Murder by Death

First in a series taking place in Singapore in 1910, about a woman convicted in England for her suffragette activities who flees to Singapore to assist her brother, a headmaster at a school for British boys.  As her post is unpaid, she advertises for secretarial jobs on the side, and discovers her first commissioner brutally murdered.

It's a compelling start to a series, but this first book leaves the characters' dynamic with each other unsettled at the end, so I didn't like it as much I would have otherwise.  Still the plotting was strong and well thought out, though some aspects of the puzzle were obvious to the reader, either because they were telegraphed early on, or because the reader has read too many mysteries not to see what was coming.  The characters not having the benefit of 100+ years of mysteries to tap into, their slowness to pick up on what was going on was understandable, if sometimes tedious.

I have the second book in hand on my TBR, and I'm looking forward to seeing the character development in that one.  That will decide me as to whether to go on with the series or not. (Assuming it continues past book 2, of course.)