In the last decade there has been considerable interest in research into ancient magic, with dozens of books published in this area. This book also falls into this line, but, instead of generalisations, C. draws conclusions from hundreds of specific curses. C.'s book is a revised edition of her Habilitation thesis defended at the University of Magdeburg. The first part infers the curse rituals from the texts of the surviving curses and the formulas used in them. C. introduces previous classification systems from A. Audollent's book to C.A. Faraone and then proposes a new classification that groups the formulas used based on linguistics. She divides the formulas into three groups: those connected to the patiens, the target of the harming ritual, those connected to the actio, the actions that concern both the ritual and its expected effect, and finally those connected to the executive (agens), who is meant to fulfil the curse. Looking for a common feature of the surviving curse texts, C. points out that these texts are all prayers, even if they are malicious.

The shorter, second part of the book groups together the individual features of the curses and presents them based on examples, such as the insult, the complaint, the supplication for protection and the supplication for blessing. However, there are also curses that step out of the world of formulae and formulate curses tailored to the individual (e.g. do not bear fruit on his land, let the sea dry for him, do not sing wedding songs at her wedding, that is, do not have a wedding). According to C., people turned to applying curses mostly when they could not expect to be able to enforce their request or claim through legal means. The book draws its conclusions from the text of about 320 curse tablets in Greek and Latin. C. gives the original text of the curses and translates them, mostly into German, first. The book can therefore also be used as a collection of texts for the curse tablets translated into German.

The book was based on a huge database of curses, referred to by C. as TheDeMa, Thesaurus Defixionum Magdeburgensis. C. collected the texts of about 1,700 curse tablets in this database, giving the place of origin, material (not always written on lead), dates and linguistic features of the wording. The database, apart from its minor shortcomings, was a useful tool for researchers of ancient magic. That is why it was a minor blow to researchers when C. moved to Hamburg and shut down the database. The disappearance of TheDeMa has caused difficulty for all those who deal with ancient magic. The TheDefix, which has been relocated to the University of Hamburg, cannot replace the Magdeburg database for the time being, because although we can read about 1,700 tablets relocated on the Hamburg website, the number of curse tablets that can be searched is roughly 100. C.'s book cites more than 300 curse texts, numbered by TheDeMa, and we find the place of their original publication only in the footnotes. The book's final index, which could be useful, refers only to TheDeMa numbers, which have become largely unusable by turning off the database.

A significant merit of the volume is the German translation of the curses. Most translations are by C. and have not been published elsewhere. There are English translations of many of the curses, but in the German-speaking world this collection really fills a gap. It is at this point that the question arises as to whether it would not have been more useful for C. to publish the book in English rather than in German. It is my sincere conviction that every scientific book published in German serves the survival of German as a scientific language. This is important not only for German, Austrian and Swiss students, but also for Eastern Europeans who speak German. C.'s book is therefore a particularly welcome example.

The title of the book should also be mentioned. Devotio malefica is apparently redundant. C. thus wanted to emphasise that the examples quoted in the book are all malicious spells, while a positive interpretation of devotio is also possible. The volume concludes with an extensive index of names and a bibliography. These will help readers to become more aware of the world of ancient magic.