The Filbert Steps

She came back to Telegraph Hill to rebuild her life. Then a body appeared on the steps. At sixty, Vivian Salvatore is newly divorced, newly on her own, and trying to write a book about Dashiell Hammett’s San Francisco. Most mornings, she walks down the Filbert Steps for coffee at Coppa’s, past the eucalyptus, the parrots, and the old neighborhood families who have held their corners for decades. Then developer Bradford Loeb is found dead on the stairs. Loeb had been trying to acquire some of North Beach’s most beloved old buildings, including the Caruso family deli. The police suspect a fall, but Vivian sees details that do not fit: a wrongly buttoned coat, a cigarette stubbed out on the landing, a glove caught in the ivy, and neighbors who suddenly know less than they should. As Vivian follows the trail, the mystery pulls her deeper into the lives of the people around her — shopkeepers, priests, old friends, ex-wives, investigators, and writers who all understand that San Francisco remembers everything, even when people try to forget. The Filbert Steps is the first book in a new literary cozy mystery series set in San Francisco’s Telegraph Hill and North Beach neighborhoods. Perfect for ARC readers who enjoy atmospheric mysteries, older heroines, close-knit communities, Louise Penny-style emotional depth, Richard Osman-style warmth, and mysteries where place matters as much as plot.