I love good legal
thrillers and I was delighted to learn about this new-to-me series. Final
Verdict by Sheldon Siegel (Putnam, 2003) is the fourth book in a fine string
of stories set in San Francisco. Fans of John Lescroart and Scott Turow will
enjoy these mysteries with unforgettable characters and great courtroom scenes.
Mike Daley, a
former priest, and his ex-wife Rosie Fernandez have resumed their law practice
in San Francisco after a year of teaching in Berkeley. The opening scene
demonstrates Mike’s courtroom skills better than anyone could describe them, as
he simultaneously puts an overly ambitious new Assistant District Attorney in
his place and extracts a repeat offender from a felony charge involving a
purloined rotisserie chicken.
The self-congratulations
within Mike and Rosie’s office stop abruptly when Leon Walker, a former client,
calls to ask for Mike’s assistance on a murder charge. Rosie did not believe in
Leon’s innocence when Mike defended him years ago and to this day thinks Mike
represented a guilty man, so she doesn’t want anything to do with Leon now. The
media agreed with Rosie at the time, and Leon’s life never got back on track.
Mike decides to
at least see what the case is about. On first glance, it appears to be
open-and-shut. A hotshot venture capitalist is found stabbed to death in an
alley near a liquor store where Leon works. Leon is found close by, unconscious
with a blood-covered knife and the victim’s money in his pocket.
Mike decides
to represent Leon when he learns that Leon is terminally ill with only weeks to
live. He cannot possibly survive long enough for a trial, and he wants his name
cleared before he dies. Under the circumstances Rosie can’t really object even
though she’s not happy. Mike and his brother, a private investigator, start
asking questions and learn, contrary to the information first received,
everyone did not love the victim. And just what was a wealthy guy in a Mercedes
doing so far from home in a run-down and dangerous area of the city?
Siegel has a
flair for characterization; even the minor ones in this story stand out.
Smoothly paced, the turns and twists took me by surprise every time I thought I
understood the direction the plot was unfolding. An absorbing story! Number 11
in this series was released in March 2020. Anyone unfamiliar with Mike Daley
and Rosie Fernandez have an abundance of satisfying reading to look forward to.
·
Hardcover: 400 pages
·
Publisher: Putnam Adult;
First Edition (August 11, 2003)
·
Language: English
·
ISBN-10: 0399150420
·
ISBN-13: 978-0399150425
Aubrey Hamilton ©2020
Aubrey Hamilton is a former librarian who works on Federal It
projects by day and reads mysteries at night.
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