This fifth novel in the Daley/ Fernandez mystery series from author Sheldon Siegel was his best yet. "The Confession" tackles into the dark and ugly world of the hierarchy within the Catholic Church. While one lawsuit for sexual misbehavior against one priest is moving into court, another priest becomes accused of murder. A "Jane Doe" civil suit against the church is upended when plaintiff's attorney Maria Concepion is believed to have committed suicide. The suicide quickly is then ruled murder. The accused murderer is Father Ramon Aguirre. Aguirre is long time friend and former colleague of Mike Daley. Daley quickly jumps in to represent Aguirre. However, the powers to be in Catholic Church have other plans. The church wants Aguirre to be represented by a firm it holds onto retainer. The firm on retainer also is where Maria's ex-husband works and was opposing her in "Jane Doe" case. Mike and Rosie do finally get to go it alone when big shot firm pulls out to handle civil suit against church, and Aguirre. Trying to get through for answers from the powers to be within church and law firm are daunting. Mike really goes several extra steps to get his friend and client off from murder charge. This crackling story line was amazing. With each of author Sheldon Siegel's books they seem to get better than the last. The suspense was thick enough to cut with a knife. The colorful and extraordinary characters really had this novel cooking. The legal team of Daley/ Fernandez is hard not to really pull for on every single page. The little guys battling the big imposing adversaries makes for great reading. 5 stars out of 5 possible. Author Sheldon Siegel entire series featuring Daley/ Fernandez is incredible. I'd highly recommend to jump into this series as soon as possible. It's really a solid winner. I have the seventh novel coming up next, and I can't wait to jump onto it. Check it out !!!!!
THE CONFESSION (Legal Thriller-Mike Daley-San Francisco-Cont) – G+Siegel, Sheldon – 5th in seriesG.P. Putnam’s Sons, 2004, US Hardcover – ISBN: 0399152121First Sentence: “Bless me, Father, for I have sinned.”Attorney Mike Daley is a former priest. The night after seeing his friend Father Ramon Aguirre, Ramon is arrested on suspicion of murder. Ramon’s friend and former lover was an attorney bringing a sexual harassment suit against the San Francisco Catholic archdiocese. Now the attorney has been found dead with Ramon’s fingerprints on the knife and body. The Archdiocese wants Ramon to use their lawyer, but Mike isn’t convinced they won’t sell out his friend in order to save the Archdiocese from scandal and money. And who is responsible for the green Impala that seems to be following Mike? Siegel does write interesting, enjoyable legal thrillers. It is a series I feel should be read in order to understand the characters and their relationships with each other, although the author does a good job of providing background for each of the main characters within each book. Mike, the protagonist, is the narrator. You not only see the story unfold from his perspective but “hear” what’s in his head as well as what he says aloud. This is both amusing and, occasionally, annoying and I would like to see more growth in the character. I did enjoy seeing how Mike put the case together, the investigation behind it, the relationship between him and Rose; his ex-wife, law partner, mother of his children and now girlfriend. There are some great secondary characters and very good suspense. I would say this is in the weekend/airplane read category, but there’s nothing wrong with that.
What do You think about The Confession (2014)?
One does not expect to like the main character who can not seem to honor his vows. He is an ex-priest and a divorced man who works with his ex wife. He also has an ex girlfriend who he is friendly with. But no the less you like Michael Daley, as he defends people of the Mission district of San Francisco. This time he takes on the Archdiocese of San Francisco as well as the police, when his friend Father Ramon is accused of murder. No one is truly innocent of all sins and there are shades of gray everywhere. I truly enjoyed this and Incriminating Evidence. I will look for other Sheldon Siegel novels.
—Ginny
This is my kinda summer beach book! An ex-priest with an ex-wife with whom he works with and has a 2nd child but yet he lives three blocks away. So, the ex-priest is friends with a current priest who is accused of murdering.......his former finance whose ex-husband works for a prominent law firm in which both are on opposing sides of civil suit involving a dead priest. Hahaha......really, I can't make this stuff up! I enjoyed Mike's quick wit and the way the author kept everything moving. I didn't know this was a series until I started reading but I didn't want to stop to start at the beginning. Looks like a I found a new series for the rest of the summer.
—Liz Keegans
This is the best of the books in the Mike Daley series. Ex-priest Mike Daley is tasked with defending another priest who also happens to be a friend. They've been friends for over 20 years, but it's interesting to see throughout the book how much Mike doesn't know about his friend. As is the case in all of his books, Mike proves that everybody lies - even priests. The best part of this book was watching the bones from the priest's skeleton slide out of the closet. It was a fun and interesting read that definitely won't disappoint.
—Smoochys
