Summer Book #20: The Dark Monk by Oliver Potzsch
The first book I got for my kindle that I actually paid for was The Hangman's Daughter by Oliver Potzsch. That book was only ok, and the title a misnomer since Magdalene, the Hangman's Daughter was a minor character in the book. I cannot pinpoint why I bought the sequel for my kindle this summer. Perhaps I am a glutton for punishment who cannot start a series, no matter how bad, and not finish it. Perhaps I was hoping that this installment would be better than the first. Luckily for me, the latter was true, so this wasn't a total waste of time.
This book was only titled slightly better than the first book in this series. At least it wasn't named for a minor character. In this case, it is named for the villain.
At the beginning, a priest is poisoned because he found something he shouldn't have. While investigating the death, the hangman, Jakob Kuisl, and the town medicus, Simon, stumble upon a mystery, the same one the priest died for. The mystery has to do with a possible Templar treasure. The priest's sister, Benedikta, comes to town for his funeral, and becomes drawn into the mystery herself because she wants to know what it was her brother died for. Clues to this mystery take Simon and Benedikta all over the Priest's Corner in Bavaria. Jakob helps where he can, but he has been charged by the Elector's Representative to locate and capture bands of robbers who are tormenting the town. The hangman's daughter, Magdalena, plays her part in helping to solve the mystery as well, while being jealous of the relationship she perceives that Simon is having with Benedikta.
Simon solves the mystery, Jakob rids the town of robbers, and we get a Scooby Doo ending. You know the kind I'm talking about. For all intents and purposes, the mask is pulled off, and the person says "And I would've gotten away with it too, if not for you meddling kids!" The subject of the Scooby Doo ending was not a total surprise; you had to know that there was going to be some kind of twist involving this person. I just thought the reveal was cheesy, hence the term Scooby Doo ending.
If you slogged through The Hangman's Daughter, give The Dark Monk a chance. The storyline makes much more sense, and was, at times, fun to read. I will be reading the third installment when it is released.
