDERCLOUDS HUNG overhead as the novitiate Coelestin, with a curse on his lips, marched toward his imminent death.
In the west, beyond Lake Ammer, swirling clouds towered up, the first flashes of lightning appeared, and a distant rumble of thunder could be heard. When Coelestin squinted, he could make out gray rain clouds over the monastery in Dießen, five miles away. In only a matter of minutes the storm would be raging over the Holy Mountain, and now, of all times, the fat monk of an apothecary had sent him to fetch a carp from the monastery pond for supper.
September 26, 2016
3.5. An entertaining story but some of the folklore and science fiction aspects seemed a bit silly to me.
June 24, 2013
I've enjoyed Oliver Potzsch's Hangman's Daughter series, but the fourth installment, "The Poisoned Pilgrim," fails to hit the same high marks as its predecessors. Potzsch's fourth novel is a tedious, sloppy affk opens air.
On the good side, the book opens with a sinister murder and and horrific thunderstorm. Magdalena, the titular hangman's daughter from the first book, is making a pilgrimage to the monastery at Andechs with her husband (the surgeon/dandy Simon) for a holy festival. Andechs is famed throughout Priest's Corner for its holy relics, but Magdalena and Simon have no idea how notorious the place will soon become as murder and witchcraft will soon run rampant. A trumped-up accusation of witchcraft soon as the Schongau hangman, Jakob Kuisl, tramping to Andechs to save a long-lost friend from torture and death.
All that sounds fine as a set-up, but this fourth installment has serious flaws in its writing and logic. I hate to spoil books, even mediocre ones, so I'll leave the logic flaws for you to discover. The writing, however . . .
I've never been a huge fan of Potzsch's dialogue. I don't know if he's to blame or translator Lee Chadeayne, but the dialogue remains wooden and literal. Potzsch isn't a particularly funny or witty writer, so he underlines his dialogue with "he joked," "she grinned," "he growled", etc. (incidentally, people growl in Potzsch's books *a lot*). Characters sound like characters in a book rather than real people - there are lots of lines that are the equivalent of "How could I have been so stupid?" when nobody in the real world ever uses that line in a moment of realization.
There are also lots of mistakes in the book that reveal a lack of attention to detail. My favorite is a minor character, a witch-like harridan living in the woods who is described quite blatantly as blind - but later in the book she says that she saw a key character enter a key structure. If she's blind, how did she see this happen (even to the point of describing the clothes he wore)? There are several other gaffes like this throughout the book.
Another problem - the title. The mystery at the root of the book has nothing to do with a poisoned pilgrim - the book's body count generally involves the monks at the monastery, and there is no poisoning of any pilgrim that serves as a key plot driver. To be sure, a pilgrim gets poisoned later in the book, but this occurs so far down the book's tracks that it makes for a completely inaccurate if enticing title. (This criticism applied to the first book as well - "The Hangman's Daughter" is more about the hangman than his daughter.)
I enjoy Potzsch's sense of place - his descriptions of Bavaria in the second half of the 17th century are fresh and vibrant, but that isn't enough to sustain this book. Here's hoping that he can return to form in his next effort.
On the good side, the book opens with a sinister murder and and horrific thunderstorm. Magdalena, the titular hangman's daughter from the first book, is making a pilgrimage to the monastery at Andechs with her husband (the surgeon/dandy Simon) for a holy festival. Andechs is famed throughout Priest's Corner for its holy relics, but Magdalena and Simon have no idea how notorious the place will soon become as murder and witchcraft will soon run rampant. A trumped-up accusation of witchcraft soon as the Schongau hangman, Jakob Kuisl, tramping to Andechs to save a long-lost friend from torture and death.
All that sounds fine as a set-up, but this fourth installment has serious flaws in its writing and logic. I hate to spoil books, even mediocre ones, so I'll leave the logic flaws for you to discover. The writing, however . . .
I've never been a huge fan of Potzsch's dialogue. I don't know if he's to blame or translator Lee Chadeayne, but the dialogue remains wooden and literal. Potzsch isn't a particularly funny or witty writer, so he underlines his dialogue with "he joked," "she grinned," "he growled", etc. (incidentally, people growl in Potzsch's books *a lot*). Characters sound like characters in a book rather than real people - there are lots of lines that are the equivalent of "How could I have been so stupid?" when nobody in the real world ever uses that line in a moment of realization.
There are also lots of mistakes in the book that reveal a lack of attention to detail. My favorite is a minor character, a witch-like harridan living in the woods who is described quite blatantly as blind - but later in the book she says that she saw a key character enter a key structure. If she's blind, how did she see this happen (even to the point of describing the clothes he wore)? There are several other gaffes like this throughout the book.
Another problem - the title. The mystery at the root of the book has nothing to do with a poisoned pilgrim - the book's body count generally involves the monks at the monastery, and there is no poisoning of any pilgrim that serves as a key plot driver. To be sure, a pilgrim gets poisoned later in the book, but this occurs so far down the book's tracks that it makes for a completely inaccurate if enticing title. (This criticism applied to the first book as well - "The Hangman's Daughter" is more about the hangman than his daughter.)
I enjoy Potzsch's sense of place - his descriptions of Bavaria in the second half of the 17th century are fresh and vibrant, but that isn't enough to sustain this book. Here's hoping that he can return to form in his next effort.
August 9, 2018
3.5 stars
This is book 4 of the series. Jakob is the hangman in a small town in Bavaria; Magdalena is his adult daughter. She married “above her station” to the local doctor, Simon, and they have two young sons. Magdalena and Simon have gone to the next town over on a pilgrimage. They are at a monastery when two murdered monks are discovered and a third has disappeared along with an automaton one of the monks had been working on. Jakob comes to help find out what’s going on.
I quite enjoyed this installment of the series. I hate when I’m not sure how to rate something, though. 3.5 is good, and that’s how I felt through most of the book. I never lost interest in the almost 500-page book, but at the same time, it wasn’t really a “page-turner”, either. Boy, the number of times everyone seemed to insult others, though! I still enjoyed it enough, though, to continue with the series.
This is book 4 of the series. Jakob is the hangman in a small town in Bavaria; Magdalena is his adult daughter. She married “above her station” to the local doctor, Simon, and they have two young sons. Magdalena and Simon have gone to the next town over on a pilgrimage. They are at a monastery when two murdered monks are discovered and a third has disappeared along with an automaton one of the monks had been working on. Jakob comes to help find out what’s going on.
I quite enjoyed this installment of the series. I hate when I’m not sure how to rate something, though. 3.5 is good, and that’s how I felt through most of the book. I never lost interest in the almost 500-page book, but at the same time, it wasn’t really a “page-turner”, either. Boy, the number of times everyone seemed to insult others, though! I still enjoyed it enough, though, to continue with the series.
December 21, 2019
I thought it was time to actually write a review on this series since I’m now on book five.
My thoughts: if you don’t take these books seriously you will like them. I think the writer may have been aiming for something dark and spooky.
But these books come off as a Scooby-doo episode. You know the one where they are crouched behind a wall listening to a sinister conversation and then... OH NO! Someone makes a noise and then bad guys start chasing them?
Or the one where they wear disguises to infiltrate the bad guys circle and then they get caught?
Or when someone is going to die and right at the last second they prove the guilty innocent?
So far... every single book has all of these.
Aside from the torture and occasional hanging, it’s kind of a light read.
My thoughts: if you don’t take these books seriously you will like them. I think the writer may have been aiming for something dark and spooky.
But these books come off as a Scooby-doo episode. You know the one where they are crouched behind a wall listening to a sinister conversation and then... OH NO! Someone makes a noise and then bad guys start chasing them?
Or the one where they wear disguises to infiltrate the bad guys circle and then they get caught?
Or when someone is going to die and right at the last second they prove the guilty innocent?
So far... every single book has all of these.
Aside from the torture and occasional hanging, it’s kind of a light read.
August 15, 2013
Lessons learned:
1) A monastery on a craggy, lightning-prone mountain is a great setting for a book.
2) 17th century Bavaria is not a place/time that I will ever visit in my time machine.
3) Modern day Bavaria sounds lovely.
4) Automatons are extremely creepy in any time period.
I give this book 4 instead of 5 because the book felt overly long. The characters had both the smarts and the information to figure things out quicker.
1) A monastery on a craggy, lightning-prone mountain is a great setting for a book.
2) 17th century Bavaria is not a place/time that I will ever visit in my time machine.
3) Modern day Bavaria sounds lovely.
4) Automatons are extremely creepy in any time period.
I give this book 4 instead of 5 because the book felt overly long. The characters had both the smarts and the information to figure things out quicker.
Want to read
August 29, 2012waiting for the translation...
Read
July 28, 2018Once you start with book one, you are hooked!!! And it's only getting better...
February 2, 2021
You ever watch Star Trek films? Then you know how it’s just one of the seemingly immutable laws of the universe that odd-numbered films just can’t hold up to the rest of them. 
I have no idea why that should be the case, and in truth the quality of both varies far more than the rule of thumb might suggest, but the inverse certainly seems true with this series. The parallels are rather striking. The first and third book saw us dealing with Kuisl’s role as hangman and were about saving a loved one from unjust torture. And now the second and fourth book both deal with the Church and corruption within the ranks. What an oddly precise symmetry.
This is a problem for me because I didn’t much care for the second book. It wasn’t awful or anything, but the action seemed somewhat unmotivated and the guidebook to churches of Bavaria was not as fun for me as it might be for others. I just don’t like churches that much, at least the small intimate kind. Give me a cathedral I might spend a day there. One thing that does make this book work better than The Dark Monk is that we do actually spend most of our time in one place instead of wandering the countryside. This time we’re in Andechs Monastery and everything’s very off and suspicious. The monastery feels like it’s meant to feel as ominous as the one from The Name of the Rose, but perhaps because we’re watching from outside it never captures the same air of lurking danger. Still, it is a necessary change of scenery from Shongau and at least it gives us the opportunity to split up the characters a bit. Kuisl has become a bit of a crutch by this point.
It would be going too far to suggest that Pötzsch has gotten tired of these books, but it’s certainly the case that he’s embracing the gothic elements of his setting. This book has a very Frankenstein feel to it, with automatons and lightning harvested to create life. It’s weird, wild, and probably just enough to save this book from the otherwise dull mystery it might be. Because the mystery does feel rather rote. I am not a great sleuth and I had figured out both the villains and their basic plan by the halfway point. I am also tired of these guys (usually Simon of late) doing an intensely dumb thing only to dodge most of the consequences for it. He should, just like in the last book, be very dead. And the only reason he isn’t is because the murderous villain declines to kill a man he already dislikes. Seriously, evil lair rule #1: don’t go in alone with a torch calling out to ask if there’s anyone there.
Aside from that though the ending is slightly less absurd than the last one. Or at least the absurdity matches up well with the other things they’ve been doing with the plot. I have to say, I might have dropped this series here if the next one didn’t sound so interesting. Werewolves tend to be how Early Modern authors classed people we would call serial killers and the hunting of killers with no motive is one of the most fascinating kinds of detection. Assuming they don’t cheat and bring in modern methods of course. But Pötzsch is usually pretty good about that.
I have no idea why that should be the case, and in truth the quality of both varies far more than the rule of thumb might suggest, but the inverse certainly seems true with this series. The parallels are rather striking. The first and third book saw us dealing with Kuisl’s role as hangman and were about saving a loved one from unjust torture. And now the second and fourth book both deal with the Church and corruption within the ranks. What an oddly precise symmetry.This is a problem for me because I didn’t much care for the second book. It wasn’t awful or anything, but the action seemed somewhat unmotivated and the guidebook to churches of Bavaria was not as fun for me as it might be for others. I just don’t like churches that much, at least the small intimate kind. Give me a cathedral I might spend a day there. One thing that does make this book work better than The Dark Monk is that we do actually spend most of our time in one place instead of wandering the countryside. This time we’re in Andechs Monastery and everything’s very off and suspicious. The monastery feels like it’s meant to feel as ominous as the one from The Name of the Rose, but perhaps because we’re watching from outside it never captures the same air of lurking danger. Still, it is a necessary change of scenery from Shongau and at least it gives us the opportunity to split up the characters a bit. Kuisl has become a bit of a crutch by this point.
It would be going too far to suggest that Pötzsch has gotten tired of these books, but it’s certainly the case that he’s embracing the gothic elements of his setting. This book has a very Frankenstein feel to it, with automatons and lightning harvested to create life. It’s weird, wild, and probably just enough to save this book from the otherwise dull mystery it might be. Because the mystery does feel rather rote. I am not a great sleuth and I had figured out both the villains and their basic plan by the halfway point. I am also tired of these guys (usually Simon of late) doing an intensely dumb thing only to dodge most of the consequences for it. He should, just like in the last book, be very dead. And the only reason he isn’t is because the murderous villain declines to kill a man he already dislikes. Seriously, evil lair rule #1: don’t go in alone with a torch calling out to ask if there’s anyone there.
Aside from that though the ending is slightly less absurd than the last one. Or at least the absurdity matches up well with the other things they’ve been doing with the plot. I have to say, I might have dropped this series here if the next one didn’t sound so interesting. Werewolves tend to be how Early Modern authors classed people we would call serial killers and the hunting of killers with no motive is one of the most fascinating kinds of detection. Assuming they don’t cheat and bring in modern methods of course. But Pötzsch is usually pretty good about that.
November 4, 2019
I loved the setting and the vivid descriptiveness, and the story was captivating, as always. The characters develop, and we learn more about the hangman's past - and his future. I was well entertained.
April 28, 2020
Weird to read about a plague from the mid-1600s when we are in the middle of our own in 2020.
June 9, 2021
This series is one of my guilty pleasures. Historical fiction focusing on unusual characters in unusual location, detective story at the center of every book in a series - give me more! My mind can’t help spotting all sorts of issues: somewhat predictable plot, characters are often modern people placed in the past, story develops too slowly. But I love main characters, and that what counts after all.
July 10, 2012
Ich habe mir dieses Buch letzten Freitag (06.07.12) zu gelegt, da mir auch die Bücher vorher sehr gefallen haben. Wenn ich Zeit habe, füge ich sie hier auch mit ein.
Hier im vierten Teil verlassen wir erneut Schongau, wie bereits im Vorgänger. Diesmal führt es uns nach Andechs. Simon und Magdalena Fronwieser (geb. Kuisl) haben sich mit anderen Schongauern auf Wallfahrt zum Kloster Andechs begeben. Es dauert jedoch nicht lange nach ihrer Ankunft bis sie in einen neuen Mordfall hingezogen werden. Diesmal ist der vermutliche Angeklagte ein Freund von Jakob Kuisl, dem schongauer Henker, und so wird auch der Vater mit hingezogen und es gilt zu beweisen, dass sein Freund kein Hexer im Dienste Satans ist, sondern nur das menschliche Böse seine Finger im Spiel hat.
Wie auch schon die Vorgänger ist alles wieder sehr gut geschrieben und man fühlt sich sehr verbunden mit den Charakteren und man lernt auch wirklich welche hassen und freut sich, wenn ihnen was nicht so schönes passiert. Auch finde ich es schön, wie der Teufel im Grunde nur eine Mischung aus Aberglaube und Wissenschaft ist. Gerade letzteres war für die Leute im 17. Jh, ja nur wenigen wirklich bekannt und verständlich. Was mir auch sehr gut gefallen hat, ist das natürliche Ende, in dem man sieht, wie das Leben nun mal so ist, auch wenn es nicht angenehm ist.
Da mich die Zeit um den 30-jährigen Krieg und auch danach sehr interessiert, ist dies genau das richtige Buch für mich und nur ungern habe ich es zwischendurch beiseite gelegt. So habe ich heute allein die restlichen rund 400 Seiten gelesen. Allein auch schon weil mich die Schicksale der Familie Kuisl und Fronwieser interessieren, denn seit Buch 1 findet eine Charakterentwicklung statt, allein schon durch die vergehende Zeit zwischen den Büchern. Ich fände es zwar Schade, sollte dies das letzte Buch der Reihe gewesen sein, aber enttäuscht wäre ich nicht, denn alles muss mal zu Ende sein.
Herr Pötzsch eine sehr schöne Arbeit.
Hier im vierten Teil verlassen wir erneut Schongau, wie bereits im Vorgänger. Diesmal führt es uns nach Andechs. Simon und Magdalena Fronwieser (geb. Kuisl) haben sich mit anderen Schongauern auf Wallfahrt zum Kloster Andechs begeben. Es dauert jedoch nicht lange nach ihrer Ankunft bis sie in einen neuen Mordfall hingezogen werden. Diesmal ist der vermutliche Angeklagte ein Freund von Jakob Kuisl, dem schongauer Henker, und so wird auch der Vater mit hingezogen und es gilt zu beweisen, dass sein Freund kein Hexer im Dienste Satans ist, sondern nur das menschliche Böse seine Finger im Spiel hat.
Wie auch schon die Vorgänger ist alles wieder sehr gut geschrieben und man fühlt sich sehr verbunden mit den Charakteren und man lernt auch wirklich welche hassen und freut sich, wenn ihnen was nicht so schönes passiert. Auch finde ich es schön, wie der Teufel im Grunde nur eine Mischung aus Aberglaube und Wissenschaft ist. Gerade letzteres war für die Leute im 17. Jh, ja nur wenigen wirklich bekannt und verständlich. Was mir auch sehr gut gefallen hat, ist das natürliche Ende, in dem man sieht, wie das Leben nun mal so ist, auch wenn es nicht angenehm ist.
Da mich die Zeit um den 30-jährigen Krieg und auch danach sehr interessiert, ist dies genau das richtige Buch für mich und nur ungern habe ich es zwischendurch beiseite gelegt. So habe ich heute allein die restlichen rund 400 Seiten gelesen. Allein auch schon weil mich die Schicksale der Familie Kuisl und Fronwieser interessieren, denn seit Buch 1 findet eine Charakterentwicklung statt, allein schon durch die vergehende Zeit zwischen den Büchern. Ich fände es zwar Schade, sollte dies das letzte Buch der Reihe gewesen sein, aber enttäuscht wäre ich nicht, denn alles muss mal zu Ende sein.
Herr Pötzsch eine sehr schöne Arbeit.
June 10, 2013
2.5 stars
I had previously read Oliver Potzsch's "Beggar King" and liked it very much. I like historical mysteries and he writes the time period very well. Set in Germany in the middle 1600's, the story centers around the hangman, Jakob Kuisl, and his daughter, Magdalena, and her bathhouse doctor husband, Simon. Simon and Magadalena set off for a pilgrimage to the monastery in Andechs.
Once there they stay with Jakob's cousin, a tanner and thus undesirable, and his assistant Matthais who had his tongue removed. There are deaths that occur at the monastery and a massive illness that impels Simon to use his doctoring skills. A monk is implicated in the murders and he turns out to be a friend of Jakob when they were both executioniers in the war. Jakob makes the trip to Andechs to help his friend. So far it is very compelling and really makes the period come alive.
Unfortunately, it seems to fall into the trap of projecting modern sensibilites into these past times. Magdalena, who is very spunky, starts to really confront people in power. She argues with them and there is some cursing. For the lack of a better explanation, it seems like she gets in their faces. i found this very unrealistic that she would get away with this. She is from a very low caste and has no real powers so I really doubt that she could get away with her confrontations. That's just a personal opinion.
The other problem I had was the motive of the crime. There is some automation going on and studies on lightening. I know this really happened in those times in those places so I didn't have a problem with that. It was the motive behind the killings. It just didn't add up for me. By the time I had finished I was quite disappointed in the story. It had such promise and was quite interesting and then just seemed to collapse. I had invested so much time in reading 500 pages and felt quite let down. Sorry, this book just didn't work for me.
I had previously read Oliver Potzsch's "Beggar King" and liked it very much. I like historical mysteries and he writes the time period very well. Set in Germany in the middle 1600's, the story centers around the hangman, Jakob Kuisl, and his daughter, Magdalena, and her bathhouse doctor husband, Simon. Simon and Magadalena set off for a pilgrimage to the monastery in Andechs.
Once there they stay with Jakob's cousin, a tanner and thus undesirable, and his assistant Matthais who had his tongue removed. There are deaths that occur at the monastery and a massive illness that impels Simon to use his doctoring skills. A monk is implicated in the murders and he turns out to be a friend of Jakob when they were both executioniers in the war. Jakob makes the trip to Andechs to help his friend. So far it is very compelling and really makes the period come alive.
Unfortunately, it seems to fall into the trap of projecting modern sensibilites into these past times. Magdalena, who is very spunky, starts to really confront people in power. She argues with them and there is some cursing. For the lack of a better explanation, it seems like she gets in their faces. i found this very unrealistic that she would get away with this. She is from a very low caste and has no real powers so I really doubt that she could get away with her confrontations. That's just a personal opinion.
The other problem I had was the motive of the crime. There is some automation going on and studies on lightening. I know this really happened in those times in those places so I didn't have a problem with that. It was the motive behind the killings. It just didn't add up for me. By the time I had finished I was quite disappointed in the story. It had such promise and was quite interesting and then just seemed to collapse. I had invested so much time in reading 500 pages and felt quite let down. Sorry, this book just didn't work for me.
May 15, 2014
The Poisoned Pilgrim is the 4th novel by Oliver Poetzsch about the hangman of Shongau and his daughter, Magdalena. I have read the first in the series and now the 4th and was happy to find that it isn't necessary to have read the previous books to be able to follow the 4th. They stand alone perfectly well, though now I know of their existence, I will certainly go back and read books 2 and 3.
The books opens as Magdalena and her husband Simon are on a pilgrimage to give thanks that their 2 young sons survived a serious illness. Simon is a bathhouse surgeon, the meaning of which is not clear to me but he is also referred to as a medicus, which is a doctor. His wife Magdalena, being the daughter of a hangman, is considered an outcast. They arrive at the Andechs Monastery and find that a murder has taken place, followed quickly by more murders. When an ugly monk is accused of the murders and Magdalena learns that he is a friend of her father's, she sends a letter to her father, Jakob Kuisl, who hurries to Andechs to help his old friend clear his name. The hangman and his daughter, son-in-law, and two grandsons get into all sorts of difficulties while trying to figure out what's going on and are themselves the objects of suspicion a few times. To see how it all turns out, you'll have to read it yourself, which I suggest you do because it's a very good book :)
The books opens as Magdalena and her husband Simon are on a pilgrimage to give thanks that their 2 young sons survived a serious illness. Simon is a bathhouse surgeon, the meaning of which is not clear to me but he is also referred to as a medicus, which is a doctor. His wife Magdalena, being the daughter of a hangman, is considered an outcast. They arrive at the Andechs Monastery and find that a murder has taken place, followed quickly by more murders. When an ugly monk is accused of the murders and Magdalena learns that he is a friend of her father's, she sends a letter to her father, Jakob Kuisl, who hurries to Andechs to help his old friend clear his name. The hangman and his daughter, son-in-law, and two grandsons get into all sorts of difficulties while trying to figure out what's going on and are themselves the objects of suspicion a few times. To see how it all turns out, you'll have to read it yourself, which I suggest you do because it's a very good book :)
June 27, 2013
Magdalena, the hangman’s daughter, and her husband, Simon, join a pilgrimage to Andechs Monastery, intent on giving thanks their children survived a serious bout of illness.
Their goal is interrupted when Simon, a doctor, discovers what had been dismissed as an accidental death was actually murder. Another murder and the disappearance of the abbot’s brother results in the arrest of an old friend of Jacob Kuisl, the hangman.
Summoned to the scene, Kuisl joins Magdalena and Simon in investigating strange activities at the monastery. Suspicion of witchcraft, worry about Kuisl’s ailing wife at home, and a mysterious epidemic complicate their efforts. Scheming monks, devious public officials and a human-like automata add to their problems.
I admire Potzsch’s skill in bring the era alive with all its stench and sores. Characterization is good, there’s plenty of action and the mystery kept me turning pages. One thing that did give me pause, though, was believing Kuisl would leave his seriously ill wife on behalf of a man he hadn’t seen for 30 years. The bonds of friendship can be strong, but I felt this was stretching it a bit far.
Despite this, I enjoyed the story. I’ve not read others in the series. I’m now adding them to my ever-increasing TBR list.
Their goal is interrupted when Simon, a doctor, discovers what had been dismissed as an accidental death was actually murder. Another murder and the disappearance of the abbot’s brother results in the arrest of an old friend of Jacob Kuisl, the hangman.
Summoned to the scene, Kuisl joins Magdalena and Simon in investigating strange activities at the monastery. Suspicion of witchcraft, worry about Kuisl’s ailing wife at home, and a mysterious epidemic complicate their efforts. Scheming monks, devious public officials and a human-like automata add to their problems.
I admire Potzsch’s skill in bring the era alive with all its stench and sores. Characterization is good, there’s plenty of action and the mystery kept me turning pages. One thing that did give me pause, though, was believing Kuisl would leave his seriously ill wife on behalf of a man he hadn’t seen for 30 years. The bonds of friendship can be strong, but I felt this was stretching it a bit far.
Despite this, I enjoyed the story. I’ve not read others in the series. I’m now adding them to my ever-increasing TBR list.
July 26, 2016
Full disclosure: I did not finish this book, and here's why. I was really into the first three books in this series. I loved the Hangman's Daughter, I enjoyed the second book, and I liked the 3rd. When I saw that a fourth book was coming out I was excited. When it actually came out and I began to read it, I was disappointed. There's only so many times you can take the same family and have everyone in the family run into some type of mystery that involves the daughter needing to be saved, and the husband and father working together to save her.
Basically, I feel as though the plot lines of the Hangman's Daughter series are all just too similar. There's not enough variety in the stories to keep me reading anymore. The books have become predictable and due to that, boring. Some predictability is fine in a series. We all know that if we read Harry Potter, eventually Harry and Voldemort will meet and fight. But the build-up to how that happens is usually varied. As I read the Poisoned Pilgrim, I felt like it was just following the same plots as the other three. So, I rented this through Amazon Prime, and months later returned it, having never finished it, and no interest in doing so.
Basically, I feel as though the plot lines of the Hangman's Daughter series are all just too similar. There's not enough variety in the stories to keep me reading anymore. The books have become predictable and due to that, boring. Some predictability is fine in a series. We all know that if we read Harry Potter, eventually Harry and Voldemort will meet and fight. But the build-up to how that happens is usually varied. As I read the Poisoned Pilgrim, I felt like it was just following the same plots as the other three. So, I rented this through Amazon Prime, and months later returned it, having never finished it, and no interest in doing so.
December 28, 2015
I'm disappointed in the direction this series is heading. Actually, it doesn't seem to be going any place new - same characters with little development, a too-modern sensibility (perhaps the fault of the translator?), and not much of a mystery. The hangman, his daughter, and her now-husband are still the cranky, complaining people they were in the first book. Magdalena the daughter now has two little boys; pregnancy and motherhood seem to have made her very stupid. How many times did she wander off alone or explore forbidden locations, all the while knowing that someone was out to kill her?? Way too many. The mystery could have been more compelling if the number of pages in this lengthy book were severely cut or edited; but even I figured it all out well before the end due to the many hints. Hope things improve in subsequent entries.
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