The Ludwig Conspiracy Paperback – May 6, 2014

I have been fascinated by the death of King Ludwig the second since a trip to Germany about four years ago and while this is a fictional book, many of the facts are true and the story is interesting if a bit predictable.Ludwig was the last castle builder in his country and it seemed that he was more focused on creating a world that had already past, rather than governing his country. So was he mad? Did he drown?In this tale, it's because of his refusal to rule and the financial ruin he was putting the country in that appears to have driven many of the acts that lead to his death. And could you fault his ministers in that?Oliver Potzsch has created a creditable situation and story. The characters are OK ... I didn't think the heroes were drawn as well as the scenes and the villain -- truly a memorable adversary -- but still a good read.

I enjoy this author's works. I discovered his book The Hangman's Daughter, and was thoroughly enthralled by it. There were sequels to that which I also read. The Ludwig Conspiracy is not a sequel to those books, however. It follows an antique bookseller who suddenly finds himself running for his life because a stranger has hidden a box in his shop. He discovers the box, which includes a lock of hair and a diary which is written in code. As he races to discover the secrets that lie within the diary before the villains get him, he discovers that whatever it is has to do with Ludwig II, the "mad king" of Bavaria who built the famous Neuschwanstein Castle. I did figure out a main plot point well before its reveal; however, I did enjoy reading the book.

As others have said, all of Pötzsch's "Hangman's Daughter" series is much stronger and well-written than this novel. I gave it 3 stars b/c of the historical info & flashbacks (very well done), which oddly enough don't have the same wooden, plodding, oddly-phrased writing of the 'modern' sections. If the entire book had been comprised only of the writing in these 'modern' sections, I would give it only 1 star, if that.HOWEVER. Having said that, I'll give the author the benefit of the doubt this time, b/c I have a sneaking suspicion that the problems arose during translation. A few things tip me in this direction. For instance:1) I own the Kindle version, and the word "giant" or "gigantic" shows up - ready? - 60 times! (If you search for a word, Kindle will count how often it's used) As if that isn't bad enough, a good third of those times the phrase in which the word is incorporated refers to someone "over 6 ft. tall!" Really?! Since when are GIANTS 6 ft. tall?2) The fact that the best parts of this story are the historical details and imaginings. Perhaps that's b/c the translator is much more well-versed in her own country's lore than current English idoms, slang, & culture? Knowing all the stories would certainly make it easier to search for AND FIND the correct word during translation.3) The main characters are referred to by their occupations over & over & OVER. The female lead (who is called "art detective" enough times one longs for pronoun *she*) calls the much-older father figure male lead (who turns into, surprise, the romantic lead VERY quickly) "antiqutarian bookseller" repeatedly, both to the man himself and *always* when she introduces him. Ppl don't really talk this way, at least not all the time. B/c I've read & enjoyed "Hangman's Daughter" series, I know this isn't the author's typical style (well, at least his usual translator's style ;)Bottom line: if the kind of writing I've described doesn't really bother you, and you care about grammar not at all, go ahead & take a chance -- but don't say you weren't warned. It may be the historical parts of this tale will be enough to pull you thru to the end.

I’ve read several of Oliver Pötzsch’s books starting with the Hangman’s Daughter. They all take place in Germany or Bavaria in the 1600’s. Oliver uses actual places and historically based characters.Most of the books involve Jakob Kuisl the hangman in the town of Schongau. His family consists of his daughter Magdelena, his wife Anna-Maria, and Simon Fronweiser an admirer of the hangman and in love with Magdelena.They are all excellent books, but this book is not about Jakob or his family.The Ludwig Conspiracy concerns a plot to assassinate King Ludwig II of Bavaria and turn the crown over to Bismarck Chancellor of Germany. The story may or may not be true, however there are enough clues and innuendoes to bring truth to the story. Ludwig was also known as The Mad King and The Fairy Tale King, he lived in a make-believe world. He drained the kingdom’s treasury erecting castles.The best known examples of these are Linderhof and Neuschwanstein, the latter was the model for Disney’s Cinderella Castle.After visiting both of these castles, I was intrigued by the Ludwig legend and the excessive spending required in creating the opulence displayed in these castles.Pötzsch has done a wonderful job researching the death and all ramifications related to it. He built an intriguing story entwined around these facts and rumors. A story of love, suspense, terror, and murder.

Devo purtroppo ancora cominciare a leggerlo, ma dello stesso autore ho divorato tutta la serie dei romanzi della Figlia del Boia (5 in tutto) e ho anche l'altro Il menestrello, la saga del dottor Faust,. Non sono rimasto deluso e sono sicuro che neanche questo mi deluderà

I find Oliver Potzsch difficult to read. His writing seems to me to be a little stilted, although I must admit that this could lie in the translation as much as in the story itself. However I have to admit that I read this book more because I was interested in the subject matter than because I liked the author. I find his development of character clumsy, and the way he changes a character arbitrarily in order to suit the demands of his plot somewhat naïve. The characters should lead the plot, rather than the other way around. However the book did make some attempt to explain the mysterious happenings in Bavaria during the late nineteenth century, and I may do some more research into this fascinating area.

I was surprised to discover this was translated from German. It is an engaging work of historical fiction and mystery.

Have read many of his books and liked them all. Can't wait for the next one.

If you like the Hangman's Daughter series or The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown you will also like this book. It combines the historically accurate past with a contemporary 'who dunnit' and also why are they doing it. The descriptive passages are also great in bringing the area and scenery to life which let's you image you are actually in the action yourself. This book was translated from the German by an American who let's the odd Americanism into the text but apart from that a very enjoyable read which moves at a good pace and is hard to put down.