Oliver Pötzsch has 20 audiobooks on Listento.it, narrated by 10 narrators, with an average listener rating of 4.6★ across 22 ratings. The most-rated is The Castle of Kings.
The Ludwig Conspiracy
Summary
In 1886, King Ludwig II, the King of Bavaria, was deposed on grounds of mental incapacity without any medical examination. His "diagnosis" remains controversial among historians to this day. Soon after his fall from power, Ludwig died under mysterious circumstances, leaving the eccentric and beautiful "fairytale" castles he had built as his only remaining legacy. While putting away books from an estate sale purchase, rare book-dealer Steven Lukas finds a box he's never seen before wedged between books on a high shelf. In it he discovers what looks to be a small diary written entirely in code, a lock of hair, and old photographs of the Fairytale King. It isn't long however, before his excitement turns to fear as he realizes that mysterious others want the diary too - and will apparently kill to get it. Suspecting that his find may contain the secret truth behind Ludwig's death, Steven consults with art historian Sara Lengfeld. Soon they find themselves on the run together, investigating each of Ludwig's three castles for clues as to just what in that ancient diary could be so explosive as to be worth killing - and even dying - for.
©2011 Oliver Pötzsch. English Translation © 2013 Anthea Bell. Recorded by arrangement with Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. (P)2013 HighBridge Company
The Castle of Kings
Summary
In 1524, in what is now Germany, hundreds of thousands of peasants revolt against the harsh treatment by their aristocratic overlords. Agnes, the daughter of one of these overlords, is not a typical 16th-century girl. She refuses to wear dresses and spends more time with her pet falcon than she does trying to attract potential suitors. In fact there is only one man who interests her: Mathis, a childhood friend, whom she can never marry because of his lowly birth. But the situation changes dramatically when a rogue knight attacks Agnes, Mathis shoots the knight to save her life, and the two are forced to go on the run together, into the midst of the raging peasants' war. Over the next two years, as Agnes and Mathis travel the countryside, are captured by and escape from various factions of the war, participate in massive battles, and make new friends both noble and peasant, they also, of course, fall in love. Meanwhile, Agnes' falcon finds a mysterious ring, and Agnes begins having strange dreams that lead the two lovers to revelations about their place in the world and in the emerging German states. With The Castle of Kings, Oliver Pötzsch has written a historical epic that calls to mind Ken Follett's The Pillars of the Earth and Bernard Cornwell's Agincourt.
©2016 Oliver Pötzsch. English translation © 2016 by Anthea Bell (P)2016 Blackstone Audio, Inc.
Die Henkerstochter und der Fluch der Pest
Summary
Die Henkerstochter auf der Spur einer landesweiten Verschwörung. Sommer 1679. Die Pest, die in Wien bereits Tausende Opfer gefordert hat, breitet sich Richtung Bayern aus. Der Schongauer Scharfrichter Jakob Kuisl wird von einem offensichtlich Pestkranken aufgesucht, der kurz darauf zusammenbricht. Bevor er stirbt, flüstert er Jakob Kuisl noch ein paar rätselhafte Worte ins Ohr: Kuisl müsse Kaufbeuren retten, ein schwarzer Reiter spiele mit seiner Pfeife dort zum Tanz auf. Der Mörder habe zwei Gesichter. Gemeinsam mit seiner Tochter Magdalena und seinem Schwiegersohn, dem Medicus Simon, die beide extra aus München zu ihm gereist sind, macht Jakob Kuisl sich auf, den geheimnisvollen Andeutungen auf den Grund zu gehen... In deiner Audible-Bibliothek findest du für dieses Hörerlebnis eine PDF-Datei mit zusätzlichem Material. >> Diese ungekürzte Hörbuch-Fassung genießt du exklusiv nur bei Audible.
©2020 Ullstein Buchverlage GmbH (P)2020 Hörbuch Hamburg HHV GmbH
The Council of Twelve
Summary
The seventh chilling mystery in the bestselling Hangman’s Daughter series. The year is 1672. Hangman Jakob Kuisl and his family travel to Munich, the cosmopolitan heart of Bavaria, for a meeting of the prestigious Council of Twelve, the leaders of the empire’s hangmen’s guild - prestigious for dishonourable hangmen at least. But something dark is happening behind the scenes: in the past weeks, young women have begun turning up dead. At first the authorities assume they are a rash of suicides, but when Kuisl notices that each woman possesses a matching amulet, suspicions arise that someone is murdering them. With no suspects, the superstitious townsfolk of Munich blame the hangmen’s guild, certain that they have called the devil upon the city. Joined by his daughter Magdalena, son-in-law Simon, the rest of his extended family and a slew of eccentric hangmen, Kuisl must solve the mystery of who is murdering the women. If he fails, the consequences could reverberate across the empire, affecting all the hangmen in Germany.
©2017 Oliver Pötzsch. Translation © 2018 by Lisa Reinhardt. (P)2018 Brilliance Publishing, Inc., all rights reserved.
The Play of Death
Summary
The mysterious sixth entry in the Hangman's Daughter series. It is 1670 and Simon Fronwieser is in the town of Oberammergau to bring his seven-year-old son to boarding school. As he bids his boy a tearful farewell, news comes of a shocking murder: the man who was to play the part of Christ in the town's Passion play has been found dead, nailed to the set's cross. As there is no doctor in town, Simon is brought in to examine the body. The opportunities to spend more time with his son and to investigate the murder quickly convince him to stay. Soon he is joined by his father-in-law, Jakob Kuisl, the Schongau hangman, and the two begin piecing together the puzzle of the actor's death. Was he murdered by a jealous rival? Are the recently arrived and unpopular immigrant workers somehow involved? Or is it a punishment from God for the villagers' arrogance in trying to schedule the play four years earlier than prescribed by ancient custom? Once again it looks like it is up to the Kuisls to unravel the mystery and bring a town's dark secrets to light.
©2017 Brilliance Publishing, Inc., all rights reserved. Translation © 2017 Lee Chadeayne.; 2016 Oliver Pötzsch
The Werewolf of Bamberg
Summary
In 1668, hangman Jakob Kuisl, his daughter Magdalena, and her husband Simon are traveling to the town of Bamberg. But what was planned as a family vacation soon becomes a nightmare: there is a murderer in Bamberg leaving the severed limbs of victims in the trash outside the city. When rumors quickly spread that the murders are the work of a werewolf, Jakob Kuisl must prove the superstition wrong and embark on a search for the "devil of Bamberg". This thrilling fifth entry in Oliver Pötzsch's Hangman's Daughter series follows the continuing adventures and mysteries that surround the Kuisl family.
©2015 Oliver Potzsch; 2015 Brilliance Audio, Inc.
Die Henkerstochter
Summary
Der Auftakt der erfolgreichen Reihe von Oliver Pötzsch: Einem Kindsmörder auf der Spur. Kurz nach dem Dreißigjährigen Krieg wird in der bayerischen Stadt Schongau ein sterbender Junge aus dem Lech gezogen. Eine Tätowierung deutet auf Hexenwerk hin, und sofort beschuldigen die Schongauer die Hebamme des Ortes. Der Henker Jakob Kuisl soll ihr unter Folter ein Geständnis entlocken, doch er ist überzeugt: Die alte Frau ist unschuldig. Unterstützt von seiner Tochter Magdalena und dem jungen Stadtmedicus macht er sich auf die Suche nach dem Täter. In deiner Audible-Bibliothek findest du für dieses Hörerlebnis eine PDF-Datei mit zusätzlichem Material.
©2008 Ullstein Buchverlage, Berlin (P)2019 Hörbuch Hamburg HHV GmbH, Hamburg
Die Henkerstochter und das Spiel des Todes
Summary
In Oberammergau herrscht kurz vor Pfingsten 1670 helle Aufregung. Bei den Proben zum berühmten Passionsspiel wird der Christus-Darsteller tot aufgefunden. Er wurde gekreuzigt. Der Schongauer Henker Jakob Kuisl und der Bader Simon Fronwieser werden um die Aufklärung des Todesfalls gebeten, doch sie stoßen auf eine Wand des Schweigens. Als ein weiterer Darsteller den Märtyrertod stirbt, glauben die Dorfbewohner an eine Strafe Gottes und wollen erst recht nicht mit den beiden Fremden reden. Erst als Kuisls Tochter Magdalena in Oberammergau eintrifft, stoßen sie auf eine Spur des Mörders, die sie tief ins Gebirge führt.
©2016 Ullstein Buchverlage GmbH, Berlin (P)2016 Hörbuch Hamburg HHV GmbH, Hamburg
Der Spielmann
Summary
Ein farbenprächtiges Abenteuer-Epos von Bestsellerautor Oliver Pötzsch 1486: Knittlingen ist ein ruhiger Ort im Kraichgau. Bis zu dem Tag, als die Gaukler in die Stadt kommen - und plötzlich Kinder verschwinden. Johann Georg, von seiner Mutter "Faustus", der Glückliche, genannt, kümmert das nicht. Ihn interessieren nur die bunten Kostüme, die Sackpfeifen und Kunststücke. Besonders der Spielmann und Magier Tonio del Moravia beeindrucken ihn: Von dem blassen Mann mit den stechend schwarzen Augen, der Johann eine große Zukunft als Gelehrter voraussagt, geht eine seltsame Faszination aus. Johann schließt sich ihm an, gemeinsam ziehen sie durch die deutschen Lande. Der junge "Faustus" saugt alles auf, was Tonio ihm beibringt. Doch von Tonios Lehren geht eine ungeahnte Gefahr aus, und schon bald beschleicht Johann das Gefühl, dass sein Meister mit dunklen Mächten im Bunde steht...
©2018 Ullstein Buchverlage, Berlin / Hörbuch Hamburg HHV GmbH, Hamburg (P)2018 Hörbuch Hamburg HHV GmbH, Hamburg
Die Henkerstochter und der Teufel von Bamberg
Summary
Gemeinsam mit seiner Tochter Magdalena und ihrem Mann Simon reist der Henker Jakob Kuisl im Jahre 1668 nach Bamberg. Was als Familienbesuch geplant war, wird jedoch bald zum Alptraum: In Bamberg geht ein Mörder um. Die abgetrennten Gliedmaßen der Opfer werden im Unrat vor den Toren der Stadt gefunden. Schnell verbreitet sich das Gerücht, die Morde seien das Werk eines Werwolfs. Jakob Kuisl mag sich diesem Aberglauben nicht anschließen und macht sich auf die Suche nach dem "Teufel von Bamberg".
©2014 Ullstein Buchverlage GmbH, Berlin (P)2014 Hörbuch Hamburg HHV GmbH, Hamburg
The Beggar King
Summary
1662: Jakob Kuisl, the hangman of a village in the Alps, receives a letter from his sister calling him to the imperial city of Regensburg, where a gruesome sight awaits him: her throat has been slit. When the city constable discovers Kuisl alongside the corpse, he locks him in a dungeon, where Kuisl will experience firsthand the torture he’s administered himself for years. As nightmares assail him, Kuisl can only hope to prevail on the Regensburg executioner to show mercy to a fellow hangman. Kuisl’s steely daughter, Magdalena, and her young doctor paramour, Simon, rush to Regensburg to try to save Jakob, enlisting an underground network of beggars, a beer-brewing monk, and an Italian playboy for help. Navigating the labyrinthine city, they learn there is much more behind the false accusation than a personal vendetta: a plan that will endanger the entire German Empire. Chock-full of fascinating historical detail, The Beggar King brings to vibrant life another tremendous tale of an unlikely hangman and his tough-as-nails daughter, confirming Pötzsch’s mettle as a storyteller at the height of his powers.
©2010 Oliver Pötzsch (P)2013 Brilliance Audio, Inc.
The Dark Monk
Summary
It is 1648, a small village in the Alps: In the thick of a blizzard,a town priest discovers he’s been poisoned. As numbness creeps up his body, he summons the last of his strength and scratches a sign in the frost that will lead the town hangman, his daughter, and the town physician in pursuit of a treasure of the Knights Templar. But the priest’s murderer is already on their trail, and he’s not the only one after the legendary fortune: a dark monk is not far behind,and a band of thieves is roving the countryside, attacking solitary travelers and spreading panic. The race is on, and the stakes are high. Delivering on the promise of his first book, Oliver Pötzsch takes readers on a whirlwind tour through the occult hiding places of Bavaria’s ancient monasteries, bringing to life the compassionate hangman - who’s destined to join the ranks of literature’s most beloved characters.
©2012 Oliver Pötzsch (P)2012 Brilliance Audio, Inc.
Book of the Night
Summary
In this thrilling adventure by bestselling author Oliver Pötzsch, thirteen-year-old Lukas has been trained as a swordsman by his father, a nobleman who was once a famed Musketeer. When the threat of war and accusations of witchcraft spread across the land, Lukas's life is forever changed. He flees his home and vows to find his missing sister. Surviving as an outcast, Lukas encounters thieves and mercenaries, a strange astrologer, and a master swordsman. He also meets three other fencers - Giovanni, Paulus, and Jerome. Each brings a special talent to their team that leads them to the Black Musketeers, the best fighters in the army. But living with the black-armored Musketeers is nothing like they imagined. In his quest to find his sister, Lukas learns of a legendary book that holds powerful magic. As he fights to keep the Book of the Night out of the hands of his greatest enemy, Lukas discovers the secrets of his own family and what it really means to be a Musketeer.
©2015 Oliver Pötzsch. (P)2016 Brilliance Audio, all rights reserved. Translation © 2016 by Lee Chadeayne.
The Master's Apprentice
Summary
A young man’s destined quest becomes a dance with the devil in a mesmerizing retelling of the Faust legend by the bestselling author of the Hangman’s Daughter series. It’s the fifteenth century and only heretics are curious about the universe. Germany, 1494. Born under a rare alignment of the stars, Johann Georg Gerlach, "the lucky one" to his mother - is fated for greatness. But Johann’s studies and wonder at the sky have made him suspect. Especially in wake of the child disappearances that have left the God-fearing locals trembling and his one true love trapped in terrified catatonia. Her only words: "I have seen the devil..." Banished from Knittlingen as cursed, Johann crosses paths with Tonio del Moravia. The traveling fortune-teller and master of the arcane arts recognizes something extraordinary in the wanderer. Taking Johann under his wing, Tonio promises a new world of knowledge and sensations. But with it comes a sinister web of deception and a chilling prophecy. The stars are set to align again. Now Johann must draw on the skills of his apprenticeship to solve the dark mystery that grips his village in fear and the deepening mystery of his own destiny.
©2018 Oliver Pötzsch and Ullstein Buchverlage GmbH (P)2020 Brilliance Publishing, Inc., all rights reserved. Translation © 2020 by Lisa Reinhardt
Der Spielmann
Summary
Ein farbenprächtiges Abenteuer-Epos von Bestsellerautor Oliver Pötzsch 1486: Knittlingen ist ein ruhiger Ort im Kraichgau. Bis zu dem Tag, als die Gaukler in die Stadt kommen - und plötzlich Kinder verschwinden. Johann Georg, von seiner Mutter "Faustus", der Glückliche, genannt, kümmert das nicht. Ihn interessieren nur die bunten Kostüme, die Sackpfeifen und Kunststücke. Besonders der Spielmann und Magier Tonio del Moravia beeindrucken ihn: Von dem blassen Mann mit den stechend schwarzen Augen, der Johann eine große Zukunft als Gelehrter voraussagt, geht eine seltsame Faszination aus. Johann schließt sich ihm an, gemeinsam ziehen sie durch die deutschen Lande. Der junge "Faustus" saugt alles auf, was Tonio ihm beibringt. Doch von Tonios Lehren geht eine ungeahnte Gefahr aus, und schon bald beschleicht Johann das Gefühl, dass sein Meister mit dunklen Mächten im Bunde steht...
©2018 Ullstein Buchverlage, Berlin / Hörbuch Hamburg HHV GmbH, Hamburg (P)2018 Hörbuch Hamburg HHV GmbH, Hamburg
The Devil's Pawn
Summary
A showman’s fate is in the hands of the devil in an enthralling novel inspired by the Faust legend from the bestselling author of the Hangman’s Daughter series. Rome, 1518. The church is tarnished by greed. Peasants are rebelling. Tumultuous times demand drastic recourse - before the devil gets his due. Johann Faust is a renowned magician, astrologer, and chiromancer traveling through Germany with his successful troupe: the orphaned juggler Greta and his loyal companion Karl. The avaricious Pope Leo X now requires Johann’s services to replenish the papacy’s drained coffers through alchemy. But the devil, with whom a regretful Johann once agreed to an unholy trade for fame, wants something else. Racked with paralyzing seizures, Johann fears that his debt is nearer to being settled. In France, Johann hopes for answers from an eminent new friend who could hold the key to his torment, body, and soul. For the celebrated artist, inventor, and anatomist Leonard da Vinci is suffering from the same accursed malady. Time is not on his side either. Now they all must outrun the devil, and the more human threats of the papal henchmen, before Johann is dragged straight to hell - along with everyone he holds dear.
©2019 Oliver Pötzsch. Translation © 2021 by Lisa Reinhardt. (P)2021 Brilliance Publishing, Inc., all rights reserved.
Der Lehrmeister
Summary
Das große Abenteuer-Epos vom Meister des historischen Romans: Oliver Pötzsch. Der goldene Herbst 1518 neigt sich dem Ende. Sechs Jahre sind vergangen, seitdem der berühmte Magier Johann Georg Faustus aus Nürnberg geflohen ist. Noch immer zieht er als Quacksalber und Astrologe durch die Lande. Sein Ruhm ist gewachsen, selbst an den Höfen von Herzögen, Grafen und Bischöfen sucht man seinen Rat. So als würde der Herrgott - oder sein böser Gegenspieler? - eine schützende Hand über ihn halten. Gemeinsam mit seinen neuen Gefährten Karl Wagner und der jungen Gauklerin Greta, seiner Ziehtochter, geht er gegen das erstarkende Böse in der Welt vor - immer auf der Suche nach dem wahren Wissen, das die Welt im Innersten zusammenhält. Johann spürt deutlich, dass dieses Leben nicht ewig so weiter gehen kann. Sein Erzfeind Tonio ist noch lange nicht besiegt, im Moment hält er sich bloß im Hintergrund. Doch manchmal glaubt Johann, dass der Teufel schon jetzt seine Hand nach ihm ausstreckt...
©2019 Ullstein Buchverlage, Berlin (P)2019 Hörbuch Hamburg HHV GmbH, Hamburg
Heiliger Zorn
Summary
Trügerische Idylle in Oberbayern: Ungewöhnliche und überraschende Morde erschüttern das Voralpenland. In bitterbösen, spannenden, beklemmenden, literarischen, aber auch witzigen und skurrilen Kurzgeschichten beleuchten die Autoren Deutschlands beliebteste Urlaubsregion aus einem mörderischen Blickwinkel.
©2013 SAGA Egmont (P)2020 SAGA Egmont
Der Hexer und die Henkerstochter
Summary
1666: Der Schongauer Medicus Simon und seine Frau Magdalena, die Tochter des Henkers, brechen zu einer Wallfahrt ins Kloster Andechs auf. Dort lernt Simon den mysteriösen Frater Virgilius kennen, der Uhrmacher und Erfinder ist. Simon ist fasziniert von den unheimlichen Automaten, die Virgilius erschaffen hat. Als der Frater verschwindet und sein Labor zerstört wird, ahnt Simon Böses und ruft Jakob Kuisl, den Schongauer Henker herbei. Gemeinsam machen sie sich auf die Suche nach einem wahnsinnigen Mörder...
©2012 Ullstein Buchverlage GmbH (P)2012 Hörbuch Hamburg HHV GmbH
Sword of Power
Summary
A harsh winter is coming. With it, a dark and pitiless magic… Lukas wants only two things: to rebuild his castle home in time to make it through the coming winter and to reconnect with the sister who was stolen from him in a plot against his family. But then an astrologer appears with foreboding news: his old adversary, Inquisitor Waldemar von Schönborn, has stolen three royal artifacts, which are required to coronate a new German emperor. With these valuable objects - the sword, the crown, and the scepter - he could blackmail the empire. The treasures are currently hidden in three different places in the old imperial city of Prague. To protect his homeland and help him find the artifacts, Lukas will need his three best friends - all members of the elite fighting group known as the Black Musketeers. He’ll also need his feisty little sister, Elsa, whose magical gifts may be the key to stopping the inquisitor’s latest scheme. They head for Prague immediately, but the adventure that awaits them there will put their courage and their friendship to the ultimate test.
©2016 Oliver Pötzsch (P)2018 Brilliance Publishing, Inc., all rights reserved. Translation © 2018 by Jaime McGill.