With the help of protégé Luke Daniels, Cotton Malone has discovered a plot to wrest Bavarian independence from Germany and restore the Wittelsbach monarchy. It's all based on a lost document purporting to grant King Ludwig II legal rights to land now wanted by Germany, China, and the United States. And the race to find the document is on! With a 200,000-copy first printing.

Berry once again proves that history matters, skillfully crafting a fictional story around historical truths in this 17th Cotton Malone novel (following The Kaiser's Web). This time the Justice Department agent—turned—antiquarian book dealer is searching for clues from 1886, the year when King Ludwig II of Bavaria was deposed. Eccentric almost to the point of madness, Ludwig searched for another kingdom to rule as he hid from the world, dying mysteriously shortly thereafter. Now the CIA, Germany, China, and a rogue band of ex-spies all hunt for the missing documents that could prove whether Ludwig found another country to rule before his death. Malone joins the hunt to determine if another monarch deeded Ludwig some land for his new empire. From clandestine meetings to code-crunching cipher wheels to secret compartments in antique desks that conceal what might be the "keys to the kingdom," Malone and his protégé Luke must solve King Ludwig's puzzle and reckon with the truth's implications for global power dynamics. VERDICT Berry is like a fine-tuned machine, melding historical fact and authentic locales within a complex fictional storyline. History enthusiasts will relish the intricate research behind the spy-versus-spy thriller, which challenges readers to consider historical what-ifs.—K.L. Romo

In bestseller Berry's high-octane 17th novel featuring Cotton Malone (after 2021's The Kaiser's Web), Malone, a former intelligence officer who worked 12 years with the Magellan Billet, a covert Justice Department unit, and is now living in Denmark, where he owns and operates a rare book shop, comes out of retirement to assist his protégé, Luke Daniels. Daniels has infiltrated a group bent "on doing some bad things to the U.S." that is linked to Bavarian prince Stefan von Bayern. The prince wants Malone and Daniels to visit Bavaria's Herrenchiemsee Palace, built by Ludwig II, the notorious mad king, to search for a valuable document. The document is connected with Ludwig's desire to realize his enigmatic dream of acquiring "the last kingdom"—and to his mysterious death in 1886, supposedly by accidental drowning. Malone soon finds himself shot at and drawn into aiding Daniels further. The reveal of this mysterious document's true nature will work best for series fans accustomed to suspending disbelief. Those looking for a fun page-turner with historical elements will be satisfied. Agent: Agent: Simon Lipskar, Writers House. (Feb.)