Books Set in Asia; Israel

The Last Testament, by Sam Bourne (2007)

Read:  April 11, 2025

3 Stars

Maggie Costelle # 1

Books Set in Europe: United Kingdom

Payment in Blood, Elizabeth George (1998)

Payment in Blood is the second in the Inspector Thomas Lynley / Barbara Havers mystery series.  This novel starts out as pure Agatha Christie.  On a cold winter night, playwright Joy Sinclair was found murdered in her bedroom in a snowbound estate in a remote town in Scotland.  She had been a guest at the manor along with a handful of actors who were to be in Sinclair’s next play, the producer, a drama critic, the director, and his lady love, Lady Helen Clyde, and the servants.  One of them must surely be the murderer.

For reasons that are not immediately apparent, Lynley and Havers were sent to investigate the murder.  Lynley enlists the help of his forensic friend, Simon St. James, to assist in the investigation.  Odd, because Scotland Yard had virtually no authority over the crime committed in Scotland.  Lynley is in love with Lady Helen, and so focuses his attention on Rhys Davies-Jones, who was sleeping with Helen in the room adjacent to Joy Sinclair’s room.  Havers and St. James, however, focus on Sinclair’s revised play, which they believe holds the key to the murder.

Complicating the investigation is the 1973 of Hannah Darrow.  What is her connection with the manor?  Was her death really a suicide?  Following clues leading to her death point to a spy scandal involving the family that owns the manor.

This is the second novel in the series.  The author is still introducing the characters.  Lady Helen seems to have many lovers.  Havers lives with her working-class parents and feels quite out of place with her aristocratic partner.  Lynley has some skeletons in his past, which are only hinted at, although we learned from the first book that he was the driver responsible for the accident that crippled St. James.

I am glad that I started this series in the middle where the characters are more developed.  Had I started at the beginning of the series, I probably would not have been compelled to read further.

Read: June 23, 2023

3 Stars

Other Books Read in the Series:

A Great Deliverance (# 1)  //  Read June 1, 2023

Well-Schooled in Murder (# 3)  //  Read June 29, 2003

For the Sake of Elana (# 5)  //  Read February 21, 1994

Missing Joseph (# 6)  //  Read June 12, 1996 and January 25, 2003

Playing for the Ashes (# 7)  //  Read January 6, 1996

A Traitor to Memory (# 11)  //  Read January 3, 2004

With No One as Witness (# 13)  //  Read May 13, 2023

A Banquet of Consequences (# 19)  //  Read July 4, 2018

Books Set in Europe, United Kingdom, England

A Great Deliverance, by Elizabeth George (1988)  //  Inspector Thomas Lynley # 1

This is the first in the Lynley / Havers detective series.  It provides the origin story of how Barbara Havers, a somewhat cantankerous low-level Detective Sergeant in the Scotland Yard, begins working with the aristocratic Inspector Thomas Lynley.

The novel revolves around a murder in a small village north of London.  A teenage girl confessed to beheading her father, but some of the townfolk question whether or not she actually committed the crime.  Enter Lynley and Havers.

The reader learns some of the backstories of Lynley and Havers.  Lynley is dating Helen, but he is also something of a lothario.  We are also introduced to Simon St. James, who is a close friend of Lynley and planned on a career in law enforcement before he was crippled in a car accident.  Lynley was the intoxicated driver of the car.  St. James just married Deborah, who was a former lover of Lynley.

Meanwhile, we learn a bit about Havers’ background.  She comes from a lower-middle class family and lost her young brother to leukemia when he was a child.  His death lies heavy on her family life.

I didn’t find the mystery as intriguing as other stories in the series.

Read: June 1, 2023

3 Stars

Other Books Read in the Series:

Well-Schooled in Murder (# 3)  //  Read June 29, 2003

For the Sake of Elana (#5)  //  Read February 21, 1994

Missing Joseph (# 6)  //  Read June 12, 1996 and January 25, 2003

Playing for the Ashes (# 7)  //  Read January 6, 1996

A Traitor to Memory (# 11)  //  Read January 3, 2004

With No One as Witness (#13)  //  Read May 13, 2023

A Banquet of Consequences (# 19)  //  Read July 4, 2018

Books Set in Australia: Outback

The Dry, by Jane Harper (2026)

 

Australian Federal Agent Aaron Falk returned to his tiny hometown in rural outback Australia to attend the funeral of Luke Hadler, his closest childhood friend.  Aaron wasn’t eager to return to his hometown.  Aaron and his father had been run out of town twenty years earlier after Aaron had been accused of killing his girlfriend, Ellie Deacon.  Luke’s father implored him to return with a terse message stating that he knew Aaron had lied 20 years earlier about his alibi.

 

Luke had ostensibly committed suicide after murdering his wife and young son.  His farm was failing and he was facing financial ruin, thus suicide seemed a logical solution.  Luke’s parents, however, didn’t believed it was a murder-suicide.  Since Aaron is in law enforcement, albeit white-collar financial crimes, they implore him to investigate Luke’s death.

 

Small town, long memories.  Luke’s father isn’t the only person who thinks Aaron lied about his alibi.  While joining up the young ambitious Police Sergeant Greg Raco, Aaron unofficially assists in looking into Luke’s death.

 

A lot of people in the tiny town of Kiewarra have secrets.  The story is told in flashbacks, which give the reader two mysteries – the present-day death of Luke and his family, and the death of Ellie Deacon, which occurred 20 years earlier, when Aaron and his friends were just teenagers.

 

The Australian outback is suffering a drought, which provides an added layer of intrigue.  The draught was causing farms to fail, which in turn caused shops in town to suffer.  The local bar is up and operating, alcoholism is endemic, and nerves are frayed.  Physical fights were common occurrences.

 

The local school was short on funds and local townfolk applied for grants to help support educational programs.  Luke’s wife was the financial officer for the school.  Had she uncovered a source of funding?  Why did she have Aaron’s name and phone number in her possession?

 

Aaron must carefully negotiate the present, while letting go of grudges from the past as he delves into his friend’s death.

 

The Dry is the first book in the series featuring (Australian) Federal Agent Aaron Falk.  

 

 

Read:  May 29, 2023

 

4 Stars

Books Set in Europe: United Kingdom, London, England

With No One As Witness, by Elizabeth George (2005)  //  Inspector Thomas Lynley # 13

 

This mystery novel is the thirteenth in the Inspector Thomas Lynley series.  It had been nearly a decade since I read the last Lynley novel.  While each novel is a stand-alone mystery, it seemed that there was a lot in this book that relied on considerable knowledge of the characters backstories.  That being said …

 

New Scotland Yard officers, Inspector Lynley (Acting Superintendent Lynley in this volume) and his sidekick Constable Barbara Havers (she had apparently been demoted from Sergeant in the previous novel), have stumbled upon a serial killer.  Three mixed race young boys were left for dead before Kimmo Thorne, a young white, gay female impersonator, turned up dead.  The prior three bodies had been assumed to be runaways and their deaths weren’t thoroughly investigated.  It isn’t until Kimmo’s body is found that the police compare notes and realize that all the deaths were committed in a similar fashion.  To curb accusations of institutional racism, Winston Nkata was hastily promoted to Sergeant to serve as the face for the press briefings.

 

Lynley and his team’s investigation led them to Colossus, a low-budget organization intended to help at-risk children.  The Colossus employees and volunteers all have checkered pasts.  Could they have a hand in the murders?  There also appears to be a link to shady organization called MABIL (Men And Boys In Love), a group of pedophiles who groom young boys for sex.  When a fifth body is found, there are some substantial differences, leading the investigators to believe there may be a copy-cat killing.

 

In between following where the evidence may lead, the reader also gets a peek into the private lives of Lynley and Havers.  Lynley’s wife is expecting their first child, while Havers lives her solitary life and tries to connect with her neighbor.  Their lives are not without their own personal drama and tragedy.  [Spoiler Alert:  Lynley’s wife, Helen, was shot on her doorstep in the wealthy neighborhood of Belgravia.  By the time she was transported to the hospital, too much time had elapsed, and she was brain dead.  Both she and her unborn baby were taken off life support.  Also, the book ends with Lynley appearing to turn in his badge.]

 

This book comes in at over 600 pages.  While it kept my attention, it could have been pared down to about half that size.  I also found one plot thread to have been resolved too quickly.  Still, I enjoy reading about the gentry Thomas Lynley and his working-class side-kick, Barbara Havers.

 

Read:  May 13, 2023

 

4 Stars

 

Other Books Read in the Series:

Well-Schooled in Murder (# 3)  //  Read June 29, 2003

For the Sake of Elana (#5)  //  Read February 21, 1994

Missing Joseph (# 6)  //  Read June 12, 1996 and January 25, 2003

Playing for the Ashes (# 7)  //  Read January 6, 1996

A Traitor to Memory (# 11)  //  Read January 3, 2004

A Banquet of Consequences (# 19)  //  Read July 4, 2018

 

 

Books Set in North America: New York City

The Hidden Palace, by Helene Wecker (2021)

 

The Hidden Palace picks up the characters from The Golem and the Jenni, but the reader need not have read the first book to enjoy this one.  This novel takes place eight years after the first novel has ended and begins around 1900.  There are several threads plots in this novel.  Chava, the Jewish golem, and Ahmad, the Arabian jinni, have gone their separate ways haven’t seen each other in years.  Sophia Winston, who became chilled following her affair with the jinni, has traveled to a desert Middle East to find a cure.  Anne is working as a laundress and raising her young son.  Interwoven into the lives of the characters, is a fair amount of history, as the world is on the brink of World War I.

 

Cheva realizes that as a golem, she never ages, while the people around her do.  She realized that she could no longer work in the bakery, so attends a nearby college and gets a degree in that allows her to teach cooking.  She reinvented herself as Charlotte Levy and landed a job at an orphanage academy.  After the jinni’s partner died, he holed up in the building and cut himself off from the rest of the community and spent his time constructing with steel.  Anne’s son landed a job as a Western Union messenger, which takes him around New York City.

 

While searching for a cure to her illness, Sophia encounteres a female jinni, whom she calls Dima.  Dima has been banished from her tribe and is searching for the jinni who can touch steel (Ahmad).  She promises Sophia a cure if she can bring her to Ahmad.  Meanwhile, back in New York, the reader meets Kreindel, a young girl who studies Hebrew with her rabbi and assists him in making Yessele, another golem to be her protector.

 

In addition to a beautiful story, the author also gives us a glimpse of life in the New York tenements at the turn of the last century.  I loved this book and look forward to other writings from this author.

 

Read:  May 3, 2023

 

4 Stars

 

 

Books Set in Asia: Mumbai, India

Murder at the Grand Raj Palace, by Vaseem Khan (2018)

 

Ashwin Chopra is a retired police inspector who has started his own investigation agency.  Somehow, after his retirement, he was gifted with a baby elephant that he named Ganesha.  Ganesha follows wither Chopra or his wife, Poppy, everywhere … even to the posh Grand Raj Palace.

 

The novel begins when art collector Hollis Burbank was found dead in his hotel room with a knife in his chest.  He had just outbid a rival collector for a painting by one of India’s most famous artists.  The police commissioner is ready to call Burbank’s death a suicide, but the officer in charge thinks otherwise so calls Chopra to assist with the investigation.  When the commissioner learns that Chopra has been called in to assist, he quickly tells him to back off the official investigation.

 

Lisa Taylor, the art broker who convinced Burbank to go to Mumbai for the auction, then hires Chopra to continue with the murder investigation.  Lisa is a sexy young British woman who always seems to pop into Chopra’s investigation when Poppy is around.  Poppy, who has trying to plan a special 25^th wedding anniversary, begins to get jealous.

 

While Chopra is looking into the potential murder of Burbank, Poppy becomes involved in the wedding plans of two aristocratic families with a decades-long family feud.  The two families are ostensibly marrying to protect one family from the brink of bankruptcy.  Poppy’s advice to the young bride to follow her heart, leading the bride-to-be to vanish without a trace.

 

Meanwhile, Burbank, it seems, was a very unpleasant man.  No one liked him and he made enemies everywhere he went.  Thus, Chopra quickly comes up with a long list of potential killers.  The list grows longer when Chopra learned that 30 years earlier, Burbank was known as Roger Penzance and was a chemical engineer at a company involved with a chemical leak.  The chemical disaster had been covered up, but some survivors continued to harbor guilt.

 

This mystery was light-hearted and fun to read.  The solution came with a twist, but was very satisfying.  This is a delightful little “cozy mystery” that takes place mostly at the Grand Raj Palace Hotel in Mumbai, India.  It’s the fourth mystery in the Baby Ganesh Agency Investigation series, although it’s the first one I read.  I will definitely go back and read this series from the beginning.

 

Read:  May 18, 2021

 

5 Stars

 

Books Set in North America: United States: Arizona

Credible Threat, by J.A. Jance (2020)  //  Ali Reynolds Series # 15

 

This is the first book I have read by J.A. Jance, but it is the 15^th book in her Ali Reynolds series.  The author spends some time providing the reader with some background from prior books in the series, but the novel can stand on its own.  Apparently in prior novels, Ali works with her husband B. Simpson in solving mysteries.  In this book, B. Simpson is abroad working on his own project, so Ali is left to work on her own to solve this mystery.

 

Rachel Higgins is a 70-year old woman whose marriage to a controlling husband has fallen apart.  When their only son, David, died of an overdose years earlier, her husband basically lost his will to go on.  He lost his job and spends his days making bird houses.  Rachel and her husband barely speak to each other.  The book begins when Rachel learns that David turned to drugs because he had been abused by a priest when in high school and he couldn’t confide in anyone.  

 

Rachel vows to take revenge upon the Church and her target is Francis Gillespie, the aged Archbishop in Phoenix, Arizona.  Little does she know that the Archbishop had taken a strong stand against the pedophilic priests in his diocese.  Rachel begins by sending the Archbishop threatening notes that she drops into the collection plates in a number of churches throughout the diocese.  The Archbishop went to the local police; however, he was told that the threats were not credible, hence, he turns to his friend Ali.

 

Rachel has gone to great lengths to create the “perfect” crime as she continues to plot her revenge on the Archbishop.  Can Ali stop Rachel before she kills?  Will Rachel’s husband come out of his shell and thwart Rachel’s plans?

 

Great literature this is not, however, it was a fun and quick read.  I will definitely go back and start reading this series from its first book.

 

Read:  May 7, 2021

 

4 Stars

 

Books Set in Asia: Israel; Bethlehem

The Collaborator of Bethlehem, by Matt Beynon Rees (2006)

 

This is a rather disturbing mystery novel, the first in the Omar Yussef series, that focuses on Omar Yussef, a schoolteacher in a United Nations school in Bethleham.  The novel is about the tensions between the Muslim Arabs and the Christians living in Bethleham.  Added to the mix are the Israelis who seek out terrorists and the so-called Martyrs Brigade that terrorizes everyone.

 

Omar has been teaching for many years and is toying with the idea of retirement.  Many of his former students are now successful citizens of the area and Omar has maintained bonds with them.  One of his students, George Saba now runs an antique shop.

 

When a member of the Martyrs Brigade was shot and killed, George, a Christian, was arrested and sentenced to death as being a collaborator of the Israelis to target terrorists.  Omar believes that George is innocent and takes a leave from his classroom to become an amateur sleuth to prove George is in the clear.

 

Omar uncovers evidence that he believes clears George, but no one is willing to consider.  The novel is disturbing.  The police detective tells George that his job is to keep his head down and consider only the state and its security, regardless of the innocence or guilt of a suspect.  The thrust of this mystery lies in the politics of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

 

Read: February 12, 2021

 

3 Stars

 

 

 

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 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 North America; New York City, New York

Death Dance, by Linda Fairstein (2006)

I have been distracted this month, thus I found it difficult to get interested and through this mystery.  It is the eight novel in which Alexandra Cooper, the Assistant District Attorney, is involved in a mystery.

The novel begins with the mysterious disappearance and death of ballet prima donna Natalya Galivova during a performance at New York’s Metropolitan Opera House.  Alex Cooper meets up with Police Detective Mike Chapman as they attempt to solve the murder.

I couldn’t get into the mystery itself, but I did find the description of the intricacies of the backstage working of putting on a major theater production fascinating.  While watching a live show in a theater, who thinks of all the staff needed to ensure that scenery, music, etc., all falls into place.  Hundreds of people work behind the scenes for a show to run seamlessly.

I was also intrigued to learn that the New York City Center was formerly known as the Mecca Temple and was originally designed for the Shriners.

I am not going to rate this book, because I know that my distractions wouldn’t be fair to the author.  I have read and enjoyed other Alex Cooper novels by Linda Fairstein.

Read:  November 27, 2017

Books Set in North America: Minneapolis, Missouri, USA

First Case of Beers, by P.M. LaRose (2014)

This mystery novel is narrated by James Biersovich, a former sports writer turned security chief at a high-scale department store in Minneapolis.  It is just weeks before Christmas and Jim, known as Beers by his friends, is doing double-duty as Santa at the department store.  The year is 1999 and Y2K looms in the near future.

While on Santa duty, he is called to investigate strange going’s on at the store ~ the window display manikins have been reposed into suggestive poses, as is a manikin in women’s lingerie.  When a customer may have been poisoned tasting a candy sample in the confectionary department, Beers thinks the mischief may be more destructive.

I am not a fan of this genre.  It was written in the noir style of the 1940s detective novel.  I read it only because it was selected by one of my book groups and was written by the spouse of an acquaintance.  This is the first book in a series.  I doubt I will read any other books in this series.

Read:  October 20, 2018

2.5 Stars

Books Set in the United States: Wyoming

The Cold Dish (#1), by Craig Johnson (2005)

This is the first book in the Longmire mystery series.  We are introduced to the characters ~ Sheriff Walt Longmire; Deputy Victoria “Vic” Moretti; Deputy Jim “Ferg” Ferguson; Henry Standing Bear, Walt’s close friend; and Cady Longmire, Longmire’s daughter.

Several years before the novel began, a young Cheyenne girl named Melissa Little Bird was brutally raped by four white boys.  Melissa Little Bird had fetal alcohol syndrome and was unable to provide a lot of help in the prosecution of her attackers.  Although the boys were found guilty, they got off lightly for the crime with suspended sentences.  Now a few years later, one of the rapists, Cody Prichard was found shot dead in a sheep field.

Prichard’s death was initially believed to be a hunting accident, however, the evidence begins to point to foul play.  As the evidence mounts, it seems that Prichard’s death was related to Melissa Little Bird’s rape.  Longmire must protect the other three boys from also being killed.

Longmire, a widower, also begins a relationship with Vonnie Hayes, a woman he has known since they were school children, although he knows little of her life.

As Longmire investigates the murder, tensions mount between the Native American and white communities.  The author mixes in bits of history of the between the two communities, which adds to the narrative.

I enjoyed this novel, although at times I got lost in the prose and had to go back an re-read portions.

Read: July 26, 2018

3 stars

Books Set in the United States: Wyoming

Any Other Name (#10), by Craig Johnson (2015)

I picked up a Walt Longmire mystery because we have been watching Longmire on CD for the past few weeks.  I wanted to see what the books were like.

Walt Longmire is the Sheriff of Absaroka County, Wyoming.  This novel takes place in late December.  His daughter, Cady, is in Philadelphia and is about to give birth. She expects her father to be with he when the baby is born.  He plans to be there, but first he agrees to look into the suicide of Gerald Holman, a fellow law enforcement in an adjacent county.  Gerald was a by-the-book officer and his suicide seems suspicious.

Before Gerald died, he was investigating cold cases involving missing women.  Walt wonders if the cases are related.  His investigation takes him into South Dakota, and it seems that someone isn’t happy that the missing women are being tracked down.

While he is on the case, Cady is trying to get her father to Philadelphia before her baby arrives.

This was a quick fun read.  Nothing heavy, but the writing was good and I will likely pick up some other Longmire mysteries ~ starting at the beginning.  This was mystery #10, and made references to occurrences in previous books in the series.

Read: July 14, 2018

3 Stars

Books Set in Europe: United Kingdom, England

A Banquet of Consequences, by Elizabeth George (2015)  //  Thomas Lynley # 19

I generally like Elizabeth George’s novels with Detective Thomas Lynley and Barbara Havers.  I have missed a few books in the series, however, thus missed some of the references in this mystery novel regarding their personal lives.

This novel is less a mystery to be solved by Lynley and Havers and more a look into the lives of too many damaged people with too problems.

The book begins with the suicide of Will Goldacre.  Not a spoiler, as he kills himself in the first few pages of this nearly 600 page tome.  His mother, Caroline Goldacre, can’t get over his death, and years later, when most of the action takes place, she is still grieving.

Caroline is a busybody who meddled into Will’s life and now is trying to save her other son, Charlie’s marriage.  She is also the personal assistant to militant feminist Clare Adley.  When Clare is found dead, Lynley and Havers become involved.  Havers has apparently (in a previous Lynley mystery), come sideways with the big boss, so is on a short leash to solve Clare’s murder.

There were just too many people and too many threads, many of which had nothing to do with the murder of Clare, but not significant enough to make they “red herrings.”

I found this book to be less than satisfying as a good murder mystery.

Read: July 4, 2018

2.5 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