Race Horses and Hidden Book Deals Key in Dan Brown Lawsuit

“Da Vinci Code” scribe Dan Brown allegedly hid assets, including book and television deals, as well as expensive horses, from his ex-wife during their divorce trial.

The marriage ended in 2018, with that case being heard in Portsmouth Family Court.

Now, Blythe Brown wants $150 million she said her husband owes her. Her latest court filings are demanding records on the book deals and the horse purchases.

“Dan has lived a proverbial life of lies for at least the past six years, seeming to be the epitome of a world-famous novelist leading a simple life in his home state of New Hampshire, while in reality, he was something quite different,” the original lawsuit states. “For years, Dan has secretly removed substantial funds from his and Blythe’s hard-earned marital assets to conduct sordid, extra-marital affairs with women—one half his age—and to pursue a clandestine life.”

The couple married in 1997 and Blythe Brown claims she was instrumental in supporting her husband’s writing. She even allegedly did research for his best-selling breakout novel, “The Da Vinci Code.”

The lawsuit, filed in Rockingham County Superior Court in Brentwood, claims Dan Brown hid a television project based on his Da Vinci Code characters, more deals for more books in the Da Vinci-verse, and a children’s book.

In addition to the book and T.V. deals, Dan Brown hid his purchase of two Frisian horses, named Da Vinci and LimiTed Edition, according to court records. Dan Brown had previously tried to claim he bought the horses for Blythe Brown, then for his girlfriend known as JP. But Blythe Brown’s legal team has reason to believe he always planned to keep the horses for himself.

“The documents show that Defendant continued to assert ownership over the horses and that he not only did not gift” them to JP, but that he affirmatively did not want JP to own them,” a recent motion to produce documents state.

In fact, Dan Brown states in an email seeking a receipt for the horses that he is the owner, and not JP or Blythe Brown, according to court records.

“Normally, the decision on a horse’s name is the sole right of the new owner, and I feel his naming is my decision alone as his owner,” Dan Brown wrote, according to the motion to produce documents.

British tabloids have identified JP as Dutch horse trainer Judith Pietersen, who posted photos of herself with the Browns and the horses in question to her social media.

Blythe Brown wants all records on the television and book deals, as well as the horse purchases.

No trial date has yet been set for the lawsuit.