1973. Art historian Fabiola Bennett sees herself as a prudently observant deer who becomes a daring and even mischievous lioness if the situation calls for it. And that’s exactly what’s required when greedy criminals steal, forge, and tamper with treasured artwork. When the crooks add murder to their list of crimes, the chaos is complete.
A mysterious note is delivered anonymously at the door of the National Gallery in London, and the director immediately calls Fabiola’s office in Oslo and pleads with her to come without delay. The message is confusing, but it seems one of her favorite eighteenth-century portraits is in trouble.
Fabiola hops on the first plane and meets up with her vibrant side-kick Pippa Yates and the ever-loyal Detective Inspector Cary Green from New Scotland Yard. But she is not naïve enough to think untangling the purpose and meaning of the mysterious note will be as simple as a walk in Hyde Park. These things never are.
1750. Newly married Robert and Frances Andrews, members of the landed gentry of Suffolk, England, hire young and talented Thomas Gainsborough to paint their wedding portrait. Their desire is a lovely conversation piece showing their wealth and class, an artwork to remember them by for generations to come.
Little do they know the gifted artist portrays their personalities exactly how he perceives them, and the artistic symbolism is not as flattering as they’d hoped for. Even the looming clouds in the distance promise a troublesome future.
This is the first book in a new dual timeline series by Heidi Eljarbo—an intriguing spin-off from the much-loved Soli Hansen Mysteries.
Fans of Lucinda Riley, Rhys Bowen, Kathleen McGurl, Kate Morton, and Katherine Neville will love this cozy historical art mystery, which takes the readers back to the nostalgia of the groovy seventies and the classical Georgian era of the eighteenth century.
So, what is the motive for stealing such artifacts? In some areas of the world, special art can have cultural value, some paintings are targeted because the artist is famous, others because the artwork has a price tag far beyond what the average buyer can afford. Often, there’s a combination of reasons.
During WWII, Hitler had a goal of building an enormous art museum in his hometown Linz, Austria. As a young man, Hitler had applied for the Viennese art school twice and not been accepted. He kept painting, and when he became Der Führer, he had many of his soldiers work on their artistic talents, as well. He preferred nationalistic, classic artwork and banned the more modernist art. The Nazis looted a staggering number of 600 000 paintings from Jews alone. Some have been recovered—in 2011, more than 1500 paintings were found in a small apartment in Munich—but many are still lost.
Art destruction is another heartbreaking chapter in the history of art. Again, the Mona Lisa and Rembrandt’s Night Watch have been under attack several times. These are just a couple of examples of vandalism. Sometimes, protesters and climate activists ruin artwork to make a statement. Other times, art is destroyed by desperate people or in wartime situations. Some famous artists like Michelangelo and Monet have even destroyed their own art because of a violent outburst or even disappointment.
Readers of my books may have already read the four books in the Soli Hansen Mysteries which are situated in Oslo during WWII. Soli goes undercover and works with the Resistance to rescue artwork from Nazi looting. The fun thing is, the new Fabiola Bennett Mystery Series is a spin-off from the Soli Hansen Mysteries. Fabiola is Soli’s daughter—also a sleuth—and a brilliant art historian with an eidetic memory.
I hope you’ll enjoy The London Forgery and read about the making of Thomas Gainsborough’s famous masterpiece Mr. and Mrs. Andrews in 1750, and the desperation of an art historian in 1973, who risks all to find out what has happened to the portrait.
Happy reading!
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Thanks so much for hosting Heidi Eljarbo today with such a fascinating guest post.
ReplyDeleteCathie xx
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