Series: Sarah Woolson Mysteries | Publication Date: June 1, 2004
The year is 1880, the place San Francisco. Intelligent, outspoken Sarah Woolson is a young woman with a goal and the fortitude to achieve it. She has always dreamed of becoming a lawyer. The trouble is, everyone believes women belong in the home---that it is not only unnatural, but against God's will for them to seek a career.
When Sarah finagles an interview with one of the city's most prestigious law firms, no one thinks she has a prayer of being hired. Except Sarah. Using her brains and a little subterfuge, she not only manages to become the firm's newest (and only female) associate attorney, she also acquires her first client---a lovely young society matron suspected of brutally stabbing to death her wealthy but abusive husband. Sarah is sure of her client's innocence, but the revelation of the woman's secret lover may make that innocence impossible to prove. When four more victims fall prey to the killer's knife, Sarah fears she has bitten off more than she can chew. Bucking her boorish employer and the judicial system, Sarah finds herself embroiled in shady legal maneuvers, a daring Chinatown raid, and a secret and very scandalous sex club in this irresistible blend of history, romance, and murder.
Even as a small child, Shirley Tallman dreamed of being a writer. Born in Los Angeles, California, she moved to the San Francisco Bay Area as a teenager, where she attended junior high and high school. She obtained her BA degree in Radio and Television at San Jose State University, while working as Traffic Manager, script writer and director for KNTV, a local ABC affiliate station.
After college, Shirley flew to the Orient and the South Pacific as a flight attendant for Pan American World Airlines. Never one to waste a great opportunity, she used her travels to fill notebooks with ideas, story-lines and snap shots for future novels.
Juggling marriage, children and her new writing career, Shirley wrote a syndicated newspaper column while working up the courage to tackle that first novel. To her surprise when she finally did write it, it actually sold! To date she's written fifteen books, including ten contemporary Harlequin/Silhouette romances published under the pseudonym Erin Ross. During her "romance" years, she placed #6 on Waldenbooks' national bestseller list, and was nominated as "Best Desire of the Year," by "Romantic Times"!
Currently, Shirley is writing an historical mystery series for St. Martin's Press. The books -- MURDER ON NOB HILL, THE RUSSIAN HILL MURDERS, and the THE CLIFF HOUSE STRANGLER -- feature Sarah Woolson, a feisty nineteenth-century female attorney who squares off against an all-male legal establishment. The fourth book in the series, SCANDAL ON RINCON HILL, will be released on January 5, 2010.
Together with her screenwriting partner, Nancy Hersage, Shirley has written and sold television scripts to NBC, CBS, and ABC. Their movie, "THE BABYSITTER'S SEDUCTION", originally aired on NBC and continues to play regularly on the Lifetime Channel. Their current project, "THE WAR MAGICIAN", was bought for Tom Cruise by Paramount Studios and their story, "LILI", is being produced for the Canadian Broadcast Corporation.
Among other groups, Shirley is a member of Mystery Writers of America, Novelist's Inc., Sisters In Crime, the Pacific Northwest Booksellers' Association, Willamette Valley Writers and the Oregon Writer's Colony.
Shirley welcomes visitors to her website: www.shirleytallman.com. Check it out for great monthly giveaways, plus some exciting contests coming up to celebrate the release of SCANDAL ON RINCON HILL!!
This review is from: Murder on Nob Hill (Sarah Woolson Mysteries) (Paperback)
Murder on Nob Hill (Sarah Woolson Mysteries) Shirley Tallman did a great job of introducing Sarah Woolson. Sarah is a new attorney, and immediately gets invoved in a mystery. You better believe that the fact that Sarah is a FEMALE attorney in early 20th century San Francisco causes astonishment, consternation, and many outcries.
I do love reading historical mysteries and I have not had as much fun reading about San Francisco since Dianne Day's Fremont Jones series. I like Miss Woolson, and her family and friends, more with each paragraph. I have the first three books of the series and can hardly wait for the fourth book to be published.
(Also, Shirley Tallman has an interesting website.)
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This review is from: Murder on Nob Hill (Sarah Woolson Mysteries) (Paperback)
I found Murder on Nob Hill to be a delightful blend of a good who-done-it and accurate historical reporting. Since I devour historical non-fiction, I was pleased to see that Shirley Tallman has done an excellent job of research of the City of San Francisco during the 1880's. All of her historical facts are true. So it's a book that's enjoyable and informative all at the same time.
Sarah Woolson is very fiesty and sometimes overly ideal. She does stretch the envelope of what was socially and politically acceptable at that time. However, the bottom line is, she wants to solve the mysteries she finds herself entangled in and do good for others. I found myself rooting her on and enjoying the small advances she made in furthering her causes.
All in all, a very good start to a new Historical Mystery Series by Shirley Tallman. Those of you who love a good who-done-it will enjoy Murder on Nob Hill immensely.
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This review is from: Murder on Nob Hill (Sarah Woolson Mysteries) (Paperback)
I'm glad I happened upon this book in the library, as it ended up being an enjoyable read and a good mystery. The heroine, Sarah Woolson, is a real spitfire and very opinionated; while sometimes annoying, she is for the most part a great lead character - and at times very funny. Her family is very interesting and they are a great addition to the cast of characters. I also loved Robert Campbell, a fellow associate attorney at their firm, a big and loud Scot alway objecting to Sarah's ideas and plans, but then getting involved despite himself. Their bickering and squabbling is often amusing and I'm personally hoping that their relationship develops into a more, umm ... harmonious one, shall we say ;-).
Tallman's writing is very simple and her storytelling straightforward, not that either of these things are bad. One criticism I do have is that sometimes it seemed like she needed a better editor, as you have the same word that would appear twice in one sentence or in two consecutive sentences. May seem like a picky objection, but for me it was noticeable and bothersome.
The mystery itself was very well-done and definitely keeps the reader engaged. You start to develop a theory, which gains shape as additional things are revealed. It is a mystery, though - not blatantly obvious - and has some great twists and turns. Another great aspect of this book is that the historical setting feels very authentic. I look forward to reading the other books in the series!
