The London Forgery

I do love a good dual-timeline story, and Heidi Eljarbo delivers!

In 1973, art historian Fabiola Bennett is called in when the National Gallery in London receives a mysterious note indicating there may be a problem with Mr. and Mrs. Andrews, a well-known work of artist Thomas Gainsborough. We see the investigation into the matter through Fabiola's eyes, and we see the history of the painting from the artist's viewpoint in 1750.

I know very little about art history or how one would tell a real painting from a forgery, so the detail the author provided on those subjects was fascinating. As a former prosecutor, I'm always interested in anything related to crime and its investigation, and it was fun seeing Fabiola work with (and sometimes without) Detective Inspector Cary Green. I sometimes had to hold my breath at the situations Fabiola and Pippa put themselves into for the sake of gaining information. They were definitely keen to solve the mystery!

The dual timelines wove together effortlessly, and it was interesting reading about the thought process that Gainsborough may have put into his painting. (I say “may” because this is fiction, after all.) I'm no artist, and Eljarbo gave us an engaging look into the the artist's inner world as he put brushes to canvas.

There's just a hint of romance between Fabiola and the Detective Inspector. I hope we see more of that in future books. Fabiola is a likable character. She's mourning the death of her husband, so it's understandable that she isn't jumping into anything right now. But I would like to see her happy in a new relationship at some point. I can hope!

This is the first book I've read by Heidi Eljarbo, but it won't be the last. I look forward to more in this series, and I recommend it to anyone who loves a good mystery that keeps you guessing.

My thanks to JustRead Publicity Tours and the author for a review copy of the book. All opinions here are mine, and I don't say nice things about books I don't actually like.