The Beggar King - Oliver Poetzsch

The Beggar King is the third book in Poetzsch's "Hangman's Daughter" series.  For this one Poetzsch moves the action away from Schongau to the city of Regensburg, home at that time to the Reichstag. Jakob Kuisl received a letter saying his sister's deathly ill, and when he reaches the bathhouse she and her husband run, he finds it's worse than he suspected. They've both contracted a fatal case of stab wounds, and the city watch just happen to show up seconds after Kuisl finds them. Kuisl's thrown in the keep, where he'll have to resist confessing under torture until he can figure out who set him up, and why.

Unaware of all this, Magdalena and Simon have also made their way to Regensburg. Magdalena's sick and tired of being called a witch or the devil's daughter, and when the master baker in town accuses her of poisoning his maid to obscure the fact he's the one who gave her too much ergot to abort the baby he produced, and the entire town goes along with him, she convinces Simon it's time to leave. Once they arrive, they learn of her father's predicament, and set to proving his innocence, which is tricky when you don't know anyone or anything about the city you're in.

It might have been a mistake to read this so soon after The Hangman's Daughter. It makes me notice patterns in Poetzsch's writing more readily. People from Kuisl's past with a grudge, who may also be unhinged? Check. The introduction of a new possible love interest to cause strife for the young couple? Check. The new love interest turns out to be other than what they appear? Check. At least Magdalena got the chance to make Simon jealous this time.

I liked the use of Teuber, the Regensburg hangman. Through the first two books, Poetzsch has told us how closely knit the hangman community is, since they can only associate openly with others like themselves. Everyone else treats them as unclean. We haven't seen it, though, outside of the frequent threats of Magdalena's parents to marry her to the Steingarden hangman. This was a chance to see that, and Poetzsch did a pretty good job. He captures Teuber's conflict between his desire to keep his job and care for his family, while gradually recognizing Kuisl is innocent and has someone out to get him. Someone who's using Teuber to carry out their revenge.