I've just ordered this. Mr. Siegel's books are legal thrillers with a San Francisco flavor. As a transplant from Ohio to San Francisco, I appreciate some of the history of the city he brings into his stories. His characters are likable (even for lawyers) and the glimpses into politics and moral issues give the stories a rich flavor. The fact that the main character, an attorney, was once a priest, gives an interesting twist to the storyline.

I had the privilege of interviewing Mr. Siegel after the release of his first novel and have not yet been disappointed in any of his books. In fact, I've sent a number of them to my Mom, who really liked them. (She and I also really like John LesCroart - check him out.)

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Product Description

Confessions abound-some of them quite unexpected-in Sheldon Siegel's new legal thriller.

Mike Daley doesn't go to confession much since he left the priesthood twenty years ago and became a lawyer, but that doesn't stop his old friend, Father Ramon Aguirre, from trying to get him there. "It wouldn't kill you to go to church once in a while," he tells Mike. But it does kill someone.

For several months, a ruinous sexual harassment suit has been building against the San Francisco Catholic Archdiocese, and when the plaintiff's lawyer is found dead, an apparent suicide, an almost audible sigh of relief is heard in certain quarters. But that is before the police find evidence of murder. Even worse-the evidence points to Father Aguirre.

Mike and his ex-wife law partner, Rosie, jump in to take the priest's case, but what started out as difficult soon appears impossible as forensics, witnesses, and secrets from Father Aguirre's past all incriminate their client. Soon, their wits are the only things keeping the priest from a life sentence or worse, and wits simply may not be enough-unless they can conjure up a miracle of their own.

Of Siegel's most recent book, Publishers Weekly said, "The verdict is clear; another win for Siegel." And so it is again.

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Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #773405 in Books
• Published on: 2004-08-19
• Released on: 2004-08-19
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 368 pages

From Publishers Weekly
Lawyer and ex-priest Mike Daley is back again in Siegel's fifth legal thriller (Final Verdict, etc.), this time going to bat for Father Ramon Aguirre, his longtime friend and beloved local priest in San Francisco's Mission District. Aguirre is accused of murdering his parishioner Maria Concepcion, a fiercely competitive lawyer who became something of a celebrity after instigating and successfully settling several abuse cases against the Roman Catholic Church. Her latest suit alleging sexual impropriety by a prominent priest has come to an abrupt halt with her death, and the prosecutor is claiming that Ramon, whose fingerprints are found on the murder weapon and her naked body, is guilty. Daley believes in Ramon's innocence and agrees to help him pro bono despite the archdiocese's suspicious insistence that they be his sole representation in the case. Incriminating evidence against Ramon continues to appear, including the possibility that the priest has fathered Maria's unborn child. As Daley moves from the drug and prostitution-ridden underbelly of San Francisco, where auto parts and offers of legal aid are exchanged for cooperation, to the tension-filled courtroom and the hushed offices of the church, it gradually becomes apparent that Ramon isn't the only character with a lot at stake in this intelligent, timely thriller.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist
Another year, another entry in the always-engaging procedural series starring the legal team of Michael Daley and Rosie Fernandez, whose partnership as lawyers, friends, and even lovers is stronger than the marriage they once had together. The ex-priest and his ex-wife face their most challenging case yet: defending longtime friend Father Ramon Aguirre in the murder of parishioner Maria Concepcion. Maria had been a lawyer, too, and was about to begin jury selection in a civil case against the San Francisco archdiocese regarding a now-dead priest's illicit sexual relationships with female parishioners. Maria was known as a competent lawyer, and although one would think she was conflicted about suing the archdiocese--she was, after all, a faithful churchgoer--Maria faulted the people at the helm rather than the faith. Father Aguirre, for his part, is considered a rogue, antiestablishment priest who never supported the archdiocese's arcane, patriarchal ways. Why, then, would they think he killed Maria? Mike and Rosie employ their stellar discovery and courtroom talents to get to the bottom of the twisted situation involving the movers and shakers of the San Francisco Catholic community. Once again, Mike and Rosie prove to be a duo that's fun to root for. Mary Frances Wilkens
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

About the Author
Sheldon Siegel has been in private practice in San Francisco for twenty years.

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Customer Reviews

Siegel is back with the entertaining, "The Confession"!
Sheldon Siegel does it again, in his fifth and newest outing for San Francisco attorney and ex-priest Mike Daley. The book opens with Daley's confession to one of his best friends, priest Ramon Aguirre. Before it closes, Daley, Aguirre, and the normal cast of characters in a Siegel novel (Mike's ex-wife and law partner Rosie, their various relatives, "McNasty", the lead prosecutor in the DA's office, Banks and Johnson, a crack SFPD homicide team and the Catholic diocese of San Francisco) will come and go, but the bond between Mike and Ramon will grow due to Daley's defense of Father Aguirre in a murder trial.

In his investigation of what really happened to the victim, Siegel shares with us a slice of her life, in flashbacks - she's a close friend and former teenage fling of Aguirre's, and another fixture in the neighborhood, crusading attorney Maria Concepcion. In a pace too fast for many readers, Siegel introduces us to everyone of relevance in Maria's life, and one by one, eliminates them from the crime. The book, as in many of Siegel's former novels, climaxes in the courtroom, this time in a preliminary hearing. Of little help is the fact that Father Aguirre feeds the defense team information little by little, confirming the damning information about his relationship with the victim only after they have learned about it from the police. Although this fact is grating on the reader, Siegel's fans will be more than satisfied with a couple of characteristics of his writing, which have become his signature.

The first is Daley's mental corrections of nearly everything he says that is politically correct. When queried by the higher ups in the church's in-house legal counsel, "I trust you will provide full disclosure of all relevant information?"...Daley's response of "Of course." Is prefaced by his real answer, which is never enunciated..."We'll see". Throughout the book, the dichotomy of Daley's out-loud answers and his mental gymnastics is an entertaining Siegel tradition. One of the other Siegel signatures is his prefacing of each chapter with a brief blurb or quote from a publication (such as the San Francisco Chronicle) about the case he's working on. This technique pulls the reader into the context of the story within the boundaries of SF, and makes it come alive. Some examples?

When Daley's offices are destroyed by a fire that is apparently arson, and when the church withdraws its support as co-counsel, chapter 43 begins with "Mr. Daley and Ms. Fernandez should ask for a continuance...Legal Commentator Mort Goldberg, Channel 4 News, Monday, December 15, 8:30 a.m." After having this priest charged with the murder of an attorney that was suing another priest for sexual misconduct, after learning that Father Aguirre donated sperm to help the victim become pregnant, and after the dirty tricks played by the SF Diocese's legal team against the victim come out in court, Chapter 51 begins with a quote from its chief in-house counsel, Francis X. Quinn, "We have to avoid any appearance of impropriety."....an understatement if there ever was one.

I hope the broader reading community that enjoys thrillers, both legal and mystery, doesn't ever discover Siegel's books in a big way, because that will put more pressure on him to produce the commercially acceptable; in the meantime, he can just continue with his penchant for a great yarn, with a cast of memorable characters, and a sweeping humor that doesn't undermine the thriller aspects of his writing. One of my very favorite authors....read Siegel's 5 Daley books in order, so you don't miss a single drop!

A Great Read
A terrific mystery novel that will keep you turning the pages long after you should have tucked yourself in for the night. Smart, funny and completely enjoyable.

5 Stars for the Book; 5 more Stars for the Author
An ironic thing about this author's first book, "Special Circumstances." I didn't know the author, enjoyed that book, found out he was from my area, and there were community ties within our families. I suppose, then, that as a reviewer, anyone can now claim my pro-Sheldon Siegel bias. I confess to that. But it is BECAUSE of the stories he writes, and because of the way he writes them, that attracted me as a reader. Further, Sheldon is one of those writers who has enjoyed rare success in the industry, based, of course, on his hard work. But there is more. Sheldon is a supporter of other authors. He is a family man and, as anyone who has attended his readings would know, a heck of a nice, funny, entertaining person. The Confession carries all these traits onto the written page. Great story line, original characters, unique way of laying out the story, tension with humor and drama. Congratulations once again to Sheldon Siegel, his family, and all readers who have the fortune of reading The Confession, or anyone of his other books.