Media Kit

Book Title: The London Forgery

Series: A Fabiola Bennett Mystery

Author: Heidi Eljarbo

Publication Date: 29^th August 2023

Publisher: self-published

Page Length: about 252

Genre: Historical Mystery / dual timeline historical fiction

Twitter Handles: @HeidiEljarbo @cathiedunn

Instagram Handles: @authorheidieljarbo @thecoffeepotbookclub

Hashtags: #TheLondonForgery #fabiolabennett #DualTimelineMystery #BlogTour #TheCoffeePotBookClub

Tour Schedule Page: https://thecoffeepotbookclub.blogspot.com/2023/07/blog-tour-london-forgery-by-heidi-eljarbo.html

Book Title and Author Name:

The London Forgery

A Fabiola Bennett Mystery

Heidi Eljarbo

Blurb:

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.

Guest Post – The London Forgery

Dual timeline novels are a lot of fun to read. Most often, they fall into the historical fiction category…or at least one of the stories does. Many dual timeline books have one part in the present and the other part in a chosen time in history. My books’ main story is often set in the past, and the second story even further back in time.

For me it’s a win-win situation. I love history; art history, clothing history, how people related to each other in a different time, social life, superstition, beliefs, habits, politics between countries, the difference between aristocrats and poor people, and good and bad… The list is endless.

Imagine walking into a village two hundred years ago. What would you see, hear, taste, feel, and smell? Horses’ hooves clip-clop on the street, a young boy shouts the news from a corner, a woman stirs a pot of pea soup, another has a pan with fried fish to sell. A dog runs down the street with a string of sausages in his mouth, the butcher after the hound, and a group of young boys after the butcher. Church bells peel, and garbage in the back street stinks. The novel should grab you and take you on a journey into that world as if you were there, living the story.

When I research, I read original books from the era I’ve chosen, peruse countless articles, study old paintings, read historical fiction, and look up details about anything from potatoes and hats to the political status of the country.

The London Forgery’s main story takes place in 1973. Fifty years or more is considered historical fiction. I was a young teenager in 1973. Does that make me historical? The fun thing is that I can remember much from that time. I often wore long skirts and dresses and loved my orange platform shoes. The music was fabulous, and some of my favorites were Petula Clark, Cliff Richard, and Glenn Campbell. Back then, my bedroom had green walls and sported a bright-orange plastic lampshade. A small transistor radio tuned to Radio Luxembourg sat on the windowsill. Still, I researched many things to make sure I nailed the feeling of that decade.

Our protagonist is a Norwegian art historian called Fabiola Bennett. With her art expertise and knack for solving mysteries, she is called upon by the director of the National Gallery in London to help him understand why someone has left a mysterious, anonymous note at his doorstep. A famous Georgian painting from 1750 could be in trouble.

The second story in The London Forgery takes the reader back to the talented painter Thomas Gainsborough at the time when he was asked to paint a portrait of newlyweds Robert and Frances Andrews. There’s much information about both Gainsborough and the sitters. I listened to lectures and discussions about the artist and the painting named Mr. and Mrs. Andrews. I was touched to learn about how gifted he was, and the great love he had for his wife Margaret.

So, The London Forgery’s double plot has two parallel storylines that intersect. They may differ in time periods, characters, and settings, but they become unified through Thomas Gainsborough and his painting. Fabiola jumps in with both feet, starting a chase to find out what happened to the painting. Beside her are her two best friends, the vibrant Pippa and Cary, who happens to be a detective inspector at New Scotland Yard. Fabiola is quick, clever, and spontaneous, but sometimes ridiculously courageous…in fact, too much so for her own safety.

Happy reading!

Buy Links:

This title is available to read on #KindleUnlimited

Universal Link: https://books2read.com/u/3LjPX1

Amazon UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0C53S311M

Amazon US: https://www.amzn.com/B0C53S311M

Amazon CA: https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B0C53S311M

Amazon AU: https://www.amazon.com.au/dp/B0C53S311M

Author Bio:

Heidi Eljarbo is the bestselling author of historical fiction and mysteries filled with courageous and good characters that are easy to love and others you don’t want to go near.

Heidi grew up in a home filled with books and artwork and she never truly imagined she would do anything other than write and paint. She studied art, languages, and history, all of which have come in handy when working as an author, magazine journalist, and painter.

After living in Canada, six US states, Japan, Switzerland, and Austria, Heidi now calls Norway home. She and her husband have fifteen grandchildren—so far—in addition to a bouncy Wheaten Terrier.

Their favorite retreat is a mountain cabin, where they hike in the summertime and ski the vast, white terrain during winter.

Heidi’s favorites are family, God’s beautiful nature, and the word whimsical.

Author Links:

Website: https://www.heidieljarbo.com/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/HeidiEljarbo

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/authorheidieljarbo/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/authorheidieljarbo/

Pinterest: https://no.pinterest.com/heidieljarbo/

Book Bub: https://www.bookbub.com/profile/heidi-eljarbo

Amazon Author Page: https://www.amazon.com/Heidi-Eljarbo/e/B073D852VG/

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/16984270.Heidi_Eljarbo