The Play of Death

A Mystery Novel by Oliver Pötzsch

Book 6 of the Hangman's Daughter Series

Subgenres:

Historical Mystery,
1670,
Small Town

Published 2017

Length 512 pages

Buy from Amazon

This book is for you if you're into...

Historical mysteries set around theatrical productions gone wrong
Small-town secrets and suspicion in 17th-century Bavaria
Family sleuth duos solving murders with medical know-how

Publisher Description

The Play of Death is the sixth book in Hangman's Daughter, the million-copy bestselling series.

It is 1670 and Simon Fronwieser is in the town of Oberammergau to bring his seven-year-old son to boarding school. As he bids his boy a tearful farewell, news comes of a shocking murder: the man who was to play the part of Christ in the town's Passion play has been found dead, nailed to the set's cross. As there is no doctor in town, Simon is brought in to examine the body. The opportunities to spend more time with his son and to investigate the murder quickly convince him to stay.

Soon he is joined by his father-in-law, Jakob Kuisl, the Schongau hangman, and the two begin piecing together the puzzle of the actor's death. Was he murdered by a jealous rival? Are the recently arrived and unpopular immigrant workers somehow involved? Or is it a punishment from God for the villagers' arrogance in trying to schedule the play four years earlier than prescribed by ancient custom?

Once again, it looks like it is up to the Kuisls to unravel the mystery and bring a town's dark secrets to light.

More Oliver Pötzsch

Full Bibliography