A.M. Stuart's setting of Singapore in 1910 felt so real that, as I read, I wondered how on earth women could survive there back in the days of acres of petticoats, corsets, and no air conditioning. The pace of Singapore Sapphire did drag a bit from time to time, mostly due to its being the first book in a series and the need to set up both characters and story, but there is a strong mystery that kept me guessing. The one thing I didn't keep guessing about-- the single clue about the murderous group of bad guys-- is something the characters in the book couldn't seem to get straight, so I have to admit that I did get exasperated with them.

The two leads, Harriet and Curran, are strong, interesting characters that can certainly carry a series on their shoulders, but I did wonder about Harriet even after her mysterious past was laid bare. She seemed to cry at the drop of a hat, and she seemed to get ravenously hungry so often that I thought she may be hypoglycemic.

Yes, Singapore Sapphire is a strong, solid start to a new historical mystery series, but I'm not sure that I will continue with it. As good as the two lead characters are, they really didn't "grab" me and make me want to read more. Of course, your mileage will certainly vary!

It was 1910 when Harriet Gordon escaped the tragedy of her past to Singapore. Her brother, Reverend Julian Edwards, was master at the local school and Harriet did some unpaid work for St. Thomas. But needing funds saw her advertising herself as a personal secretary and when she began typing the manuscript for Sir Oswald Newbold, she had no idea her acquaintance with him would cause such dramatic changes in her life.

The murder of Newbold was particularly vicious – Harriet finding him was shocking. But when Inspector Robert Curran arrived at the scene, he was impressed at her calm demeanor. As the investigation advanced, the connection to rubies and other gems seemed widespread. With a young man missing, a body found in the nearby river and dark secrets finding their way to the surface, Harriet and Curran were facing uncertainty and danger. Who was the mastermind? Would they find the killer before he struck again? Because it was certain he would kill anyone in his path…

Singapore Sapphire is the 1st in the Harriet Gordon Mystery series by Aussie author A.M. Stuart (aka Alison Stuart) and I loved it! Two of my favourite genres – historical fiction and mysteries – combined to make an enticing, fascinating look at Singapore when under colonial rule; the daring of criminals in their desire to be wealthy; and the blanket of humidity which hung over everyone, leeching the energy from one and all. Harriet Gordon and Robert Curran were excellent characters. I’m really looking forward to book 2 in the series and have no hesitation in recommending Singapore Sapphire to all fans of historical mysteries.

With thanks to NetGalley and Berkley/Penguin Random House New York for my digital ARC to read in exchange for an honest review.

Very good first book in the series. Looking forward to reading more from Curran and Harriet. Well done job.

is is such an awesome story, I do love a good mystery and this one hit the spot, set in Singapore in 1910, MS Stuart took me back in time to murders and a gang smuggling gems and a story that I did not want to put down. I am loving Harriet and Inspector Robert Curran and am truly thrilled that this book is the start of a series.

Harriet Gordon has decided to start afresh in Singapore with her brother, Reverend Julian who runs a school, Harriet has been through a lot and is settling in in Singapore, but she needs to find some work and takes on a job for Sir Oswald Newbold typing up his memoirs, but when he is horribly murdered and she discovers the body, the peace that Harriet was looking forward to is not going to happen as she gets involved with this murder and more.

Inspector Robert Curran is enjoying his position in the detective branch, but with Newbold’s murder and a second murder of a young man working in the hotel, Curran realizes that his witness Harriet is very good at seeing things and when he uncovers things from her past they form a friendship that keeps them working together to solve the murders, but not before Harriet finds herself in very real danger.

This is a story that you will not want to put down, every time I had to put is down Harriet and the characters were in my mind and I never stopped trying to work out the killer or killers it is so well written, and so well researched that I truly felt I was back in Singapore in 1910, the characters are so alive and real the good and the bad ones, I loved it from start to finish compelling, gripping and fabulous if you love a good mystery then this is one I highly recommend.

Harriet Gordon, who is in Singapore to start her life over, has just started a job helping an old man type up his memoirs when she finds him dead, messily murdered in his haunted bungalow at the beginning of A.M. Stuart’s transporting mystery debut, Singapore Sapphire. Unlike a lot of mysteries in which ordinary people blunder their way into a criminal investigation, Harriet has a partner, Detective Robert Curran, who seems willing to listen to her and never tries to talk her into not doing things. Even though there are the requisite moments of casual sexism and colonial chauvinism, Robert and Harriet have a very enlightened outlook for 1910.

At the outset of the novel, Sir Oswald’s worst sin seems to be boring others by talking about his one expedition to a mountain in northern Burma (now Myanmar) that was sitting on top of ton of rubies and sapphires. Who would have brutally stabbed the old man and his servant to death? Robert is immediately on the case, armed with the new techniques of crime scene photography and fingerprinting. Meanwhile, both Harriet and Robert dig into Oswald’s past to look for a real motive. Before long, people start disappearing and threats appear, pushing Harriet and Robert into harrowing situations.

While the mystery plot of Singapore Sapphire is engaging, realistic, and interesting, I was almost more interested in learning more about Harriet, Robert, and pre-World War I Singapore. I could feel the heat and humidity as I read the book. (There are a lot of references to sweaty Europeans.) And I wish that I could be friends with Harriet and Robert. I loved watching their friendship develop and there are just so many interesting details about them: Harriet’s past as an incarcerated suffragist and Robert’s love with a local woman of Chinese descent. I am really looking forward to their next adventures.

"Early twentieth-century Singapore is a place where a person can disappear, and Harriet Gordon hopes to make a new life for herself there, leaving her tragic memories behind her - but murder gets in the way.

Singapore, 1910 - Desperate for a fresh start, Harriet Gordon finds herself living with her brother, a reverend and headmaster of a school for boys, in Singapore at the height of colonial rule. Hoping to gain some financial independence, she advertises her services as a personal secretary. It is unfortunate that she should discover her first client, Sir Oswald Newbold - explorer, mine magnate and president of the exclusive Explorers and Geographers Club - dead with a knife in his throat.

When Inspector Robert Curran is put on the case, he realizes that he has an unusual witness in Harriet. Harriet's keen eye for detail and strong sense of duty interests him, as does her distrust of the police and her traumatic past, which she is at pains to keep secret from the gossips of Singapore society.

When another body is dragged from the canal, Harriet feels compelled to help with the case. She and Curran are soon drawn into a murderous web of treachery and deceit and find themselves face-to-face with a ruthless cabal that has no qualms about killing again to protect its secrets."

A country under colonial rule? A murder? This is the book for me.

The setting of this mystery is new to me....I don't know much about Singapore, and I know even less about the British who lived there.

We follow Harriett Gordon, her brother, and a police inspector as they navigate the harsh climate and politics of Bristish (and Dutch) aristocrats of the Far East.

I enjoyed the mystery, although the climax could've happened a bit sooner. While the deaths happened in quick succession, the final act took several chapters that felt a little long. I am intrigued by Harriett, her past as a sufferagete in London, and the newspaper man who knows her secret as well. At first I thought I was drawn to the inpsector, but I found myself intrigued by the newspaperman. I would like to know more about his backstory.

It was an enjoyable read, and I loved learning more about that era of colonialsim in the East by Britian.

Harriet Gordon has gone to live with her brother in Singapore. Her husband and son died from typhus and she wants to start over. She also teaches at her brother's school and is trying to do some secretarial work on the side. When her typewriter at work gives up, she goes back to the home of the man she's using her secretarial skills for. She finds her typewriter where she left it and the man she was working is dead on the floor in the same room...

Berkley and Net Galley let me read this book for review (thank you). It will be published August 6th.

This is a well written historical mystery. The mystery is complicated. People are not what they seem. Greed is the driving factor in this death and the ones to come.

Someone is making fake Buddhas that look authentic, someone has stolen rubies and a large sapphire during mining operations and now they are cashing them in, a bit at a time in another location. As people become redundent, they become dead.

Harriet gets involved in the investigation, mostly because a young boy's father is involved. The smugglers are killers and offer no one any sympathy. Will the cops come in time to save her or will Harriet die, too?

This is a beautifully written, cleverly-crafted murder mystery set in the unusual location of Singapore in 1910. Harriet Gordon is a multi-layered character with a tragic past and a secret she is at pains to keep from the critical Colonial society where she fled in an attempt to leave her past behind.
However, even in the Far East, where nothing is quite what it seems and everyone has secrets, Hannah's suffragette past threatens to cast a blight on her future and that of her bachelor headmaster brother, Julian.
Harriet is proud, practical, intelligent and not prone to hysterics, who harbours a deep-seated grief for her late husband and son. A grief which she succumbs to at certain moments, like her sympathy for a motherless pupil at the school her brother runs and where she works part time to earn her keep.
In fact, all the characters in this story are well rounded individuals, even the minor players, so I was engaged from the start with Harriet’s quest to find out who killed the man who employed her as a secretary for all of half an hour.
A M Stuart’s knowledge of Singapore, its culture, society and colonial governance in the early 20th Century is extensive. She draws the reader right into the jungle in the rainy season with all its heavy humidity, noisy wildlife and smells, good and bad.
The opening murder is only the beginning of the mystery as there is far more to uncover. The handsome Inspector Curran, who hates motor vehicles but loves cats and goes everywhere on horseback, enlists Harriet in his investigation. While he does the dogged police work, without really trying Harriet wheedles out clues among the teacups on the verandas of tropical bungalows.
I understand this is the first in a series of mysteries involving Harriet Gordon and, I hope this includes the multi-faceted Curran. One of the biggest mysteries is will the couple succumb to their obvious attraction, or will Curran’s reputation of having ‘gone native’ be a barrier to any future they might have?
I look forward to seeing where the personal stories of Harriet, Julian and even young William will go as well as immersing myself in another mystery in Singapore.
I received a digital copy of this book in return for an honest review

As a fan of historical fiction and suspense, I was drawn into this book from the very first chapter. Set in colonial Singapore in 1910, the densely layered, compelling, and well-thought out plot centers around gem smuggling, murderous thieves, and vividly descriptive and intriguing main characters. The oppressive heat and humidity as well as the overgrown jungle add to the atmospheric tension.
Harriet Gordon, recently widowed and a former suffragette, left London to live in India for ten years, and has arrived at her brother's household a few months ago to escape from her tragic past and to find work as a steno/typists. She's hired by Sir Newbold to type his memoir. When she goes to her client's old plantation home to retrieve the typewriter she left behind the previous day, she finds the famous explorer stabbed to death. His Burmese servant is also viciously murdered. The place is ransacked and the manuscript is missing from the safe. When the body of a young hotel clerk is dragged from the canal, Harriet agrees to help Chief Inspector Robert Curran in solving the mystery. The underlying current of attraction between the two is appropriately restrained. Deftly interspersed throughout the sharp prose and crisp dialogue are native words and phrases, all of which add to the ambience. Clever twist and turns, a story rich in detail about gem mining and smuggling, and a heart-pounding chase and rescue scene add increasing suspense toward the satisfying conclusion.
This novel is the first in a new series featuring the intrepid Harriet Gordon and the somewhat unorthodox Inspector Curran. I look forward to reading more adventures of this dynamic duo.
Fans of historical suspense will want to put this on their TBR list.

The setting of this tale is Singapore in 1910. Murder, kidnapping, thievery, and smuggling all play a part in the story. Harriet Gordon discovers the body of Sir Newbold who has been murdered violently in his home. This leads to her involvement with Inspector Curran and the solving of the case. there are too many suspects or not. The setting in Singapore at this time period helps to make this an interesting story. Read and enjoy. Maybe there will be more to come.

Harriet Gordon is in Singapore living with her brother after losing her husband and son in India and joining the suffrage movement in England. She was imprisoned and force fed which almost killed her. She is looking for a new start.

Harriet is doing unpaid work at the school where her brother is headmaster. So she goes looking for clerical work to give her some wages. Her first client is Sir Oswald Newbold who is writing his memoirs. He was an explorer who opened Burmese ruby mines to British buyers. But when Harriet goes to retrieve her typewriter after their first session, she finds him brutally murdered and his home trashed.

Inspector Robert Curran is put on the case and realizes that Harriet makes an excellent witness but she is also very wary of the police. When a young man that Harriet met at Sir Oswald's is also found murdered, Harriet decides to get involved in the investigation.

There are quite a few suspects in this story. Could it be someone from Sir Oswald's past? Is it a member of the Explorers and Geographers Club? And what is the connection with the father of one of the student's at her brother's school?

I enjoyed the setting and time period. 1910 in Singapore was quite a melting pot. I liked Harriet and her desire for women's rights and a career. I liked that she and Curran both were able to look beyond the normal British-centric viewpoint which was common.

This impeccably researched historical mystery is closer to thriller than it is to romance, though the two lead characters are the widowed suffragette Harriet Gordon and Inspector Robert Curran, who many of the British imperialists living in Singapore tsk over because they feel he's "gone native."

Some readers might object to the very nature of the book, depicting English people during the height of the imperial period (on the verge of its fall); I thought Stuart did a superb job of walking that knife-edge between depicting people of the time, and yet not offering the unexamined prejudices of that period as admirable or nostalgic.

It was a delight watching Gordon and Curran form a friendship and partnership, each respecting the other's intelligence and skills. I loved Harriet's brother, the gentle headmaster/pastor of a struggling English school. Also a delight was the care Stuart took to give all her characters, even the ones appearing for half a page, enough complexity to make me care for them, or dread them in the case of certain ones. Even the dead took on personality.

Stuart's vivid descriptions of the torrid climate and flora of the area also impressed me. Altogether this book looks to be the start of a very promising series.

Singapore Sapphire is an enjoyable, well-paced historical mystery in an interesting setting. Featuring complex and sympathetic characters, this mystery takes us to colonial Singapore. It's an easy but still compelling mystery with well-researched historical detail, and strong female lead and a somewhat mysterious but intriguing police counterpart. The slight concern that arises with many historicals set in colonized locations is that most of the local characters are secondary and not fleshed out, and our main focus is on the English residents. Regardless, I enjoyed the people we did meet and the change of pace from European historical mysteries, and will look forward to continuing the series and learning more about Harriet and Inspector Curran! I would recommend this to fans of the Phyrne Fisher and Perveen Mistry series.

I absolutely loved this story, it’s characters (particularly the wonderfully real main character Harriet Gordon), the fabulous setting and period (early 20th century Singapore), and, of course, the truly intriguing plot. This is a very well rendered historical novel which introduces the fascinating Harriet, her supportive brother, and a few other characters which I anticipate will become part of future stories. And we must, must have more stories! This is the first in what promises to be a favorite series. Well done!

This is the first book by Ms Stuart that I have read. It is very different from the historical romances I usually read. I found it very well written, with lots of mystery, intrigue and suspense to keep me turning the page. I found as one mystery was revealed another one came along. I enjoyed the fact that I thought I had worked out who done it only to find I was wrong and needed to keep going right up till the end. The characters were well written so that you could relate to them and they worked together beautifully. The setting was intriguing and so different from the usual historical novel. There was no romance or sex in this book but there was passion which made the characters feel much more human. It was a lovely change from dukes and debutantes and I know I will be reading more. I received this book as and ARC and was very happy to give it a review.

A very enjoyable mystery set in a part of the world I did not know much about. Harriet Gordon is an interesting new heroine who I enjoyed as a realistic and yet brave woman trying to rebuild her life in Singapore following tragedy in India and as a suffragette in London. She's given a fabulous partner in Inspector Robert Curran. Could I also just give a hat off to the author who has, so far anyway, made it clear this is a friendship and not a romance? The plot moves along nicely and never drags (a rarity lately so I very much appreciated a story that kept moving forward). I did figure out the one villain but not the second so I enjoyed that surprise and I very much enjoyed a few of the other small twists as the mystery resolved itself. I especially enjoyed the detail the author shared of the time and place of the story. Singapore of 1910 truly came alive on these pages along and with it a cast of characters I am looking forward to seeing another mystery from in the future.

This mystery had a very unique setting. I love how it was set in Singapore. The story was very fast-paced. I love Harriet and Inspector Curran. The only thing that I dislike about this novel was it suffered from telling and not showing. Still, this novel has potential to be as good as the Lady Julia mysteries. Full review to come.

An engrossing historical mystery with an exotic setting. I'm looking forward to the next in the series.

*Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for providing an e-galley in exchange for an honest review.

I enjoyed this historical mystery set in early 20th century Singapore. The characters ring true to the time period, and I think the non-white characters may suffer lack of detail because of that.

The idea of the Geographical Society was neat- one had to have a landmark named after oneself in order to belong. It seems like just the kind of thing that colonial Englishmen would do. I liked the two protagonist characters- they possessed the British virtues of stiff upper lips and honor, but weren't sticks in the mud. For whatever reason, I love the British stiff-upper lip thing no matter how unhealthy it would be in reality. I also liked the fact that the main characters were cognizant of the fact that not only had a white man been murdered, but his Singaporean servant as well, and they wanted justice for both.

There is a kitten, a stiff-upper lip British child, smuggling (you can probably guess that from the title), villains cold as ice. Because of the villains it's a bit more bloody and serious than a cozy, but it doesn't wallow in gore either. Read this one if you need a bit of an escape (as long as you don't feel guilty going to romantic colonial Singapore) and want the good guys to win in the end. This is not a romance, but there's a hint of a slow burn of something possibly to come.