The Ludwig Conspiracy
Here’s quite a departure for the author of the excellent Hangman’s Daughter novels. That series is set in seventeenth-century Germany; this novel is also set in Germany but in the present day. Steven Lukas, a dealer in rare books, stumbles into a conspiracy involving King Ludwig II, otherwise known as the Mad King, who died in 1886 under mysterious circumstances. Now the book dealer is on the run from the Cowled Men, a secret order devoted to proving Ludwig was murdered, who seem determined to make sure the secrets Lukas has uncovered die with him. Readers familiar with the historical-conspiracy genre will note that Potzsch follows the format closely, but his historical novels, set nearly four centuries ago, feel more genuine, more anchored in reality, than this slick actioner (which suffers, it must be noted, from a surfeit of “oh, come on!” moments that threaten to stretch believability to the breaking point). 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. --David Pitt