A.M. Stuart

A.M. Stuart writes historical mysteries informed by years lived in Singapore and by her earlier career as a lawyer. Singapore Sapphire opens the Harriet Gordon Mystery series in 1910, when Harriet seeks independence by working as a typist for explorer and mine owner Sir Oswald Newbold. Finding Newbold dead brings her into Inspector Robert Curran's investigation and into conflict with the hierarchies of colonial society. Harriet's past as a suffragette and Curran's position in the Straits Settlements Police give the case two different relationships to authority. Berkley published the American paperback, ebook, and audiobook editions in August 2019; the audio version is narrated by Saskia Maarleveld. Stuart continued Harriet and Curran's story in Revenge in Rubies, Evil in Emerald, and Terror in Topaz. Singapore Sapphire combines a conventional criminal inquiry with historical questions about empire, gender, and social access, using Harriet's shorthand skills and eye for detail as practical tools rather than decorative period traits.