Murder on Nob Hill by Shirley Tallman

Murder on Nob Hill by Shirley Tallman explores class, inequality, greed, and hypocrisy in Victorian San Francisco. When Sarah Woolson convinces a law firm that thinks women shouldn't be practicing law to hire her, she lands in the middle of a murder case her superiors are determined to push aside assuming the worst about the main suspects in the case. As Sarah, in an attempt to best represent her client, uncovers secrets her upper class society would rather not disclosed, she finds herself not only battling for her right to practice law but her life. Tallman creates characters that at once inspire and infuriate in a story that reminds the reader disclosed secrets are often blamed for destroying lives when, in fact, it is the action of doing things one feels the need to hide that destroys lives. Murder on Nob Hill examines the dangers of inequality fueled by greed and self-righteousness.

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