A review by skconaghan
Revenge in Rubies by A.M. Stuart

adventurous funny informative mysterious reflective fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Yes, again—thank you! This is precisely what a murder mystery period piece should be: Complex threads, red herrings, a MacGuffin (or 4), a little Deus ex Machina to top the plot, and true to all the blundering cultural ugliness and nostalgic beauty of the era. I was intelligently intrigued, emotionally engaged and ultimately caught off guard.

Marvellous.

I suspected by three quarters of the way who the culprit might be, but I was also adequately distracted from making any real accusation by the sly attempts of others to shirk notice for their own personal reasons that wrapped them in guilt. The carefully laid traps throughout this novel are genius. You might know, but you’ll doubt your knowing until the very end.

The full cast are vibrant! They are plagued and propelled by internal conflicts and personal struggles with honour and social standards. The raging suppressed fight for equality and justice—that simple yet impossible idea of gaining a voice in an oppressive patriarchal regime—is at the forefront for several of these complex characters, and what we now refer to as the intersectionality of these injustices is prevalent—yet, the writing remains true to the historical setting in which these atrocities would have been abominably accepted or blithely overlooked. These are the settings that have come to the table to witness a bloody murder, and the author knows her table intricately. Rather than bog the writing down with details and explanations, Stuart serves up morsels of these ongoing struggles to give context, and to draw us into the socio-political atmosphere of our humble unexpected heroine.

Identifying the ‘system errors’ in the imbalanced colonialist world ruler (The British Empire) through the unassuming voices of those caught in the fray by their very existence, Stuart sets the stage for what is to come: It would take something unexpected on a world scale to bring change to the system. It’s summer, 1910. We know what’s coming, and it will give women the vote and put them into the workforce for good.

So. I listened to the audiobook and I have a complaint: the narrator of this second novel couldn’t do the accents and voices required to keep me from having to wonder who was speaking at times. Fortunately, it didn’t detract from the flow and content of the novel, cos she was great otherwise. It’s just, when you start with Saskia Maarleveld, it’s difficult to take a step backwards. Mac here sounded Irish and Louisa, his previously Scottish wife used near RP English in this novel. The Welshman was entirely anglicised, though anyone from the North Country was proper Manc (but halfway through, a South Londoner took on a bit of a York twinge too, and that was weird weren’t it?). Just saying.

Li An and Harriet have a great start to something special, and with Curran sidelined for most of the story, the women shine for this mystery. 

Speaking of mystery, this one is near impossible to solve, and as the bodies pile up, hope diminishes…But Harriet, a mere woman and not even a police officer—a mere female typist—sees the challenge and rises to solve another bout of murders in pre-war Singapore.

Love it.
Already have #3 lined up.