I managed to read this at a rather appropriate time, so the setting and atmosphere were right up my alley. This is a mystery set in Schongau, a small but well-connected town in Bavaria in the year A.D. 1659. It is a strange feeling reading about locations you are somewhat familiar with, or at the very least, looking at the locations on the map and imagining the characters and events that are mentioned in the novel. For historical fiction, this kind of setting is rather unusual, even more so in the English language world. There is no dearth of historical fiction mysteries, but not many of them—aside from our current work—can claim to be set in the cusp of medieval to early-modern Bavaria. The setting drew me into it, but the plot and characters kept me engaged and interested to find out what happens.

The plot is a straightforward mystery, not of the ‘whodunnit’ variety, but ‘why’ and ‘howdunnit’. There are hints here and there for the reader, as in any mystery, but I confess that I didn’t try too hard to put the pieces together and let myself be surprised by the turn of events. I really was curious about what was going on behind the alleged accusations of witchcraft and the weird secrets kept by the murdered children. The reader is not always aware of the fullest extent of the characters’ thoughts, so there are some frustrating moments where you just want to know what monumental revelation a character has had—but it does give you a chance to think over what you have seen so far and try to piece it together. I did guess some things correctly, which were not too surprising, but probably due to the writing.

The characters are rather fascinating, if only because of the fact that they are the author’s ancestors, and therefore were real people. Names and occupations have been borrowed to populate the novel. I can’t help but wonder if they could ever have imagined such a thing—or how they might feel about it. In any case, it easily gives the novel that ‘lived-in’ sense of atmosphere that many novels struggle to attain, with… I don’t want to say necessarily less effort, because there still needs to be some, but certainly the world of Schongau feels authentic in a way that even other historical fiction novels do not. The Kuisls and Simon both became endearing characters, and especially the latter; being similar in age made it easy to relate to him. I also loved the small details that the author used to pepper the novel—on the same page, you can have a character talking about bloodletting a patient and another extolling the wonders of this new drug called ‘coffee’. (Simon and his weirdly emphatic obsession with coffee was rather amusing.)

The translation was decently done and, though at times the choice of phrase seemed oddly modern, it did not take me out of the reading experience. Translating and writing historical fiction involves a difficult balance of having language modern enough to entice the reader but also realistic enough to be believable; this novel errs more on the side of the former, and though it does reference period occupations, buildings, locations, etc., it reads like a contemporary fiction book. This has its perks—readability, for one, and for me, it makes it easier to imagine yourself a contemporary of the characters. I’m writing this review rather late and am now reading a book that uses a lot of ‘thou’ and ‘wouldst’ and ‘an’, and I have to admit, as atmospheric as it is, it did take my brain a second to reconfigure to expect them. You can’t please everyone, I suppose. As for the title—its significance should be clear to anyone who has read the final act of the novel.

I greatly enjoyed this novel, and I am especially glad I got to read this kind of book when I did. I’m definitely looking forward to the rest in the series and coming back to these characters and historical Schongau once more.