Bavaria’s King Ludwig, best known for his beautiful and breathtaking castles (the inspiration for Disneyland), died mysteriously in 1886, supposedly drowning in waist-deep water soon after he was declared insane by doctors who had never met him. Historical novelist Oliver Pötzsch, author of the international bestselling Hangman’s Daughter series, re-imagines the life of this eccentric monarch in The Ludwig Conspiracy.
Set primarily in contemporary Germany, the tale follows mild-mannered Steven Lukas, a dealer in rare books who gains possession of a long-lost diary authored by one of Ludwig’s confidantes, revealing the true secrets of the events leading up to Ludwig’s death. The problem: it’s written entirely in code. Villainous forces are also vying to get their hands on the diary and they are willing to go to any lengths to possess it, including murder. Lukas teams up with the beautiful and enigmatic art detective Sara Lengfeld in a frantic search through each of Ludwig’s three castles to ferret out clues to solve the mystery before it is too late.
This gripping thriller brings together the present and the past with high-action adventure in a bold, entertaining storyline. Pötzsch is a bestselling German author and filmmaker. He will appear at Mystery One Bookstore at 5 p.m. on Wednesday, Sept. 11, and at Boswell Book Co. later that evening at 7 p.m.
