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
4 Comments
Helen Sibbritt
3/5/2019 05:49:06 pm
Alison
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Alison Stuart
3/6/2019 01:59:43 am
I have had so much fun researching these stories. The Straits Times is a bottomless well of ideas!
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3/14/2019 09:11:07 am
Hi, I just read an arc of Singapore Sapphire. I really liked it and hope to read more of Harriet and Curran (and An Li). I hope Will is also a continuing character. Thanks for writing.
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Alison Stuart
5/6/2019 06:21:55 pm
Hi Becky... Thank you so much!!! I am thrilled people are enjoying my Harriet story - it's such a departure from what I normally write that I wasn't sure how it would be received.
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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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