Criminal Intent

This was the most intriguing book I have ever read. Rosie & Michael investigated a murder That his niece might be involved in. The plot was riveting with so many suspects you can shake a stick at. Just when you think you may have figured it out you get the rug snatch from under. If you have been bored in the past with any court-drama books. This is the one to get.

Sheldon Siegel, in his third book, "Criminal Intent," brings back Mike Daley and Rosie Fernandez. Daley and Fernandez are law partners and former spouses who get along better as colleagues than they do as husband and wife. They both share a deep love for their daughter, Grace, and they consistently support one another through family crises and illnesses.A big crisis arises when the police find Rosie's niece, Angelina, near the Golden Gate Bridge late one night after her husband, Richard MacArthur, has been bludgeoned to death with his own Academy Award. Angel claims that she does not know how she got to the bridge, since she blacked out earlier in the evening after a party at her husband's mansion. The police do not believe Angel's flimsy story and they arrest her for murder. Angel had motive, means and opportunity to kill Richard, and the media-savvy San Francisco District Attorney, Nicole Ward, intends to nail her. Angel turns to her Aunt Rosie and Rosie's law partner, Mike, to represent her.Siegel's easygoing writing style, astute characterizations and gentle humor make him one of the better writers of legal thrillers at work today. Rosie and Mike are intelligent, resourceful and compassionate characters, and it is interesting to see how their relationship works both on a professional and a personal level. Several subplots about Rosie's battle with breast cancer, Mike's relationship with a beautiful judge and an expensive construction project involving bribes and extortion are seamlessly interwoven into the main plot about MacArthur's murder.By the time all of the elements have been sorted out, Siegel brings the book to a satisfying and realistic conclusion. I highly recommend the entertaining "Criminal Intent" as well as Siegel's two other legal thrillers featuring Mike Daley and Rosie Fernandez.

This is the third instalment of mystery novels featuring criminal defence attorney Mike Daley and his ex-wife Rosie. This time, the case at hand concerns Rosie's niece, who is accused of murdering her husband, a famous movie director. Mike and Rosie undertake a seemingly impossible case with most evidence pointing towards Angelina as the perpetrator, and where family values and sentiments are tested to the limit. Early on in the novel a multitude of potential suspects to the murder are introduced, each with their own personality, hidden agenda and version of events, and Mike and Rosie have to investigate and eliminate each as a suspect and as a lead to discover what really happened the night of the murder. Soon enough, another dead body is discovered, and Mike and Rosie have to untangle a web of lies, deceit and personal interest aims, trying to fit bits and pieces together, while juggling the emotional sanity of themselves and their family. The story unravels, like a jigsaw puzzle, each piece of evidence gradually fitting to another, until the unexpected conclusion. Those who have read Siegel's previous two books are familiar with the particular "situation" of Mike and Rosie who are ex husband and wife and current law partners. This book begins with a couple of surprises concerning their personal and sentimental status, and the reader cannot help but root for the two of them to get together again - it is one of Siegel's achievements that the reader gets so emotionally involved in the personal life of the heroes, a rare feature in murder mystery novels.The story itself is gripping and moves in a fast, unrelenting pace. The dialogue is crisp and clear and is accompanied by Daley's familiar sarcastic humour, one of the author's trademarks, also unusual in the genre. Once again, the novel unfolds in a characteristic San Francisco ambience, demonstrating the author's knowledge and love for his city. The sub-plots are not irrelevant to the main story and are equally interesting. The most impressive part of the novel, however, is the continuing character development, and consistency especially for the main character, Mike. I did not just admire Mike's intelligence, courage, committment to family and sensitivity - I genuinely like the guy, with all his flaws and shortcomings, and wish he was my friend. This attachment to a book character, even a reccurring one, is extremely hard to find, especially in a mystery series, and it is what stays with me having finished the book and what makes me look forward to the fourth book in the series.

What can I say? This guy gives hours of pleasure. Mike and Rosie are two of the best on-going characters around. The only problem is we have to wait a year to meet them again. As ususal, Sheldon Siegel has given us another winner. I must add, it's refreshing to be able to grin and smile with a main character even when he's chasing such dastardly perps. As Sheldon Siegel has shown, a sense of humor can go a long way. Kudos to you Sheldon...get back to the keyboard...we're all out here waiting for the next adventures of Mike & Rosie.

Sheldon Siegel has done it again. What a guy! I read 3-4 mysteries a week in between my non-fiction work. And it is difficult to avoid boredom, necessity to keep "research notes" while reading, characters fixed in clay, complexity that swirls in unintellible circles, clumsy writing, vapid portrayals, unrelenting darkness for the sake of darkness, and to remember a week later that I even read the book.So what do I and avid mystery fans look for, even require? Complex, intricate plots that one can follow without a check list. Characters that catch one's imagination. Straightforward writing that captures the time and the place and the people. Riveting suspense that goes somewhere. Perhaps a touch a humor and a handful of humanness. And careful attention to detail and reality. Sheldon gives us all of this - and in ONE BOOK!This mystery, the 3rd in a series, is as fresh and involved as the first two. The author loves his writing, lives his characters, walks his scenes. And his characters grow, book by book. And so does the author. The California Bay Area has been overdone in books and movies. But Siegel brings it alive with a freshness and joie de vivre that places one there, walking the walk, learning the cultures, listening to the sounds, smelling the smells. He takes his reader INSIDE the city to experience it, not just watch. And his "plots." I wonder if any current mystery author develops a more intriguing, yet concise, panorama of carefully interlaced plots than Siegel. They require, demand attention, but not labor. And the great bonus - his characters. He does not just "develop" them, he enlivens them. And we begin to know them, root for them, understand them, hope for them. How many times do we have the opportunity to walk away from a novel and really care about the folks in them, and hope for continuing change and growth in the next book? Not often. But here we have come to know the whole bloody family and the friends and their challenges and joys and sorrows. This writer really has it all and he shares it so "nicely" with his readers. Surely this mystery will hit the best seller list again and raise enormous anticipations for Book #4. "Thanks for the memories," Sheldon Siegel!