Author Oliver Pötzsch perch comes from a long line of Bavarian executioners – the last of whom died in the early 1800s. He brings them back to life in his books – the latest of which is THE DARK MONK: A Hangman’s Daughter Tale

In all of my novels, the main character is Jakob Kuisl, which is one of my ancestors, the Hangman. At the very end of the 17th century, he and his friend, physician young Simon, found that a preacher in a church. They find out that there is something hidden there. There are some documents hidden and these documents will lead them to the famous treasure of the Templars in Germany.”

In addition to the executioner who’s also a detective, there’s his daughter, a feisty woman for the time and the highwaymen who threaten them both at every turn. Perch knows the plot sounds a lot like an American author known for the Da Vinci Code and Angels and Demons.

He laughs, “In Germany sometimes, they call me the German Dan Brown. My books are historical novels. All of the riddles you find in these books, all of these historical things, they’re definitely true.”