Death and the Devil

Having read this book in german and in english I might say the translation into the english version is a poor and very clumsy one. I can only hope this won't keep people away from reading further translations. But however, reading over this sad choice of wording in the translation (it's not the whole book that suffers from that) helps a lot and makes a fabulous, inspiring and suspenseful mystery. :-)

Murders and mayhem in Medieval Germany. Seeking power, political advantage or revenge, a group of wealthy patricians form an alliance to reinstate them or their families to a previous status. Their plan requires an assassin - an assassin that seems more shadow than form, more devil than man. A man falls from a cathedral under construction. It's dark, it's late but there is a witness where no witness should be. The witness warily goes to the dying man and hears his last words-then runs for his life. He is now a new target for the assassin. Jacob the Fox, named for his blazing red hair, is fast and quick-witted but is too easily identified by his hair. He lives by stealing and scrounging what he can to eat, and lives under the arch of the great wall that surrounds Cologne, Germany in 1260. He knows when and where to hide from irate merchants but this new threat appears to function outside mortal capabilities. Finally, injured and hurt, and against his better judgment, he seeks help from Richmodis, a cloth dyer's daughter who had been kind to him earlier. When Jacob tells his story to Richmodis, her father and her uncle, a physician and a professor of cannon law, become unlikely allies in the dangerous task of discovering why Urquhart, the assassin, has come to Cologne, who has brought him here and who is the ultimate target. The people behind Urquhart are powerful, ruthless and willing to sacrifice lives to achieve their goal and Cologne becomes their hunting ground. This is an engrossing mystery and suspense story that weaves in the political and philosophical thinking of the period along with a portrait of the time. Author Schatzing gives historical background that adds atmosphere and weight to the plot and gives it credibility. This novel was published in Germany in 2003 and was first for this author who has since won several book awards in his country. Death and the Devil has just been translated into English and readers of this book will be very grateful. Armchair Interviews says: Amazing first book for this author.

An interesting and intriguing historical fiction murder mystery, somewhat akin to Caleb Carr's Angel of Death, or The Alienist, albeit from an earlier era. Under the shadow of a politicized Christendom, headed by power-hungry clergy, and in the throes of the dark aftermath of the bloody crusades, patricians (wealthy aristocratic families) vie with powerful guilds to control commerce and exploit the impoverished, in the bustling medieval city of Cologne. Against this background, a series of cold-blooded murders-for-hire begins piling up evidence of a powerful conspiracy. But a conspiracy of whom, and to what end? The body count grows, spanning the classes from peasant to monk, from servant to aristocrat. What ties these seemingly disparate deaths together, and what is it all leading to? Young street-wise, good-hearted thief Jacob "the Fox" and his newly acquired benefactors (the curvaceous maiden Richmodis, her worldy-wise uncle Jaspar, and her simpleton father Goddart) must find out, and soon, before they too are added to list of hapless victims. For while what they don't know could mean their demise, several violent attempts on their lives indicate they most certainly already know far too much. Can they unravel the mystery of the power behind the frighteningly invincible hired killer in time to save themselves? The book has a few "rough spots", probably due as much to the translator as the author, but overall is an absorbing and enthralling tale of hypocrisy, high treason, conspiracy and treachery in an era of knights and dark dungeons, fair maidens and friars.