UNBREAKABLE CODES, SECRET SOCIETIES, AND THE TRUTH ABOUT THE FAIRY-TALE KING FROM THE ONE-MILLION-COPY, BEST-SELLING AUTHOR OF THE HANGMAN’S DAUGHTER

Praise for The Ludwig Conspiracy

“Alternating between nineteenth-century Bavaria and our own time, The Ludwig Conspiracy functions like one of those glorious antique timepieces called a Nuremberg egg: intricate, shimmering, never missing a beat. Oliver Pötzsch has hatched a narrative redolent of Alfred Hitchcock’s best romantic thrillers, replete with mind-boggling ciphers, distinctive villains, secret societies (exotic yet historically accurate), and other pleasures both sensual and cerebral.”—James Morrow, author of The Last Witchfinder

Praise for Oliver Pötzsch

"I loved every page, character, and plot twist of The Hangman’s Daughter, an inventive historical novel about a seventeenth-century hangman’s quest to save a witch—from himself." —Scott Turow

"Swift and sure, compelling as any conspiracy theory, persuasive as any spasm of paranoia, The Dark Monk grips you at the base of your skull and doesn't let go." —Gregory Maguire, author of Wicked and Out of Oz

"Oliver Pötzsch has brought to life the heady smells and tastes, the true reality of an era we've never seen quite like this before. The hangman Jakob and his feisty daughter Magdalena are characters we will want to root for in many books to come."—Katherine Neville, best-selling author of The Eight and The Magic Circle

"In this subtle, meticulously crafted story, every word is a possible clue, and the characters are so engaging that it’s impossible not to get involved in trying to help them figure the riddle out."—Oprah.com

"A bewitching mix of history and mystery, The Poisoned Pilgrim will please longtime Pötzsch fans and bring new ones into the fold."—Samuel Thomas, author of The Midwife’s Tale

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.