| Plot Summary of The Judge and his Executioner (Hangman) |
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"THE JUDGE AND HIS EXECUTIONER (Der Richter und sein Henker) is a novel published in 1952.
Police Detective Baerlach, suffering from a terminal disease, ends his professional career in the police department of the city of Bern, Switzerland. When one of his colleagues is found dead in his car in the mountains nearby, Baerlach decides to take charge of the case because he feels that his long-term personal enemy of 40 years may be involved in this case. In the company of inspector Tschanz, he will discover that the murdered policeman was spying, under a false name, the hosts, industrials and politicians, who were regularly gathering at Dr Gastmann's mansion.
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Daniel Staebler, Resident Scholar
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"A man found dead in his car is discovered to be a policman, and the small town policeman who finds him is ill-equipped to investigate the murder. The case is given to the dead man's superior, a man named Barlach. Barlach's boss, Lutz, loves the new crime-solving technology that he saw while in Chicago, but Barlach wants nothing to do with such things. He tells his boss, right from the start, that he has a suspect in mind, but won't say who that suspect is to anyone, not even Tschanz, the young officer who has been assigned to help him. Politics gets involved in the case, as Barlach and Tschanz discover that their investigation is hindered by the fact that the politically conscious Lutz is tying their hands. There's more going on in this book than there first appears to be, and Barlach is sharper than he seems. This case ties in with a murderer from Barlach's past that he was never able to bring to justice. This book was originally written in German, but English translations aren't hard to find."
Melissa Cookson, Resident Scholar
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| Review Analysis of The Judge and his Executioner (Hangman) |
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Our unique search engine provides a wealth of detail about books by breaking them down into many different literary elements, all of which are searchable (click here).
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Ratings are on a 1-10 scale (Low to High)
Plot
Composition of Book
descript. of violence and chases - 10%
Planning/preparing, gather info, debate puzzles/motives - 55%
Feelings, relationships, character bio/development - 25%
How society works & physical descript. (people, objects, places) - 10%
Tone of story
- Dry-cynical
- depressing/sad
How difficult to spot villain?
- Difficult, but some clues given
- Challenging
Time/era of story:
- 1930's-1950's
What % of story relates directly
to the mystery, not the subplot?
- 50%
- nearly 100%
Murder of certain profession?
- lawmen
Misc. Murder Plotlets
- solving long-past murder
Kind of investigator
- police procedural, Foreign
Kid or adult book?
- Adult or Young Adult Book
Any non-mystery subplot?
- politics
Crime Thriller
Yes
Murder Mystery (killer unknown)
Yes
General Crime (including known murderer)
Yes
Who's the criminal enemy here?
- catching con-artist
Main Character
Gender
- Male
Profession/status:
- police/lawman
Age:
- 60's-90's
Eccentric/Mental:
Yes
Eccentric:
- eccentric
- obsessed
How much violence does he/she use?
- none
- a little
Ethnicity/Race
- Swiss
How sensitive is this character?
- middling sensitive to others' feelings
- hard edged
Sense of humor
- Cynical sense of humor
Intelligence
- Very much smarter than other characters
Physique
- physically sick
Main Adversary
Identity:
- Male
Age:
- 60's-90's
Profession/status:
- wealthy
- criminal
Eccentric:
Yes
- obsessed
How much of work is main antagonist actually present in:
- a little/some
- a moderate amount
Motive of antagonist
- kicks
How sensitive is this character?
- hard edged
Intelligence
- Very much smarter than other characters
Physique
- average physique
Setting
Europe
Yes
European country:
- Turkey
- Switzerland
City?
Yes
Misc setting
- fancy mansion
Style
Part of a series?
Yes
Person
- mostly 3rd
Accounts of torture and death?
- generic/vague references to death/punishment
- moderately detailed references to deaths
How many deaths?
- 5-7
Unusual forms of death
- crushed
- perforation--bullets
Unusual form of death?
Yes
Amount of dialog
- roughly even amounts of descript and dialog
- significantly more descript than dialog
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