Murder on Nob Hill [Unabridged] [Audio CD]

Shirley Tallman (Author), Anna Fields (Narrator)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 2004

Sarah Woolson has always dreamed of being a lawyer. The trouble is that, in 1880, everyone believes a woman’s place is in the home. Using her brains and a bit of subterfuge, Sarah finagles her way into a prestigious law firm, becoming an associate attorney and acquiring her very first client, a lovely young society matron accused of murdering her husband. Sarah is sure of her client’s innocence, but with the discovery of her secret lover, it becomes nearly impossible to prove.

When four more victims fall prey to the killer’s knife, Sarah fears she’s bitten off more than she can chew. Soon Sarah finds herself embroiled in shady legal maneuvers, a daring Chinatown raid, a secret and very scandalous sex club, and the most powerful and dangerous tong lord in the city’s Chinese District.

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

This promising if melodramatic debut is set in 1880 San Francisco and is narrated by the spirited Sarah Woolson. Educated by her attorney father, Sarah marches into the law firm of one of his associates and demands a job. She gets it, too, and finds herself working on the case of a young widow accused of murdering her older and abusive husband. Contending with the scorn of her male colleagues, Sarah fights for her place in the firm and is soon involved in a heady stew that includes Chinese gangs and child slavery; a club in which gentlemen indulge their most forbidden habits; and other murders that, like the first, involve sexual mutilation. The language tends to the purple, and the local color is laid on thickly; however, the serenely self-assured Sarah, who has a possible love interest in the Scottish colleague she enrages regularly, keeps the reader on her side and turning pages till the end. Stay tuned. GraceAnne DeCandido
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

About the Author

SHIRLEY TALLMAN is an award-winning writer with a flair for historical mysteries. She has written a number of successful romance novels, as well as several screen plays that have been produced by NBC, ABC and CBS. She has recently finished a screenplay for an upcoming movie by Paramount Studios.

Product Details

• Audio CD
• Publisher: Blackstone Audiobooks; Unabridged edition (May 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0786186984
• ISBN-13: 978-0786186983
• Product Dimensions: 5 x 5.7 x 1.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (20 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,680,168 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

ABOUT SHIRLEY


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!!

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars a good first installment in a brand new series, June 1, 2004

By 

tregatt (Portland, Oregon) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Murder on Nob Hill (Hardcover)

The first installment in a new series featuring the intrepid lawyer, Sarah Woolson, "Murder on Nob Hill" was a very satisfying and engrossing read. I enjoyed the book on every novel -- the mystery was a good and intriguing one, the detective-heroine, Sarah Woolson, was engaging and likable, and the pacing and the manner in which the novel was crafted was superbly done. All in all, the Sarah Woolson mystery series has all the hallmarks of being a really good one, and I for one, am rather excited about this.

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.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Keeps you guessing until the very end!, July 30, 2004

By 

Cat Lover (Danville, CA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Murder on Nob Hill (Hardcover)

I completely and thoroughly enjoyed this book! What a treat from start to finish!

First of all, I loved the cover of the book. As a fan of the Victorian era, this beautiful cover just beckoned me to open it's pages from the moment I laid eyes on it. Once opened, it did not disappoint. Sarah Woolson is an inspiring, fiesty main character who pushes Victorian oppression of women to the limit with every move she makes. A 19th century Legally Blonde comes to mind. From the start, one is compelled to see Sarah through each swipe of near-disaster and every victory over the male characters who would see her back down in defeat.

History buffs will also find this novel a wonderful jaunt back to the roots of San Francisco. Ms. Tallman has obviously done a great deal of research, as I did not find one detail that was inaccurate or out of character with this great city's beginnings in the 1800's.

As far as suspense, Ms. Tallman has weaved such a tightly wrapped, fast paced tale of intrique, that I was kept guessing until the very end. There are so many twists and turns that it is hard to put the book down until one has reached the final breathless conclusion of who really "done" it.

I hope that Ms. Tallman goes on to write a sequel to this wonderful murder mystery. I will be one of the first to buy a copy!

Sincerely,

KL Hunter
Danville, CA

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars MURDER ON NOB HILL, May 25, 2004

By A Customer

This review is from: Murder on Nob Hill (Hardcover)

Great read!!! I particularly enjoyed the feisty heroine, Sarah Woolson. Really good background - I felt like I was in 1880 San Francisco. Excellent writing, fascinating story, great characters. Interesting details on what it must have been like to be a woman attorney at this time in history, woven into the fabric of the story. Also, lots of action. The story keeps you guessing "who done it" until the very end. I highly recommend this book to anyone who loves a good mystery!!