Shirley Tallman, Scandal on Rincon Hill (Minotaur Books, 2010)
Perhaps the best word to describe Shirley Tallman's Scandal on Rincon Hill is "nice." Yes, people get murdered, but we barely know them (if at all) and the deaths happen off-stage. What's more important is what's happening to the book's heroine, feisty attorney Sarah Woolson. Having sworn off marriage due to the loss of freedom it would entail, Sarah -- the scion of one of Victorian San Francisco's most notable families -- instead spends her time championing the rights of women mistreated by the rich and powerful, defending the Chinese immigrant community when two of its members are accused of murder and their cultural mores are stepped on by their jailers, and occasionally solving murders. This doesn't prevent her from being tempted by the charms of the two dashingly eligible bachelors in her orbit, one lawyer and one shipping tycoon, both of whom are smitten with Sarah in thoroughly gentlemanly ways.
The main plot of the novel concerns a series of murders that occur in Sarah's upscale neighborhood of Rincon Hill. The victims appear to have nothing in common except being well-liked, the crimes are brutal, and the efforts of the police are bumbling. Naturally, they seize on a couple of members of the local Chinese community as likely perps despite all evidence to the contrary, and it is Sarah whom the local crime lord -- a genteel and courteous fellow himself -- calls upon to defend them against the obviously trumped-up crimes. This she does, shaming the constabulary in the process into more humane treatment of their prisoners, while simultaneously taking an interest in the budding singing career of one of her young neighbors and defending the rights of a young woman used and cast aside by one of the city's most powerful men. While she's at it, she gets vengeance on a nosy and amoral newspaper reporter, keeps her struggling legal practice going, and helps her brother admit to their eminently respectable father that he's been moonlighting as a crime reporter for the past five years.
In short, if you're looking for anything hard-bitten or mean, you're not going to find it here. This is a story comprised mainly of obstacles that are overcome and of the main character's successes, and if the resolution to the murders is a bit of a shocking downer, it really just sweeps offstage characters who'd barely been on it in the first place. The mystery is not solved through Woolson's detecting efforts, nor is it set up with particular detail. It simply resolves with a bloody climax that reinforces the book's title -- "scandal" being more important than "murder" here.
If you're interested in the travails and triumphs of Sarah Woolson, then the book will be a fast and enjoyable read. If you're looking for a mystery you can sink your teeth into, however, you'll have to look elsewhere.
