REVENGE IN RUBIES

Amateur sleuth Harriet Gordon investigates the death of a military officer's wife in 1910 Singapore.

The murder of Sylvie Nolan, the young wife of Lt. Col. John Nolan of the South Sussex Regiment, rocks the British expatriate community of colonial Singapore. Despite the difference in their ages, the Nolans seemed a loving couple. Both were military brats with long family histories of service to the South Sussex. And despite her youth, vivacious Sylvie filled the role of the colonel’s lady admirably. Her abrupt arrival may have been a little hard on Jack, Nolan’s son from a previous marriage, and on Nolan’s sister, Priscilla, who kept house for the colonel before Sylvie’s arrival. But the residents of the Blenheim Road neighborhood that surrounds the regiment’s barracks are unanimous in their praise of Sylvie’s social graces. No one can give Inspector Robert Curran, of the Straits Settlements Police Force, any reason why someone would have bashed in Sylvie’s head with a candlestick while she slept. Still, Curran must find a suitable suspect quickly, since Maj. Percival Goff is champing at the bit to snatch the investigation away from the civilian police and turn it over to the military. Fortunately, Harriet, a widow who works for the police as a typist, is only too willing to help. Although Curran reminds Harriet repeatedly that she works for the police, not as a police officer, her agile mind, relentless curiosity, and understanding of the human heart are assets he can’t easily dismiss as he battles to preserve the sovereignty of the civil authority.

An intricate puzzle in a lively setting.