The Other Cipher by Heidi Eljarbo Book Review - Blog Tour

Publication Date: 2 December 2020
Publisher: Independently Published
Series: Soli Hansen Mysteries Book 2
Page Length: 200 Pages
Genre: Historical Mystery

Synopsis

In the captivating second book of the Soli Hansen Mysteries, two women—separated by more than three hundred years—are connected through their love of art.

1613. Fabiola Ruber is been wed to a man she does not know and must live in a country with a new language and different customs. The memories of a lost love in her hometown Malta haunt her, and she sets out to find an artist who can do her portrait and recapture the feelings she had when she once modeled for a renowned Italian master painter.

1944. Four years into World War II, art historian Soli Hansen works with the Norwegian resistance to locate significant artwork and safeguard the pieces from the Nazis. When she finds out the Germans are after a hidden baroque depiction of a seventeenth century woman, she must muster all her courage and skills to decipher encrypted codes and preserve the mysterious art before it’s too late.

Both women are determined to do what they can to bring healing and redemption to their otherwise ominous future. Through tangled, bewildering clues and an eye for detail, Soli’s bond to Fabiola grows closer by the day. She must find the missing painting before the enemy does.

Ranging from a privileged life in seventeenth century Antwerp to Oslo during the German occupation of the second world war, this dual timeline is a historical mystery thriller that will keep you guessing until the very end.

My Thoughts

Soli Hansen is an art historian who sells art through the shop she inherited from her former employer. Business is steady despite the German Occupation, but Soli dabbles in more than just the buying and selling of art. Her expertise leads to her recruitment by The Art Club, the branch of the Norwegian Resistance dealing with the looting of art in Norway by the Nazis.

When news reaches Soli that a wealthy Jewish family, the Rubers, had hidden a 17th century painting before being deported, it is a race to see who will find it first - the Norwegian Resistance or the Germans commanded by the feared Lieutenant Colonel Heinz Walter.

The clue to the whereabouts of the painting is recorded in a ledger, written in code. After her own attempts to decipher the entry are unsuccessful, Soli decides to seek help from the chiffer group. Before she can contact them, two of the best cryptologists disappear, sending alarm through the Resistance group and dashing any hope that the code can be cracked in time.

The Other Cipher is an interesting read involving the plundering of art by the Nazis, the methods used by the Resistance to thwart them and life in Oslo during the German Occupation. Cleverly woven into the hunt for the missing painting is its history: why it was commissioned and its links to Caravaggio and Peter Paul Rubens.

This is a cozy historical mystery so there is no graphic violence, but I liked that, as Heide Eljarbo still manages to create suspense without it. She does this simply through the realistic reactions of her characters to the menacing presence of German soldiers, including the ominous black cars of the Gestapo, on the streets and the ever-present fear of arrest that dogs their every move. She also allows the reader's own imagination to take over when events happen out of sight.

While I did enjoy The Other Cipher and it works well as a standalone, it would have been beneficial to have read the first book in the series to gain a better understanding of the recurring characters and what had brought them all together. I'm looking forward to the next book in the series, but also to reading the first.

Where to Purchase

Amazon UK • Amazon US

Meet the Author

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 a total of nine children, thirteen 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. Sign up for her newsletter at https://www.heidieljarbo.com/newsletter

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