Murder on Nob Hill [Hardcover]

Sarah Woolson, the youngest child and only daughter of a respected judge, has always wanted to practice law (like her father); but even though she's qualified, getting a respected law firm to hire her is another matter altogether because its 1880 in San Francisco, where the common wisdom is that a woman's place is at home and not in the work place. But with the help of her brother, Sarah is able to finagle an interview at Shepherd, Shepherd, McNaughton and Hall (one of the stuffier law firms); where through sheer highhandedness (Sarah actually "steals" a very valueable client, the newly widowed Mrs. Annjennet Hannaford whose much older husband was recently murdered in a rather brutal manner, from right under Shepherd's nose) she's able to land a job as a junior associate at the firm. One would think that things would finally be looking up for Sarah, except that her client, Annjennet Hannaford, ends up getting arrested for her husband's murder! The police and district attorney think that they have an ironclad case (motive and opportunity); and the lawyers handling Annjennet's criminal defence have all but conceded defeat, going so far as to prepare a defense based on an insanity plea. But Sarah is sure that Annjennet is innocent, and fearing that she's the only one in Annjennet's corner, is bound and determined to discover who the real murderer is, no matter the danger...

Obviously I shouldn't start books just before my planned bedtime because "Murder on Nob Hill" was so engrossing a read that I just had to keep on reading until I reached the last page. The plot was a very intriguing one and Shirley Tallman did a good job of ensuring that the book unfolded swiftly and smoothly. And while it is true that the prose is a bit verbose, once I got into the flow of things, this truly was something I hardly noticed after a while. I thought that the character portrayals were very good, esp that of our plain-speaking and forceful heroine, and this, together with the historical ambiance went a long way towards making this a very enjoyable and successful novel. My favourite bits, however, were the ones in which a very calm and rational sounding Sarah would (successfully) counter the somewhat hysterical and irrational arguements of her male counterparts would claim that she didn't have it in her to be a good lawyer. All in all, a fantastic first installment in what promises to be a wonderful mystery series.