Shirley Tallman, The Cliff House Strangler

The Cliff House Strangler

Shirley Tallman

St. Martin's, Jul 2007, $24.95

ISBN: 9780312357566

In the 1880s in San Francisco, attorney Sarah Woolson has left the prestigious firm of Shepard, Shepard, McNaughton, and Hall to begin her own practice over the objection of her lawyer boyfriend Robert Campbell. He objects even louder when she persuades him to accompany her to Cliff House for a s ance hosted by Russian psychic Madame Karpova on a stormy night. Eleven guests in all including Senator Gaylord and his wife attend.

Madame Karpova sets the mood and seems to be talking with those from beyond as she performs a dazzling array of parlor tricks. However, uninvited gate crasher columnist Darien Moss whose scorn causes Dmitry Serkov to leave in disgust decides to expose her as a fraud when the lights go out; when they return he is dead. Sarah investigates with Robert at her side trying to keep her out of trouble while her brother and father abet her efforts even when more s ance attendees die.

The third Woolson historical tale is more of a whodunit than a legal thriller though a subplot involving an abused spouse with a child fleeing from an alcoholic husband is stunning. The excitement and sense of time and place remains strong (see MURDER ON NOB HILL and THE RUSSIAN HILL MURDERS). The story line is fast-paced as Sarah seems to be battling ghosts, gypsies, gulls, and government in her effort to uncover the culprit. With homage to Christie's And Then There Was One, readers will wonder who did it and why.

Harriet Klausner