 With only two weeks until the release of TERROR IN TOPAZ... here's a short extract for you to read and enjoy... :-) An extract from
TERROR IN TOPAZ By A.M. STUART Chapter One SINGAPORE Monday 28 November 1910 From her comfortable chair on the verandah, Harriet Gordon watched the curtain of water fall from the glowering sky. The evening’s torrential downpour reflected her mood. Her ward, Will Lawson, sat on a stool nearby engaged in what was now his nightly duty—oiling the absent Inspector Robert Curran’s cricket bat. The sickly-sweet smell of linseed oil hung in the heavy air, adding nausea to her threatening headache. “Will, enough! Go and put that stinking stuff away and get on with your homework,” Harriet snapped and then conscious of her harsh tone, added, “Please. I’m sure it doesn’t need to be oiled every single night.” “But I promised the inspector,” Will mumbled. “I know you did, but what little I know about cricket bats, I do know they don’t need to be oiled quite so regularly.” Will glared at her. “I will hate it if he comes back and thinks I didn’t look after it properly.” Harriet summoned a smile. “I am certain he won’t think that, Will.” She pointed at the door. “Homework.” Will picked up cloth, oil and cricket bat and stomped inside. Oiling a cricket bat was infinitely preferable to schoolwork. The side gate that led from St Thomas House to the school squeaked, and Harriet’s brother, Julian, headmaster of St Thomas Church of England Preparatory School for English Boys, ran toward the house, the large umbrella he held doing very little to keep the rain at bay. Reaching the verandah, he stopped, panting from his exertion, water streaming from his sodden hair down his face. He closed the useless umbrella and leaned it against the verandah rail. Harriet rose to her feet, but he forestalled the question on her lips by holding up his hand. “Let me get dry and changed and then we’ll talk,” he said. “Pour us both a whisky. I think we need it.” It seemed like an age before Julian reappeared, his still-damp hair sticking up where he had roughly toweled it. He patted it down, adjusted his glasses and accepted the glass Harriet held out for him. “That bad?” she asked, her voice high with tension. “I haven’t lost my job,” Julian said. Harriet let out a breath. That had been her greatest fear. (To continue reading click READ MORE)
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 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!) 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.  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) 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!   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.   Welcome to Notes from Harriet's Typewriter... the news and updates for the Harriet Gordon Mystery series. In this post, I get to introduce you to the main protagonist of the new series... Harriet Gordon. I first met Harriet in the microfiche room of the Singapore National Library. Of course, she wasn’t known as Harriet Gordon, her name was Mrs Howell and in March 1905 she placed an advertisement in the Straits Times, offering her services as a Stenographer and Typist. She guaranteed “RAPID & CAREFUL work together with ABSOLUTE SECRECY” (the capitals are hers). The now long forgotten Mrs. Howell’s advertisement jumped off the microfiche at me. I loved her commitment to ABSOLUTE SECRECY, and slowly the character of Harriet Gordon, widow, typist, stenographer and failed suffragette began to form. (On the left is the original advert I found in the 1905 Straits and on the right is the advert Harriet placed in the Straits Times... and the start of her adventures!)
Over the next few years, I started to build her world… her friends, her family and most importantly (for Harriet) her partner in crime, the enigmatic Inspector Robert Curran, head of the Detective Branch of the Straits Settlements Police Force. Over future posts I will introduce you to other characters in Harriet's world including colonial Singapore itself… SINGAPORE SAPPHIRE is the first of, what I hope, will be an ongoing historical mystery series with Harriet Gordon and Inspector Curran at its heart. There are so many stories brewing in the tropical heat of the Malay Peninsula where truth and corpses tend to decompose quickly! Although SINGAPORE SAPPHIRE is not due for release until 6 August, it is already available for preoorder... in print or digital (all the links are in the button below). I have been waiting a long time to share Harriet with you. I hope you love her as much as I do! A.M. Stuart  |
A.M. StuartReaders can connect with A.M. Stuart at her website, Facebook, or subscribe to her newsletter on the form below. Subscribe to Alison's NewsletterArchives
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