I received this from netgalley.com in exchange for a review.

This is the 6th book in the Hangman series. This one felt even more drawn out and could have been at least 100 pgs shorter.

3☆

Love, love, love Oliver Pötzsch's Hangman's Daughter series! Need at least five more books now, please.

I loved "The Play of Death", Oliver Potzsch's latest in book in The Hangman's Daughter series. With the usual cast of characters (Magdalena, the hangman's daughter; Jakob Kuisl, the hangman of Schongau; Simon, Magdalena's wife; and assorted neighbors, politicians and so on), the story moves from Schongau to nearby Oberammergau, home of the famous Passion Play. Simon is taking his son Peter to Oberammergau to attend school there, where he can hopefully be free of the taint of being the hangman's grandson, and can get the education that will give him more opportunities in life. But the two arrive in town to find that a grisly murder has just occurred; the man who is to play Jesus in the Passion Play have been crucified and left to die. Simon leaves Peter with his good friend Georg Kaisel who is the local schoolmaster, and is asked by a senior member of the council to remain a few extra weeks as medicus to serve the local population. But all is not as it should be in not so peaceful Oberammergau. The established population has it out for the immigrant population, and to add to the tension, additional actors in the Passion Play are murdered, one by one. And what are those lights around the top of the spooky mountain? Who are the small figures seen flitting around at night in the dark?

Meanwhile, back in Schongau things aren't going any better. Corrupt council members plan a coup to take over the town council and control all the trade that goes through the town. The Kuisel family is having issues of it's own: younger daughter Barbara can't seem to stay out of trouble, Magdalena is having problems with her son Paul, and then of course there are all the challenges that come along with being a "dishonorable" family, as those like the hangman are called.

Just to keep us even more engaged, The Play of Death has several different crises happening in different places...or are there links between them? The Play of Death is 500+ pages which I read in 2 1/2 days, finally throwing in all pretence and reading it to conclusion at 1am because I couldn't wait to know how the mysteries resolved.

You don't need to have read the other books in The Hangman's Daughter series to enjoy this one but it does help to be familiar with the characters, as they develop over time in the previous books. I also enjoyed the historical note at the end of the book, comparing the actions of the Oberammergau-er's towards the newcomers in their community, and the attitudes today in some parts of the world to immigrants. It brought to mind the expression "Those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it!" The Play of Death is a wonderful book and I highly recommend it!