Reviewed by McKnight
Witch Hunter is the first book in the Mathias Thulmann trilogy written by C.L. Werner and is a 400 page script. It brings the reader right into the middle of a witch hunt. Witch Hunter Mathias Thulmann and his hired sword Streng are hunting down a false doctor, accused of killing innocent people. When they are contacted by the new general witch hunter south, and told to go the village of Klausberg and solve the mystery of murders in the same area.
C. L. Werner gives a great image of just how must respect the imperial witch hunters are given. Typically when a witch hunter stays in an inn, it will feel the effects of the witch hunter’s visit. The inn will often lose its customers while he is there and people will shy away from the gaze of the witch hunter. The witch hunters are allowed to do anything they want, and if people oppose them, their faith in Sigmar will be questioned.
To return to Mathias. The murders are making life hard for the people of Klausberg. Despite his experiences, Mathias is having trouble solving the pattern which the “beast” strikes in. Meanwhile the lord of the village, Lord Klausner, is not happy with the witch hunter and is not cooperative. Lord Klausner is a good friend of the Grand Theogonist and is an old witch hunter himself, but his age has left him weakened. His two sons are complete opposites of each other and are kept away from the witch hunters’ duty by their father, even though their entire family has been witch hunters.
The ending is quite good but with no surprise, but one. It leads up to the sequel Witch Finder in a nice and quiet way but still with some anticipation.
The book is a dark and mysterious mix of crime investigation and action. It is hard to solve on your own and only by reading it will you uncover the truth. It is fun to wonder what kind of beast, it could possibly be, since we have such a large variety of evil beings in the Warhammer universe! Look forward to murder, heretic burnings, Streng’s grand ability to consume plenty of alcohol and of course Mathias Thulmann’s detective work!