Books Set in Europe: Germany: Bavaria

The Play of Death, by Oliver Pölzsch (2016)

In 1633, the Black Plague raged through Europe.  In the village of Oberammergau, 80 villagers died.  The people of the village vowed to put on a Passion play (the story of the crucifixion of Jesus) every 10 years if they would be spared.  The play was first performed in 1634.  This is the backdrop of this 6^th novel in the Hangman’s Daughter series.  We are once again acquainted with Magdalena Fronweiser and her family, which consists of her husband, Simon, her 2 sons, her father, Jakob Kuisl, the hangman, and her sister, Barbara.

The novel takes place in 1670.  The village of Oberammergau is preparing for their next performance, however, it is 4 years early for the 10-year anniversary mark.  This causes some of the superstitious villagers concern.  When actors in some of the key roles are found murdered, concern among the villagers heightens.

The first death was that of the actor playing the role of Jesus.  He was found murdered on a cross just as Simon Fronwieser, the medicus of Schongau, is in the village to bring his young son to boarding school of Simon’s friend and teacher, Georg Kaiser.  The village doctor has recently died, so Simon is naturally asked investigate the murder.  Meanwhile, Johann Lechner, Schongau’s secretary and town leader brings Jakob Kuisl, to Oberammergau because the village’s executioner has also recently died.  He, too, gets caught up in the investigation of the eerie murders.

While Lechner is out of Schnogau is out of town, other members of the town’s council decide to take advantage of his absence to oust him.  When Barbara Kuisl is accused of witchcraft she is thrown in the town’s dungeon and is awaiting torture.  With Lechner out of town, Barbara has no advocate.  Magdalena sneaks out of town to go to Oberammargau to seek Lechner’s assistance.  Along the way, however, she is abducted.

In the meantime, the people of Oberammergau are protesting the immigrant workers from Italy.  They are scorned and their children keep going missing.  Is there a connection between the murders of the actors in the Passion play and the missing immigrant children?

This book has multiple plot twists as it unravels the murders of the Passion play and the abduction of Magdalena.

As with the other books in this series, this book is based on historical facts, which is what I find must interesting.  I enjoyed this book as a light and easy read.

Read:  April 15, 2020

4 Stars

The Hangman’s Daughter; Book I / Read: June 1, 2013

The Dark Monk; Book II / Read: October 6, 2013

The Beggar King; Book III / Read: March 9, 2014

The Poisoned Pilgrim; Book IV / Read: December 28, 2017

The Werewolf of Bamberg; Book V / Read: July 21, 2019

The Play of Death; Book VI / Read: April 15, 2020

Books Set in Europe: Germany, Bavaria

The Ludwig Conspiracy, by Oliver Pötzsch (2011).

I have enjoyed Oliver Pötzsch’s Hangman’s Daughter books, which are a historical mysteries that focus on Bavaria in the 1660s.  So, I though I would give The Ludwig Conspiracy a try.  It is a novel loosely based in King Ludwig II, the Mad King of Bavaria.  He’s the king who built the famous fairy-tale Neuschwanstein Castle.

Unlike the Hangman series, this book goes back and in the present and during the life of King Ludwig.  Ludwig died under mysterious circumstances on June 13, 1886.  His death was officially deemed to be a suicide by drowning, although there was no water in his lungs.  As a result, there have been lots of theories and conspiracies about whether or not he was actually murdered.  This novel delves into some of those conspiracies.

The novel opens when Steven Lukas, the owner of a bookstore that specialized in rare books finds that he has a journal, written in code, that explains how Ludwig actually died.  The journal was hidden in Lukas’ store by a professor, who, in the opening scene of the novel is killed by thugs after the book.

Lukas soon finds that these shady characters are after him for the journal.  Enter Sara Lengfeld, who claims to be the niece of the dead professor.  She, too, wants to find out the truth of King Ludwig’s death.  Together she and Lukas attempt to decipher the journal, all the while being chased by mysterious hooligans.

After Lukas’s bookstore is broken into and ransacked, he and Sara find themselves on the run from the police as well.  Unfortunately, there was too much in this novel that stretched the imagination.  There were car chases, shootings, murders, etc.  It read more like a thriller movie, than a good satisfying book.  The scenes narrated by Ludwig's physician, however, are more interesting.

I’ll stick with the author’s Hangman series.

Read:  Sept. 12, 2019

2 Stars

Books Set in Europe: Germany, Bavaria

The Werewolf of Bamberg, by Oliver Pötzsch (2014)

This is the 5th novel in the Hangman's Daughter series.  The year is 1668, and the Kuisl family has traveled from Schongau to Bamberg to celebrate the marriage of Barthalomäus, the estranged brother of the Kuisl patriarch, Jakob.  Until recently, his children were unaware that their father even had a brother.  A misunderstanding years earlier had caused a split between the brothers.

When the family arrives in Bamberg, they learn that the city has been terrorized by a series of murders.  Several elders of the city have gone missing, only to have their mangled bodies appear scattered around the city.  Rumors spread that the deaths are caused by a werewolf.

What I like about this mystery series is the careful research the author does in his novels.  In the afterward, he explains the history behind this mystery.  While the events seem supernatural to the citizens of this German town in the late 1660s, they actually have a basis in science.

I have enjoyed the other books in the series, and this one was no exception.

Read: July 21, 2019

5 Stars

Books Set in Europe: Bavaria, Germany

The Poisoned Pilgrim, by Oliver Pötzsch (2013)

This is the fourth book in the delightful Hangman's Daughter series, a series of historical fiction/suspense novels following Jakob Kuisl, his daughter, Magdalena and her "bathhouse" doctor, Simon Fronwieser.

The novel is set in 1666 in Bavaria.  Magdalena and her husband leave their home town of Schongau to participate in a religious festival and pilgrimage in nearby Andechs.  Almost as soon as they arrive in Andechs, two monks are found dead under mysterious circumstances.  Simon examines the bodies and discovers that one of the victim's, who ostensibly drown, was probably a victim of murder.  When Jokob learns that his old friend, Brother Johannes is arrested, joins his daughter to investigate the events occurring in the pilgrimage town.

Two of the monks are experimenting with the phenomenon of lightening and electricity, while the rest of the town considers this witchcraft.  There are several plot threads in this novel, which make for a very suspenseful and exciting mystery.

From the first book in the series, The Hangman's Daughter, we learned that hangmen and their families are disrespected.  The hangmen, however, are also learned men in medicines, so are a necessary component of the medieval villages.

The author is from the Bavaria and there was a hangman in his family's history.  This makes the novel really come alive.

5 Stars

This is the fourth book in the Hangman's Daughter series.

Read:  December 28, 2017

5 Stars

Books Set in Europe: Germany, Bavaria

The Begger King, by Oliver Pötzsch (2010)

Third book in The Hangman's Daughter series.

5 Stars
Read: March 9, 2014

Books Set in Europe: Germany, Bavaria

The Dark Monk, by Oliver Pötzsch (2009)

Read: October 6, 2013

Books Set in Europe: Germany, Bavaria

The Hangman's Daughter, by Oliver Pötzsch (2008)

Read: June 1, 2013


The Dark Monk, by Oliver Pötzsch (2009)

Read: October 6, 2013