Terror in Topaz

A Harriet Gordon Mystery, Book 4

De: A.M. Stuart

Narrado por: Catherine Bilson

The next instalment in the riveting HARRIET GORDON MYSTERIES.

The chance to pursue a new opportunity takes Harriet and her brother Julian, to Kuala Lumpur, but death is waiting…

Singapore 1910: Harriet Gordon has been dismissed from the job she loved and finds herself cast adrift. When her brother receives an invitation to visit a prestigious school in Kuala Lumpur, she and Julian decide to leave Singapore behind for a few days, but their pleasant visit takes a dark turn when a visitor to the school is shot dead on the front steps of the headmaster’s bungalow.

After being suspended from the Straits Settlements Police, Inspector Robert Curran has disappeared on a personal quest to find a missing girl, but his suspension is not all it appears and he receives secretive orders to investigate the mysterious Topaz Club, which seems to be at the center of high-level corruption within the colonial government of Malaya.

The uninvestigated death of a woman with links to the Topaz Club brings Harriet and Curran together in a determination to shut down the notorious establishment for good.

But a devious criminal stands in the way and it is going to take Harriet and Curran all their resources to bring justice for the victims of the Topaz Club and in doing so, find what it is they have been looking for in each other.

©2023 Alison Brideson (P)2024 Alison Brideson

Wow! Oh wow!

I could hardly tear myself away! Harriet and her brother travel to Kuala Lumpur and in the midst of a stultifying expat society find that surface appearances don’t mean a thing. Our favorite police officer Curran is there clinging to a disguise and false name. There’s a hidden gentlemen’s club that caters to every vice. I think you could enjoy this as a stand alone novel but it’s even better as read in a series. I loved every bit and will probably listen to the whole thing again - it was that good. Reader did a splendid job as usual for this series.

Terrible Naration

I love AM Stuart's writing and stories and up to this book the narration was perfect. But this one is awful. The reader sounds way to old to be Harriet Gordon. Her character inflection is not even close. When she tries to sound like a man, it sounds more like she needs another cigarette.
It is hard to listen with this narrator.

Too rushed

While things proceeded along predictable paths, this book crammed in too many elements, and the ending seemed forced. And again, the narrator did not add much to the experience. Perhaps reading a printed form would be more satisfactory.

No pleasure from this one.

I have listened to the author’s earlier books and enjoyed them immensely. The former narrator brought the story and characters to life. While this story was good, the new narrator brought no joy to the telling. I have no desire to continue with the series without the former narrator.

easy listen, less stressful than the last book!

I had never read about Kuala Lumpur before, it was very interesting! if you like the series, you'll like this book!

Enthralling

Riveting story related with well-developed characters. The settings are vivid and colorful. The author skillfully tied the story arcs of her fictional characters to historical events.

Skip the audio version…read the book instead.

I love this series, but this was not the best of the stories. It took a bit of a long walk and seemed to rush to wrap up at the end. It was as if there was too much story.

Mostly, the recording quality was atrocious and was made worse by a new narrator. Her accents were terrible and seemed more like she was yelling when she was representing certain characters. I am disappointed and surprised that audible has such a poor quality recording for this book. Skip the audio version for this one. Read the book instead.

Finally!

This wonderful serious has become one of my favorites! It’s well written and has very interesting characters, situations and places. A good mystery or murders(s) happen and Robert & Harriet are both very independent and well written characters that make it easy to get drawn into their story.
I like how their story unwinds very naturally and it was great to finally see the pair share a kiss at the end of the story. I am looking forward to Book 5 and sharing some more time with this interesting couple.
If you start now, you’ll be all caught up for Book 5! Enjoy!

The setting, mystery and characters are all fantastic.

I loved Terror in Topaz and have read all the opens leading up to this one. The author has a good grasp of the history and the area, and writes it well. Looking forward to Amethyst.

Terrible narration-

The narrator’s voice, flat, and hardly any change between characters. She mispronounced sister Samrita’s name from the beginning—- and Singh’s first name. This narrator should have listened to the previous book’s narrator in order to maintain consistency!!! Not only names, but “normal” words like litany, momentarily , and several others were mispronounced! A M Stuart, you must do a better job of overseeing your narrations. Loved the book but it was grueling to listen. The narrator for Evil in Emerald was great!