The Hangman's Daughter

This was a mesmerizing audio. I could not stop listening. I was on the edge of my seat the whole time. It was also a great recreation of Medieval times in Germany. The suspense is maintained throughout the entire narrative and the pace is hectic. The final climatic fight is well done and terrifying in the extreme. I can't recommend this book highly enough. If you want a good satisfying Medieval mystery this is it.

The period detail is spot on and despite the immense amount of detail about Medieval life and customs, it never intereferes with the story but actually adds to the atmosphere.

If you want a great historical mystery this is it. I understand a sequel is coming and I hope Audible get it.

This was a fascinating book. Jacob Kuisl is the hangman of the town of Schongau, some years after the infamous Schongau witch trials. When two children are murdered under mysterious circumstances, the town midwife is accused of witchcraft. While Kuisl believes that the midwife is innocent, he must do his duty or lose his position. The book moves slowly in spots, but builds to an exciting finish. The details of town life, medicine, the aftermath of war, etc. give the book life and dimension. I highly recommend it.

I started trying to listen to "The Hangman's Daughter" a while back, then had to stop for a while, to prepare myself emotionally for a subsequent attempt. Yikes! This audiobook opens with a scene so horrific and gut-wrenching that I couldn't bear it. Having now finally finished listening to the entire audiobook, I feel a bit shattered. If you have a gentle heart like mine, I warn you away from this novel. Perhaps its scenes of cruelty, torture, and bloodthirstiness establish a reality true to seventeenth-century Germany. Perhaps modern people everywhere would behave that way under similar conditions and circumstances. I hate to think so, and I have insurmountable difficulty understanding such human behavior. In any case, I don't look for those kinds of scenes in my entertainment, and I doubt that I will muster the courage to listen to "The Hangman's Daughter" again any time soon. If you have enough emotional toughness to disregard my warning, then you may find some merit in this novel. It does offer a pretty good mystery and pretty good writing -- although I have some suspicions about the translation. Pötzsch does provide good character development; only I'm having a little trouble believing the main character (who, by the way, is not the hangman's daughter, but the hangman, himself). Can a person who performs torture, dismemberment, and murder for a living really have a warm, loving, compassionate heart, with the gift of healing? As an herbalist, I do appreciate Pötzsch's apparent knowledge of herbs and their healing properties. Grover Gardner, the narrator of "The Hangman's Daughter," has an odd, throaty, but not unpleasant voice. He does an adequate, if undistinguished performance of this novel, lacking drama. In summation, I would recommend against this audiobook, unless you take an interest in medieval superstitions and torture techniques.

I really wanted to like this book a lot. As in '5 stars' a lot. In theory it has a lot of things that would interest me. German? Check. Accurate medieval history? check. Murder mystery? check. Somehow, though, it just didn't come together. The clues weren't very well spaced out so there were multiple chapters in which nothing happened, nothing new was developed (not even the characters) and then the next clue would be dropped only to spend the next 4 chapters or so reiterating the new clue. The literary devices were a bit tired: the modern audience is meant to understand that the physician's son is one of the good guys because he drinks coffee and believes in the circulatory system. The translation from German was pretty good, but there were times when I found I could reconstruct the German phrase from the clumsy English translation because the word order was spot on for German and awkward in English. As for the whodunnit: in the end it didn't matter. The great reveal about who was behind everything felt anti-climactic and had no effect on the wrap-up of the plot. The orchestrator could have been John Doe or any character in the book and the ending would have been the same. Somehow, that seems wrong.

All in all, I was disappointed in the book and learned my lesson about believing Amazon when they say that 'everyone is reading this book because it's the best book ever'. Turns out, it was published by Amazon's in house publishing company. Lesson learned.

A pretty good "who done it" for any generation, but made far more interesting through the lens of 17th century witch fears and a picture of the real role of the hangmen of the period. Who knew they had families and lived regular lives? Although not gratuitous or overly gruesome, the violence is a bit shocking, but apparently accurate for the era. Recommended for lovers of historic fiction and mysteries.

I really enjoyed the first in this series. Hangman's Daughter is interesting from a cultural/historical point of view but also a compelling story - a murder mystery, basically. This historical fiction is "down to earth" compared to many books of its sort and I could easily relate to many of the characters while still appreciating the historical and cultural differences between us. Reading the second in the series now and enjoying as well.

Never listened to GG before but he is perfect in this audiobook. His pronunciation of the German names and locations made listening to this book far more enjoyable than reading it. Perfect!

The hangman's support of a condemned, lowly woman is significant!

Yes. Very good read.

I loved all of the characters.

No, but I can't wait to read another one.

The story constantly kept me engaged. At several points, I thought I knew what would happen but I was completely wrong. I found this to be a very enjoyable listen. The narrator helped give the story life. He was excellent.I enjoyed hearing the names pronounced. I am not proficient in Polish pronunciation so it was extremely helpful! If you have listened to many books, you know the narrator can make or break the experience.

This book is one of the best ones I have listened to, and I have listened to hundreds over the years. (I have a 3-hour+ commute each day via Interstate.)

This is my first encounter with Grover Gardner, but I think his rendition is excellent and fits the tone of the book handily.

I was between books and was looking for something that would be mildly entertaining. I noticed that these series of books had really gotten good reviews, so I thought, what the heck, I'll give it a try.

This story held my interest throughout the book and whenever I had to stop, I somewhat impatiently waited to have time to pick it up again. The story weaves in and out without losing the reader and the characters are fully developed. The story comes to a satisfactory end, not one that leaves you hanging.

As soon as I finished, I bought the next in the series. If you purchase this book/audiobook, I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

PS: Grover Gardner is an excellent narrator, as usual.

Most definitely kept me on the edge. Peril lies at every turn.

They are all performed superbly. Simon was my favorite character, but that is mainly due to the author's development of the character.