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Ludwig II, the Fairy-tale King of Bavaria, is today remembered for his beautiful castles - popular tourist destinations that inspired the Disney Castle, but whose origins were much more fantastical than anything Disney could dream up. Also known as the Mad King, Ludwig was deposed in 1886 after being declared insane by doctors who had never met him. He promptly died - mysteriously drowned in waist-deep water - his eccentric castles his only legacy.
Master of historical suspense Oliver Pötzsch brings the Mad King back to life in The Ludwig Conspiracy. An encoded diary by one of Ludwig's confidants falls into the hands of modern-day rare book dealer Steven Lukas, who soon realizes that the diary may bring him more misery than money. Others want the diary as well - and they will kill to get it. Lukas teams up with a beautiful art detective, Sara Lengfeld, to investigate each of Ludwig's three famous castles for clues to crack the diary's code as mysterious thugs and Ludwig's fanatical followers chase them at every step. Just what in the diary could be so explosive?
Combining contemporary mystery and a gripping historical saga and centered on an ingenious code that can be cracked only with a combination of modern computers and nineteenth-century texts, The Ludwig Conspiracy is a bold new thriller from the best-selling author of The Hangman's Daughter series.
"Starred Review. While readers will find broad parallels with Dan Brown's thrillers, Pötzsch's sophisticated plotting and good use of a real-life historical puzzle place this far ahead of most Da Vinci Code wannabes." - Publishers Weekly
"The story of Ludwig II is a strange one, and historical mystery fans and conspiracy theorists will find much to enjoy in this bizarre tale." - Library Journal
"Fans of bookish European fiction will enjoy this, the too abundant Dan Brown–ian motions notwithstanding. " - Kirkus
"It's not a bad book, and it floats an interesting theory about Ludwig's death, but it will definitely make readers want something meatier, like another Hangman's Daughter novel." - Booklist
This information about The Ludwig Conspiracy was first featured
in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.
Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
Oliver Pötzsch, born in 1970, has worked for years as a scriptwriter for Bavarian television. He is a descendant of one of Bavaria's leading dynasties of executioners. Pötzsch lives in Munich with his family.
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