The Confession

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

Book 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.

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


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Sardonic Frisco attorney Michael Daley defends a popular priest against a murder charge. Mike Daley (Final Verdict, 2003, etc.), back for a fifth outing, takes his monthly confession and follow-up lunch with old friend and one-time fellow seminarian Ramon Aguirre; Mike spent a short time in the priesthood before settling into a legal career, while Father Ramon has become a benevolent fixture in the Mission District. Mike shares news of significant other (and law partner and ex-wife) Rosie in her recovery from breast cancer; Ramon shares his sadness over the apparent suicide of parishioner Maria Conception, a workaholic lawyer and recent divorcee who, at the time of her death, was prosecuting the local archdiocese in a high-profile sexual harassment lawsuit. The evening after lunch together, Mike is stunned when Ramon calls and asks for help: he's been arrested for Maria's murder. Problems pile up even before they get to trial. Ramon is full of secrets about his relationship with Maria, and Mike learns them one uncomfortable piece at a time: Ramon and Maria were once lovers, Maria was pregnant when she died, and Ramon may have been the father (albeit via artificial insemination). The archdiocese has its own attorneys, the very corporate Quinn and Shanahan, who want the maverick Mike off the case. Chances of them putting Ramon's interests ahead of the Church's are slim, and they remain in a constant tug-of-war with Mike. Circumstantial evidence looks bad for Ramon, but Mike finds a handful of suspects with motive at local restaurant Eduardo's Latin Palace. Maria was having an affair with owner Eduardo Lopez, who was also stepping out with hostess Mercedes Trujillo. Learning of hisdalliances, Eduardo's wife Vicki swore revenge. Maria's client in the suit against the diocese comes forward with vital evidence-and is suspiciously killed before she can testify. Siegel's dialogue crackles with pace and authenticity. His brisk narrative offers a nonstop barrage of cynical asides to the reader-not to every taste. Agent: Margret McBride


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