Ludwig

Puzzle setter John ‘Ludwig' Taylor's life of solitude is upended when his identical twin, DCI James Taylor, disappears. Drafted in by his sister-in-law Lucy, John reluctantly assumes his brother's identity as a detective in the Cambridge Police Authority in order to find clues to his brother's whereabouts.

John is tasked with infiltrating the Major Investigations Team, gathering information and solving a completely unconnected murder, all whilst remaining in character as his brother. A difficult ask for anyone, let alone a reclusive puzzle-setting genius who rarely leaves the house. Can this master of all things cryptic crack his biggest puzzle yet?

After a breakthrough finding a coded notebook, John decides to return to the police station to gather more information about his missing brother's last case.

Before John can make much progress, his thirst for all things cryptic sees him drawn to another grisly crime scene at a grand manor house. What looks like a missing person's case turns into something far more sinister as John puts his puzzle mind to work.

Back at home, a frustrated Lucy takes matters into her own hands and embarks on a fact-finding mission to the home of one of her husband's ex-colleagues.

With new information about Chief Constable Ziegler, John is sent back to the police station to get closer to DI Russell Carter, his brother's new partner who mysteriously arrived around the same time that James disappeared.

A new case takes John and Russell on a walking tour of Cambridge, where they are faced with an impossible question: why would someone kill a tour guide that they'd only just met? To get closer to the truth about what happened to conspiracy blogger Roger Sinclair, Lucy goes undercover and makes a shocking discovery of her own.

A body falls from the fourth storey of a construction site. Was it just a terrible accident, or a perfectly executed murder? John's team think he's losing his touch when he latches on to a far-fetched theory and starts pointing fingers. When things don't quite add up, John begins to question his abilities both at work and at home, whilst Lucy's frustration at their lack of progress in finding her husband reaches fever-pitch.

John and the gang go back to school to investigate the suspicious death of a headmaster. In doing so, John is faced with his own bad memories of school but is pleasantly surprised when he reconnects with his old mentor, the man who taught him everything about puzzles.

With John distracted by the case, Lucy follows a new lead which she hopes will bring her closer to finding James. Lucy's covert mission takes her to Wales, but she's not the lone wolf she thinks she is, and her discoveries leave her rattled. A shocking revelation from IT consultant Holly forces John to question everything.

With Lucy embroiled in a murder plot, all eyes are on John. The hunt for James takes a back seat as John desperately battles to prove Lucy's innocence. Angry at James for abandoning his family, John questions whether his brother is worth any of this.

As the pressure ramps up, Lucy admits that what she needs right now isn't James or John, it's Ludwig. Is it time for John to come clean and reveal his true identity to the team?