Sherwood Smith's Reviews > Singapore Sapphire

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.

Copy provided by NetGalley