The Council of Twelve (US Edition) (A Hangman's Daughter Tale Book 7)

I love and own every single book written by Oliver. He is such a brilliant story teller. When I started to read this books - I can’t put it down till I’ll finished. Because of Olivers books I fallen in love with Germany.

I was very impressed with this story being set in germany.I loved the characters especially the strong females.I will look for more books from Mr potzsch!sadly the root of this story still happens today sometimes with the same outcomes for women.Mr potzsch did a great job of tying it all together!

As always, these books tell tales of crimes but also of the real family drama behind the scenes.. excellent read as always. My only regret is that Jakob is sadly getting older and I know the inevitable will catch up eventually...

This whole series is a delight to read and something that will always bring a tear to the eye of a father as he watches his daughters grow up. There's a little of Jacob in all of us. I would recommend this book to any father.

A good story with, as usual, lots of interesting tidbits about life in times past. And it definitely moved the various strands of this family along as well. I have liked this whole series so I think I was bound to enjoy this one.

Mr. Potzsch's writings puts you in the cities and makes you come to love these characters. The descriptions of the countless situation the Hangman's family gets into, not only tells a story but also educates us with history.

I again enjoyed the richness of the characters and the expert historical reality woven throughout this novel. The previous novels have all included some raunchiness as fitting to the time period including some language, but not so much that it took away from the story. Unfortunately in this installment, the cursing was overdone and made me cringe rather than be able to look past. Also, the heavy emphasis on elective abortion was unsettling. Furthermore, Mr. Potzsch went on in his notes at the end to demonize those who are “anti-choice” which is offensive. I am pro-life, a choice for ending a defenseless child’s life no matter the developmental stage, is not a choice, it’s murder. Women deserve better than the lie of “pro-choice”, be pro-woman and don’t make us accomplices to murder by selling us the ruse that to be strong, we must kill.
This is the last book I will read by this author.

The Kuisl family of Schongau – Jakob, the town hangman, Magdalena (now Frönweiser after her marriage), son Georg and youngest daughter Barbara – are back in the seventh installment of the “Hangman”s Daughter” series by Oliver Pötzsch. They travel to Munich for a meeting of the hangman’s guild and Jakob’s installment as a member of the guild’s governing council – the Council of Twelve.

As usual, they land in the middle of a mystery. Young women are turning up dead, murdered in ways that are reminiscent of the methods used by hangmen to execute female criminals – drowning, burial alive, etc. Jakob, his family, and (some of) the other members of the Council have to get to the bottom of the murders before the eyes of the citizens of the city turn on them as they look for culprits to blame.

Pötzsch often handles multiple related storylines in his “Hangman’s Daughter” tales, and “The Council of Twelve” is no exception. Along with the murders, there is the issue of finding a husband for Barbara; Magdalena’s husband, Simon, hopes to meet a renowned Munich physician and get his help in the publication of his medical treatise; and Magdalena and Simon hope to find a place for their older son, Peter, a gifted student, in a prestigious school in Munich. These disparate but related (as is seen, eventually) tales weave a full, and very satisfying story, replete, as usual, with fascinating detail and insights into the culture and customs of late-17th century Bavaria. “The Council of Twelve” will not disappoint fans of the series.

In 1672, the executioners of Bavaria are having a meeting of the Council of Twelve, a prestigious group- well, as prestigious as a hangman can be in a time and place where they are considered dishonorable and tainted. Jakob Kuisl takes his entire family there- his married daughter Magdalena, her physician husband Simon, her three children, and his unmarried daughter Barbara, with the thought of finding her a husband there in Munich. The fact that Barbara is already pregnant, and doesn’t even want to get married, complicates matters. Jakob’s son Georg, apprenticed to a hangman of a different city, is also there. Simon is there in hopes of finding a sponsor for his thesis about preventing infections. These strands weave around and into the mystery, which is that young women are turning up dead, all with a certain medallion and all killed in ways that executioners use on female criminals. Of course, the town’s suspicions turn to the group of hangman in their midst. They fear the despised executioners have unleashed a devil on the town.

As Jakob tries to unravel the mystery before the executioners become the executed by mob, more women are found dead- as is one of the hangmen’s own. How are these women connected? What is the common thread? Meanwhile, Magdalena has become embroiled in another mystery and has gone undercover in a silk mill, from which there may be no escape.

I loved this book. I did not realize when I asked for the book that it was the 7th in a series, but the author made the family relationships clear right away and I was able to jump right in without feeling I was missing anything. Potzsch deftly handles the multiple threads of plot (I haven’t mentioned them all; there are simple too many) and never drops the many balls he’s juggling. He paints a vivid picture of the time and place- all too vivid at times, a lot of things being rather gross and grim back then. From street girls to the royal court, everyone seems to be involved. The story is full of action and the characters all come to life. Five stars.