This series is heavy reading. The majority of the characters are misogynist, closed-minded, uneducated, and almost entirely un-likeable. Magdalena is ok, but I have to believe that the only reason she is in love with Simon is that there is no one better in her small, horrible village. Sure, I know that life in small European villages in the 1600's was full of misogyny and superstition, and that the churches were pushing back against secular forces, and that they encouraged mistrust of all things intellectual for anyone not born to a wealthy, elite family. Still, I find it hard to enjoy these books, or to be sympathetic towards most of the characters. I was rooting for the hangman and his whole family and Simon to emigrate to the New World (which was an option by the latter half of the 1600's) so that their whole rotten village could enjoy life without their favorite scapegoats, only I don't like the hangman either. Unfortunately, when the hangman vanished in Regensberg and the village was turning against his family in his absence, they didn't just pick up and emigrate without him. That would have been a far better outcome than the actual novel. Oh well. ( )

As with the previous books in this series, I felt that this was overly long but I did like the fact that the hangman's daughter played a bigger role in this entry. ( )

I've fallen in love with the characters in Oliver Pötzsch's series - hangman Jakob Kuisl, his daughter Magdalena, and the physician's son Simon. this third book felt a bit like a rehash of the last with some villain roles reversed, but I still enjoyed it. fast paced, historically rich, and still leaves me wishing for more. hoping there's a fourth in the works. ( )

I've fallen in love with the characters in Oliver Pötzsch's series - hangman Jakob Kuisl, his daughter Magdalena, and the physician's son Simon. this third book felt a bit like a rehash of the last with some villain roles reversed, but I still enjoyed it. fast paced, historically rich, and still leaves me wishing for more. hoping there's a fourth in the works. ( )

This series is heavy reading. The majority of the characters are misogynist, closed-minded, uneducated, and almost entirely un-likeable. Magdalena is ok, but I have to believe that the only reason she is in love with Simon is that there is no one better in her small, horrible village. Sure, I know that life in small European villages in the 1600's was full of misogyny and superstition, and that the churches were pushing back against secular forces, and that they encouraged mistrust of all things intellectual for anyone not born to a wealthy, elite family. Still, I find it hard to enjoy these books, or to be sympathetic towards most of the characters. I was rooting for the hangman and his whole family and Simon to emigrate to the New World (which was an option by the latter half of the 1600's) so that their whole rotten village could enjoy life without their favorite scapegoats, only I don't like the hangman either. Unfortunately, when the hangman vanished in Regensberg and the village was turning against his family in his absence, they didn't just pick up and emigrate without him. That would have been a far better outcome than the actual novel. Oh well. ( )