Free imperial city of Nuremberg 1581: Meister Frantz never meant to get involved in an ongoing investigation again. But who'd be better qualified to tell whether Anna Presiglin really hanged herself than the hangman of Nuremberg? Just in time before the corpse is burned, town guard Max Leinfelder gets the executioner's take on her demise: a blow to the neck. Who killed her before stringing her up: the husband, the lover or the robbers roaming the area? Only one thing is certain: Meister Frantz will be busy. Then the victim's body disappears, horses get stolen and husbands find themselves on errant paths. Max hardly knows who he should chase first. Solving this complicated case even requires his wife Kathi to join in the hunt as a secret scout of the city council, a position both well-paid and dangerous.