I was drawn to this novel as I was reading "The Faithful Executioner" by Joel Harrington. What I found interesting was that inspiration for this series of novels was drawn from the author's own family history - and that our main character - Jakob Kuisl (1612 - 1695) - was indeed an ancestor!

So to the tale - the seventh in the series, and the first I had read. Jakob and family travel to Munich in 1672 to attend a council of hangmen - the "council of twelve". They are not a welcome addition to the local population being considered outcasts by most other segments of polite medieval society.

A series of murders of young women - all by methods known and used by the profession - leads Jakob and his daughter Magdalena to investigate in the face of growing concerns among his brethren and the townsfolk. The story flows nicely, leading up to the unveiling of the killer and the side stories are closed off.

I had no issues with picking up the threads of the six stories that had preceded this one. My only bug-bear, I though that it needed a little editing as in a new paragraph each time the scene changed - though I am sure this will be dealt with in the final editing stage.

I look forward to reading the series from start to finish.

Oliver Pötzsch is a great author. I remember when the first book in the Hangman series came out. I was so impressed with his writing that I grabbed up book two. Fast forward to book 7. I liked it almost as much as I liked the other books. I did say almost as much, however the book is still great. It took some time for me to get into the story, but once I did, I was hooked.
This series can be read as stand alone books because he does review the most important details at the beginning of each book. However they are best read as a series so you can get the full affect of his writing. Enjoy the books because there will be more.
I received a free copy of this book in return for my honest review.

German writer Oliver Pötzsch seems intrigued with his family’s history of a long line of executioners. “The Council of Twelve” is the seventh mystery he’s produced about the Kuisl family of hangmen who pursued murderers in the 1600s, a task sometimes indulged in as part of a hangman’s duties. I read his first book in the series, “The Hangman’s Daughter,” a few years ago and was greatly impressed. This novel further strengthens my opinion of his work.

Hangman Jakob Kuisl and his family travel to Munich for a conference of eminent executioners known as The Council of Twelve. Concurrent with the meeting, young women in the area are being found murdered in gruesome fashion, all bearing a common medallion on their bodies. With no other suspects, and the hangman’s profession not being highly regarded to begin with, the townspeople begin to cast blame on the attendees of the meeting. Kuisl and his family members band together to solve the murders and attempt to clear the executioners’ names. If they fail, the noble line of work will be further denigrated all over Germany.

I find Pötzsch’s descriptive writing and enlightening information about the profession highly entertaining. I didn’t know, for example, that several options for executing people were available for hangmen to choose. Apart from the noose normally ascribed to them, there was also poisoning, beheading, torturing, impaling, drowning, and other niceties available depending on the crime and the proclivity of the executioner. Death wasn’t the only pursuit of the hangman; healing, birthing, medical, and pharmaceutical duties were often assigned to them. Needless to say, the doctors of the era also resented them, another black mark.

The premise of putting people to death by various means is not a radiant idea and one might expect the book to be morose or maudlin. It’s true that there is much descriptive writing about smells, sights, and sensations that might be upsetting, but I sensed an almost lighthearted atmosphere around these normally gagging details. It was not an off-putting reading experience. The writer seems to have a rather jovial spirit and conveys it.

There is much to like about this book. The characters are well defined. The dialogue is realistic and faithful to the timeframe. The atmospheric descriptions put the reader on location. The historical information is eye opening. It’s easy to read with no distracting ruminations from the characters. Read it. I think you’ll enjoy it as something different and well done.

Consternation in the Hangman's Guild!

The Kuisl family travels to the Munich of 1672. Jakob, has a Hangman's Guild meeting--The Council of Twelve. However as usual nothing is ever simple with the Kuisls. But then that's the norm for the empire's executioners. Needed and yet despised, seen as the lowest of the low by the empire's citizens.
It seems a serial killer is at large murdering young women in a series of bizarre ways. Simon, Magdalena's physician husband has written a treatise on cleanliness and well-being that he's trying to bring to bring to the attention of a famous physician in Munich. Jakob has decided to marry his daughter Barbara to a fellow hangman (against her loud protests!). Magdalena gets caught up in a Bavarian silk factory scandal that takes her into danger, her son Peter meets a prince and Paul makes the acquaintance of a lively gang of street boys.
As murder stalks the streets of Munich, the Hangman's Guild becomes entangled.
A fabulous look at the times, laws and customs of Munich and Bavaria. Well researched and as always with the Hangman's Daughter series, a fascinating and strong read!

A NetGalley ARC

The Hangman's Daughter series is one of my very favorites! It's not often that I can make it through more than three books in a series, but I love the characters and adventures in these books.