Notes from Harriet's Typewriter

TERROR IN TOPAZ - COVER REVEAL!

3/13/2023

TA DA!

I am delighted to reveal the cover for the fourth (and final) book in the Harriet Gordon Mystery series.

I know many loyal readers will be sad to say farewell to Harriet and Curran but all good series have their own arc and this has reached an end! But never say never and perhaps they may be back for more adventures in the future?

The ebook is now up for pre order (with print and audio books to follow). Click the button below to go to the buy links.

If you want to keep up to date with the latest news don’t forget you can subscribe to Alison’s newsletter… Click HERE (And get the Harriet prequel for free!)

PRE ORDER TERROR IN TOPAZ

ABOUT TERROR IN TOPAZ

The final episode in the riveting HARRIET GORDON MYSTERIES.

The chance to pursue a new opportunity takes Harriet and her brother Julian, to Kuala Lumpur, but death is waiting…

Singapore 1910: Harriet Gordon has been dismissed from the job she loved and finds herself cast adrift. When her brother receives an invitation to visit a prestigious school in Kuala Lumpur, she and Julian decide to leave Singapore behind for a few days, but their pleasant visit takes a dark turn when a visitor to the school is shot dead on the front steps of the headmaster’s bungalow.
After being suspended from the Straits Settlements Police, Inspector Robert Curran has disappeared on a personal quest to find a missing girl but his suspension is not all it appears and he receives secretive orders to investigate the mysterious Topaz Club, which seems to be at the centre of high-level corruption within the colonial government of Malaya.
The uninvestigated death of a woman with links to the Topaz Club, brings Harriet and Curran together in a determination to shut down the notorious establishment for good.
But a devious criminal stands in the way and it is going to take Harriet and Curran all their resources to bring justice for the victims of the Topaz Club and in doing so, find what it is they have been looking for in each other.

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The next Harriet Gordon Mystery...

9/19/2022

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Readers have been asking me when the next Harriet Gordon Mystery can be expected...

The short answer is probably around August next year.

The long answer is Terror in Topaz hit a stumbling block and for reasons I won't go into, there has been a considerable delay on the administrative end. This flowed into a delay on the creative end ie... I still have to finish writing the book and I'm not a very fast writer.

So my profuse apologies to those anxious readers who are chomping at the bit to see how the series ends (yes, Book 4 will be the last). Having said that I am not saying goodbye to the characters forever... there may be other stand-alone stories in the wind!

In the meantime, you are very welcome to peruse my backlist of Alison Stuart titles... there are mysteries mixed into the historical (Lord Somerton's Heir, Gather the Bones and The Goldminer's Sister and coming in January, The Homecoming) and if you have not already signed up to my email list, that is the best place to get updates on Harriet and her friends AND you get a free download of Harriet's prequel - THE UMBRELLA.

Now I better get my head down and finish that book!

Alison x

SEND ME 'THE UMBRELLA'!

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RELEASE DAY FOR EVIL IN EMERALD

3/29/2022

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It felt like this day would never come!

EVIL IN EMERALD was written during the height of the Melbourne lockdowns which one would think would be an ideal time to be writing but I have to admit, I struggled. While it seemed like the world I knew was slipping away from my grasp, there were days when I stared at an empty screen. At one point I pretty much scrapped what I had written and started again.

But it all came together in the end and I am delighted to see EVIL IN EMERALD finally get the wings to fly.

The inspiration for this story comes from my own brush with amateur theatre in my early twenties when I joined the local Gilbert and Sullivan Society. It must have had a profound influence on me because G&S themes have run in other books. GATHER THE BONES, for example, has several oblique references to RUDDIGORE (which I think was the show I had the most fun in!) - indeed the title itself is a riff on a song from Ruddigore.

PIRATES OF PENZANCE marked the height of my theatrical ambition - I actually scored a role (not just third chorus girl from the left). I was cast as Isabel - one of Major General Stanley's daughters. I had a whole two lines to say and no singing but it still gave me proper billing and a place in the 'principal's dressing room'. Oh to be that young (and that thin!) again.

Just as in the last Harriet Gordon Mystery, Harriet and Curran cross with another part of my past (the military), in this book Harriet gets to reprise my experience of an amateur dramatic society. Not that we had any murders...

So Pour, oh, pour, the pirate sherry; Fill, oh, fill the pirate glass... and drink to EVIL IN EMERALD - Available now in print, digital and audio!

BUY LINKS

A much younger (and thinner) Alison as Isabel in Pirates of Penzance.

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TWO FABULOUS CHANCES TO DISCOVER THE WORLD OF HARRIET GORDON MYSTERIES

3/1/2022

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If you are new to the world of Harriet Gordon... or if you have read a couple of her adventures but you are curious about the circumstances that led to her arrival in Singapore, I am offering readers a chance to download a copy of THE UMBRELLA... the Harriet Gordon prequel.

This little novella is exclusive to my readers' group so you will be asked to sign up, but I promise you that my occasional emails will not clog your inbox and, hopefully, offer you news, contest and insights not availalbe to the general public! And... I really like to make new friends!

And as we countdown to the release of EVIL IN EMERALD, I have a couple of fabulous offers for US readers - Keep scrolling!

ALISON STUART

DOWNLOAD THE UMBRELLA

FOR US READERS...

In anticipation of the release of EVIL IN EMERALD on 29 March, US readers can pick up the first book in the Harriet Gordon Mystery series for just $1.99 (from 1 -15 March).

BUY LINKS

And if you are feeling lucky... go in the draw to win one of TEN copies of EVIL IN EMERALD in this fabulously generous Goodreads Giveaway (which runs from 28 Feb until 28 March).
US READERS ONLY

ENTER GIVEAWAY

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COVER REVEAL - Book 3 EVIL IN EMERALD

7/4/2021

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My dear readers...

Greetings from Singapore. The date is November 1910 and I am taking a break from playing tennis to join the ladies and gentlemen of the Singapore Amateur Dramatic and Music Society in their Christmas production of PIRATES OF PENZANCE. The Victoria Hall is booked... and we have been hard at work rehearsing.

The only reason I got talked into joining the company is because my tennis doubles partner, Griff Maddocks, rather fancies himself as the Pirate King. However I have a small part and it is always interesting to mix with a different crowd... and they are quite different... There are a great deal of undercurrents that I don't really understand yet!

So here is the cover for my third Harriet Gordon Mystery - EVIL IN EMERALD! It will be released on 29 March 2022 (in print, digital and audio) so a little while to wait. BUT the good news is it is available for pre order (click HERE for the links).

A book only starts to feel real when it has a cover (and a title). Fortunately the title EVIL IN EMERALD was set in stone (no pun intended) from the get go but there is that moment of breath holding before the cover concept arrives. I particularly like how the cover artist has incorporated Victoria Hall in the background.

I am loving the gem theme to the books and seeing the three books together... blue, red and now green... really makes it look like a set.

All for now... Best wishes
Harriet (and Alison) xxx

(PS Don't forget to sign up to my regular newsletter for up to date news about my books and for the exclusive opportunity to download THE UMBRELLA - a Harriet Gordon prequel! Click HERE)

PRE ORDER

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Halloween and Hungry Ghosts

10/31/2020

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Today is Halloween... in our western society this is All Hallows Eve... which like so many of our Christian traditions, probably had its roots in our own pagan past. The feast of Samhain marked the end of the harvest and the beginning of winter and was seen as a time when the spirits and fairies could slip the boundary between the otherworld and ours. Our pagan ancestors offered propitiation to the the spirits to ensure they survived the hard winter ahead. When the pagan slid into the Christian, All Hallows and All Souls days became the religious observance days for honouring the dead saints and the souls of those who had departed.

When I lived in Singapore, it was hard not to get drawn into the traditions and customs of the many different cultural groups that make up the population of that wonderful little country. I recall shopping for Christmas decorations in the company of Muslim women on the hunt for Ramadan decorations, and the shopping malls still vie for the most amazing Christmas decorations which go up just after the Deepavali decorations come down.

It therefore came as no surprise to find in the Buddhist and Taoist tradition, there is a similar feast... that of the Hungry Ghosts. Traditionally the seventh month of the lunar new year (around August) was the month when the souls of the departed - the Hungry Ghosts - like the fae folk of western tradition, slipped the bounds of the afterlife and and roamed earth once more seeking propitiation and entertainment. All around Singapore, braziers appeared on the footpaths and the smell of burning incense paper drifted in the warm air and Chinese opera stages appeared in parks and outside temples. Rows of seats were always left empty to ensure the hungry ghosts had the best seats. It is considered ill luck to plan an important event during this month (marriage, children, house moves, business ventures, big trips). In fact there is a long list of dos and don’ts - see this article for examples!

The second of the Harriet Gordon Mysteries, REVENGE IN RUBIES, is set in August 1910 - Hungry Ghost month and the theme of the ghosts of the past coming back to haunt the characters seemed to fit well with the story as both Harriet and Curran are forced to face the ghosts and demons of their own pasts...

Here in Australia, Halloween has never been celebrated with the same fervour as it is in the northern hemisphere, but wherever you may be I hope you enjoy your Halloween!

And if you like a good ghost story you might also like to take a look at two ALISON STUART titles...

More Information

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Last days to grab SINGAPORE SAPPHIRE for just $1.99

9/30/2020

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Harriet Gordon stumbles into a murderous web of stolen gems and cutthroat thieves as she runs from her tragic past in an enthralling new historical mystery series set in early twentieth century Singapore.

SINGAPORE SAPPHIRE- Book 1 in the HARRIET GORDON MYSTERY, series is available for just $1.99 (worldwide). This special offer finishes on 4 October so grab it now...
Click THIS LINK to go to your favourite store!

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Release day for REVENGE IN RUBIES

9/16/2020

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HARRIET GORDON IS BACK....

Today is release day for REVENGE IN RUBIES.

This book is a little bit special for me because it actually had its genesis twenty years ago as a writing exercise for a writing group during my time in Singapore. I am guessing our exercise for the month may have been 'mystery'. I recall us gathered on a friend's verandah... she lived in one of the old black and white houses that had once been a part of an army barracks (appropriately). A fan whirred above us and there was still enough ulu around her house for the night insects and the monkeys to make themselves a presence as I picked up my papers and began to read... "The colonel’s lady was dead..."

They say good writing is never wasted and those few thousand words I wrote for the ANZA Writers Group became the basis for REVENGE IN RUBIES...

The other truism of writing is 'write what you know' and in setting REVENGE IN RUBIES in the world of the military I really was writing what I knew. I served for nearly twenty years as an officer in the Australian Army Reserve so I have endured many a long mess dinner, played 'mess games' and I would like to think I bring that intrinsic knowledge of soldiers and their lives to this book. I also drew on my father's experiences as an officer in the British Army.

So for my friends and readers in the USA... REVENGE IN RUBIES will be on the shelf of your favourite book store and all places that sell good books. It is also available in audio and ebook.
And for my friends in Australia... alas it is not on general distribution here, but some bookstores, such as JEFFREY'S BOOKS in Malvern will be stocking it and most of the big stores like Dymocks and Booktopia have the print book available to purchase online. You can also purchase an autographed print book directly from my book store. Click HERE.

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Read an excerpt from REVENGE IN RUBIES

8/27/2020

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IF you would like to read an excerpt from REVENGE IN RUBIES... AND go in the draw to win one of two Advance Review Copies. Click HERE or the the link below!

REVENGE IN RUBIES will be released on 15th September!

DOWNLOAD AN EXCERPT FROM REVENGE IN RUBIES

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The Countdown is on!

8/17/2020

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It's less than a month until the release of the second Harriet Gordon Mystery - REVENGE IN RUBIES!

If you join my email list between now and the end of August, you will go in the draw to win one of two Advance Review Copies of REVENGE IN RUBIES! Click HERE for more information and to PREORDER.

IN THE MEANTIME ENJOY THIS JIGSAW...