Mike Daley/Rosie Fernandez Mystery Books

Debut author Sheldon Siegel bursts into the legal thriller arena with a riveting courtroom drama, exposing the world of big-time law firms and lawyers in a fresh, sharp-witted, wonderfully sardonic page-turner. Meet Mike Daley. Ex-priest. Ex–public defender. And as of yesterday, ex-partner in one of San Francisco's most prominent law firms. Today he's out on his own, setting up practice on the wrong side of town. Then his best friend and former colleague is charged with a brutal double murder, and Daley is instantly catapulted into a high-profile investigation involving the prestigious law firm that just booted him. As he prepares his case, Daley uncovers the firm's dirtiest secrets. It doesn't take long for him to discover that in this trial, ambition, friendship, greed, and long-standing grudges will play just as important a role as truth and justice. Brilliantly paced, crackling with energy and suspense, Special Circumstances reminds us why we love to hate lawyers — but can't get enough of courtroom drama when it's done this well.

With his terrific first novel, Special Circumstances , Sheldon Siegel delivered legal fiction so exciting, it drew comparisons with the very top tier of courtroom thrillers. Now he has a new challenge for defense attorney Mike Daley--ex-priest, ex-husband, ex-public defender--and it’s a high-profile zinger: a case he doesn’t think he can win for a client he can’t stand. It starts with a phone call Mike Daley never expected to get, from District Attorney Prentice Marshall Gates III, San Francisco’s chief law enforcement officer and front-runner candidate for California attorney general. Friends they’re not, but Gates needs Daley now--badly. He’s just been arrested. A couple of hours earlier he woke up in his hotel room and found the dead body of a young male prostitute in the bed. Prosecutors are already talking the death penalty, and there’s nothing in the mounting evidence to convince Daley and his partner--and ex-wife--Rosie of Gates’s innocence. But even if he’s lying, it’s their job to defend him. Sure enough, the deeper Mike and Rosie dig, the seamier their findings. From a shady Internet entrepreneur who trades flesh for cash to a prominent businessman who uses muscle to keep his enterprise prospering, Mike and Rosie chase down leads that take them from the depths of the Mission District, where drugs and bodies are always for sale, to the gated mansions of Pacific Heights, frantically trying to piece together the shocking truth of what actually happened, even as the trial itself is under way.

Ex-priest and ex-corporate lawyer Mike Daley, and his ex-wife, lawyer Rosie Fernandez, investigate the murder of a legendary filmmaker when Rosie's niece is accused of the crime, a case that forever changes their views on truth, justice, life, and death. Reprint.

Approached by Leon Walker, who was responsible for their ruined marriage, legal partners Mike Daley and Rosie Fernandez find themselves challenged to defend Walker against allegations that he murdered a Silicon Valley venture capitalist. Reprint.

When the lawyer for the plaintiff in a scandalous sexual harassment suit against the San Francisco Catholic Archdiocese turns up dead, ex-priest Mike Daley and his ex-wife and law partner, Rosie, set out to defend the prime suspect, Father Ramon Aguirre. Reprint.

New York Times best-selling author Sheldon Siegel returns with a dramatic new case for the San Francisco law firm of Daley and Fernandez. As husband and wife, Mike Daley and Rosie Fernandez couldn t make it work. Luckily for Bay Area criminals, they didn t let that stop them from joining forces to open San Francisco s most tenacious law firm. As defense attorneys willing to take on the biggest and trickiest cases, Daley and Fernandez make one hell of team. 'Judgment Day' finds the ex-spouses tackling their most compelling case yet. Called in at the last minute to try to stop the execution of Nathan Fineman, a former mob lawyer convicted of murdering three people in the backroom of the notorious Golden Dragon Restaurant, Mike and Rosie must race the clock in a desperate attempt to prove their client s innocence - an impossible task, given the wealth of forensic evidence pointing to his guilt. At the same time, Mike must battle his own personal demons when the reputation of his father - a San Francisco cop who was one of the first officers at the Golden Dragon on the night of the murders - is called into question. As the plot hurtles toward its stunning denouement, 'Judgment Day' is fast approaching not only for Nate Fineman, but for Mike s father and for the law firm of Daley and Fernandez as well.

For Mike Daley and Rosie Fernandez former spouses and current law partners the stakes have never been higher. In the seventh installment of this bestselling, critically acclaimed series, the duo learn that their sixteen-year-old daughter's boyfriend has been arrested on suspicion of murdering his father, a Superior Court judge. Bobby Fairchild, however, claims to have found his father's body upon returning home from a date with Grace. The police, who found Bobby at the scene of the crime holding the murder weapon, contend that his parents acrimonious divorce sent the boy over the edge. With their daughter as Bobby's only alibi, Mike and Rosie take the case and uncover a sex scandal that takes them down San Francisco's darkest alleys and into the homes of the city's most prominent citizens.

FELONY MURDER RULE is the eighth book in the legal thriller series featuring Mike Daley & Rosie Fernandez. “I was just sitting in the car.” In the eighth installment of New York Times bestselling author Sheldon Siegel’s iconic San Francisco series, Mike Daley and ex-wife Rosie Fernandez face new challenges and stare down old demons as they return to work at the San Francisco Public Defender’s Office where they had started their careers and their relationship twenty years earlier. Mike and Rosie are now the co-heads of the Felony Division, where they spend more time running the office and supervising younger attorneys than trying cases. That changes quickly when Mike is visited by Melinda Nguyen, whose son, Thomas, a high school senior, is about to go on trial for murder. Thomas has been arrested under California’s archaic “felony murder rule,” which says you can be can be convicted of first degree murder if you’re present when someone is killed during the course of a felony, even if you don’t pull the trigger. The charge against Thomas shows the absurd limits of this legal doctrine. He was sitting outside in the car when a friend entered a liquor store in San Francisco’s teeming Tenderloin District and allegedly flashed a gun. The shopkeeper pulled out an AR-15 and calmly filled the alleged robber’s chest with bullets. Thomas is charged with murder even though he never entered the store. Thomas fires his original lawyer on the eve of trial after she recommends acceptance of a plea bargain. With nowhere else to turn, his mother petitions for help from the Public Defender’s Office, and Mike agrees to handle the trial scheduled to start four days later. As the evidence mounts against Thomas, it tests Mike and Rosie’s legal skills and relationship. Their stress is compounded by the fact that Thomas and his mother may have a connection to Mike’s older brother, Tommy, who died in Vietnam forty years earlier. Aided by Mike’s brother, Pete, a private investigator, and Rosie’s niece, Rolanda, a top-notch young attorney at the P.D.’s Office, Mike and Rosie face their most compelling challenge yet as they race to represent their client and try to find closure for old wounds. An intricate plot, immensely likeable characters, powerful suspense, and a touch of humor are Sheldon Siegel’s hallmarks. In Felony Murder Rule, readers will discover once again why reviewers have called Mike Daley and Rosie Fernandez two of the most compelling and beloved characters in contemporary crime fiction.

It starts as a routine traffic stop. Moments later, a young man is dead, a rookie police officer is charged with murder, and San Francisco is engulfed in chaos. In the ninth installment of New York Times bestselling author Sheldon Siegel’s iconic San Francisco series, ex-spouses Mike Daley and Rosie Fernandez have come a long way from their days as small-time defense attorneys. No longer working in a converted martial arts studio above a Chinese restaurant on the earthy side of Mission Street. Rosie is now San Francisco’s Public Defender, and Mike is the head of the Felony Division. Their daughter is in college. Their son is in middle school. For the first time in years, there is a semblance of order in their lives. It doesn’t last long. Johnny Bacigalupi is a rookie police officer and fourth-generation cop who graduated at the top of his class at St. Ignatius High, USF, and the Police Academy. His father is an assistant chief. He’s also Mike’s godson. On a rainy night, Johnny and his partner pull over a Honda with a broken tail light. Juwon Jones has an outstanding probation violation. When Johnny asks Jones to exit his car, Jones bangs the door into Johnny and flees. Johnny corners Jones in a parking lot, where Jones raises his hands. When Johnny orders Jones to lie down, Jones reaches for a gun—or does he? Johnny shoots Jones in self-defense—or is it? Johnny’s partner finds a handgun under the body—or was it planted? Jones’s mother says her son was unarmed. No weapon is visible in footage from Johnny’s body cam or video taken by other officers. Johnny and three other cops insist that Johnny acted in self-defense. The evidence suggests otherwise. The D.A. charges Johnny with first-degree murder. Local TV, cable news, Twitter, and social media explode. Police supporters clash with Black Lives Matter. White supremacists come to San Francisco looking for trouble—and find it. Mike and Rosie avoid the fray until Johnny’s father and uncle ask Mike to represent his godson. Despite Rosie’s reservations, Mike takes a leave of absence and represents Johnny, with help from his former-cop-turned-private-investigator brother, Pete. Mike, Rosie, and Pete face their biggest challenge yet in a high-stakes case where San Francisco’s streets turn violent. An intricate plot, likeable characters, powerful suspense, and a touch of humor are Sheldon Siegel’s hallmarks. In SERVE AND PROTECT, readers will discover once again why Mike Daley and Rosie Fernandez have been called two of the most compelling and beloved characters in contemporary crime fiction. SERVE AND PROTECT is the ninth book in the legal thriller series featuring Mike Daley & Rosie Fernandez.

In San Francisco, one in 11,000 residents is a billionaire. Now, there's one fewer. Lexy Low's sugar daddy Jeff King dies as she injects him with heroin. Was it an accident? Murder? Bad smack? Everything you've heard about sex, drugs, and misogyny in Silicon Valley is true...only it's worse. In HOT SHOT, it's up to public defenders Mike Daley & Rosie Fernandez to find the truth in the billionaire's club where everybody has something to hide. It starts with a phone call on Christmas Eve. Jeff King, the founder of Silicon Valley’s hottest tech startup, was found dead in his mansion above Mission Dolores on San Francisco’s “Billionaires Row.” Lexy Low, a young woman he had met on a “sugar daddy” site, allegedly injected King with a lethal “hot shot” of heroin. Or did she? Was it an accident? Or murder? In the tenth installment of New York Times bestselling author Sheldon Siegel’s iconic San Francisco series, it’s up to ex-spouses and Public Defenders Mike Daley and Rosie Fernandez to find the truth. King’s company, Y5K Technologies, is on the cusp of a widely anticipated IPO. In the media, King was portrayed as a visionary and a dedicated husband and father. In reality, Y5K had paid millions in to settle multiple sexual harassment claims. He was also a regular heroin user and frequent visitor to a popular strip club in San Francisco’s trendy South of Market neighborhood. Lexy is a former wunderkind programmer for one of Silicon Valley’s most successful tech companies. She loses her job when she rebuffs the advances of her supervisor. Her life spirals downward after she becomes addicted to anti-depressants, pain-killers, and, ultimately, heroin. Unemployed and homeless, she supports her habit by hooking up with King using the nom de plume “Sexy Lexy.” On a rainy night, King invites his senior management team, venture capitalists, and several young women to a party at his house. He also invites Lexy for an after-party. After the other guests leave, King and Lexy rendezvous in King’s bedroom, where Lexy injects King with high-powered heroin. Lexy claims that King provided the heroin. King’s people claim that Lexy brought it. The members of management—who detested King—used the bathroom where Lexy allegedly found the heroin. Did King leave it there? Did somebody from management? Or did Lexy bring it herself? As Lexy’s case hurtles toward trial, Mike and Rosie race from the mansions of Billionaires Row to the venture capital firms on Sand Hill Road to the high-tech office parks in Palo Alto to find the elusive truth in Silicon Valley’s boys’ club where everybody has something to hide. An intricate plot, likeable characters, powerful suspense, and a touch of humor are Sheldon Siegel’s hallmarks. In HOT SHOT , readers will discover once again why Mike Daley and Rosie Fernandez have been called two of the most compelling characters in contemporary crime fiction. HOT SHOT is the tenth book in the legal thriller series featuring Mike Daley & Rosie Fernandez.

The chef's knife was in the wrong place...wedged deep in the gut of celebrity chef Carlos Cruz. San Francisco's hottest young chef rose from modest beginnings to getting a James Beard Award for his upscale Mission District eatery, El Conquistador. In addition to creating cutting-edge cuisine, the mercurial Cruz has been accused of sexual harassment multiple times. When Mercedes "Mercy" Tejada finds her boss dying in the alley behind his trendy bistro, she knows she's in a lot of trouble. The waitress job wasn't ideal, but the tips paid the bills. Smart, ambitious, and tenacious, Mercy was granted Dreamer status while studying to become a nurse. With the bloody discovery, Mercy realizes she could lose it all. And not just for her -- her entire family is at risk too. In the eleventh installment of New York Times bestselling author Sheldon Siegel's iconic San Francisco series, ex-spouses and Public Defenders Mike Daley and Rosie Fernandez are thrust into this politically charged case where they must battle the District Attorney, the immigration authorities, the political establishment, old family secrets, and each other in a desperate search for the truth. The case is personal. Mercy's mom, Perlita, is the longtime housekeeper for Rosie's mother, Sylvia. It is Sylvia who asks Rosie and Mike to handle Mercy's case. There are political ramifications as well. Rosie is running for re-election as Public Defender. Her decision to handle a dreamer's defense herself will not play well to a portion of the electorate. As Mercy's case hurtles toward trial, Rosie, Mike, and Mike's brother/private investigator, Pete, race between the tenements, trendy restaurants, and century-old churches of the Mission District in a desperate search for an elusive truth where everybody--including Mike and Rosie and their families--has something to hide. An intricate plot, likeable characters, powerful suspense, and a touch of humor are Sheldon Siegel's hallmarks. In THE DREAMER , readers will discover once again why Mike Daley and Rosie Fernandez have been called two of the most compelling characters in contemporary crime fiction.

A ballpark. A bay. A body. Robbie Blum was San Francisco’s most prominent sports agent. His clients included players on the Giants, Warriors, and Niners. It all came crashing down when his body was found floating in San Francisco Bay after a Giants game, his skull crushed. A Louisville Slugger floating next to his body. Though Blum was a wildly successful agent, his personal life was a disaster. Two failed marriages. Allegations of spousal abuse. Alcohol. Drugs. Gambling. Even his biggest client, Giants’ slugger David Archer, had reservations about Blum’s erratic behavior. Jaylen Jenkins is a native of Oakland (“before it was woke,” as he likes to say). The graduate of McClymonds High School ekes out a living and pays for his mother’s drug rehab by working at fast-food restaurants, driving for Uber, and selling Giants T-shirts outside the ballpark. Jaylen also ran errands for Blum—and it was more than getting his laundry. Jenkins picked up illegal drugs for Blum from a supplier at a strip club. Blum also provided Jaylen with Giants swag to sell behind the ballpark. On the night that he died, Blum met with Jaylen at his stand and gave money to Jaylen to deliver to Blum’s drug supplier. Blum also had an autographed bat that he was going to give to his son. According to the police, Jaylen attacked Blum and killed him. Jaylen appears on a security video with a bat in hand. In the twelfth installment of New York Times bestselling author Sheldon Siegel’s iconic San Francisco series, ex-spouses and Public Defenders Mike Daley and Rosie Fernandez defend Jaylen in a high-profile case where they race from the glamorous world of professional sports to the low-rent world of strip clubs and homeless encampments in a desperate search for an elusive truth where everybody has something to hide. An intricate plot, engaging characters, powerful suspense, and a touch of humor are Sheldon Siegel’s hallmarks. In FINAL OUT, readers will discover once again why Mike Daley and Rosie Fernandez are two of the most compelling characters in contemporary crime fiction.

A bar. A body. A bloody knife. Mike wasn’t expecting the early-morning call from his 86-year-old uncle. Big John Dunleavy arrived at his namesake bar to find the body of San Francisco police officer Eddie Corcoran in the alley, a bloody knife at his side. Corcoran was a tough cop whose life went off the rails after his partner was killed two years earlier. Infidelity and alcohol abuse led his wife to file for divorce. Excessive force and harassment while arresting drug dealers and the homeless resulted in his recent suspension from the force. Corcoran was on the verge of permanently losing his job, custody of his children and everything. He didn’t think he’d lose his life. All signs point to Big John’s grandson Joey as the killer. Witnesses reported that Joey and the cop argued at the bar shortly before last call. The alleged murder weapon is Joey’s Boy Scout knife. The only fingerprints are his. Big John begs Mike to represent Joey. Mike and his team of ex-wife/boss (Rosie) and brother/P.I. (Pete) embark on a desperate search for the truth that takes them around San Francisco -- from the foggy streets of the Sunset to the colorful corners of the Mission to the homeless encampments in Golden Gate Park to the drug-infested hotels in the Tenderloin. Can they find justice for Joey before the bars close? LAST CALL is the thirteenth installment of Sheldon Siegel’s New York Times bestseling series featuring San Francisco attorneys Mike Daley and Rosie Fernandez. An intricate plot, engaging characters, powerful suspense, and a touch of humor are Siegel’s hallmarks. In LAST CALL, readers will discover once again why Mike and Rosie are two of the most compelling characters in contemporary crime fiction.

He was just trying to help a friend. After three tours in Afghanistan, homeless and hooked on painkillers, Lenny was working to pull his life together. He gave Annie the last of his oxy pills to ease the pain from her shoulder injury. But when she was found dead in her tent the next morning, Lenny wound up in jail accused of killing her with fentanyl. After a year behind bars, Lenny was finally about to get his day in court. But the uncertainty of the coronavirus threatened to delay his justice further. The evidence is compelling: a pill bottle with Lenny’s name, fingerprints, and DNA is found in the tent of the decedent, Annie Parker. There are six pills laced with fentanyl inside the bottle. Lenny insists he’s innocent. He claims he gave Annie three of his legitimate OxyContin pills that he got from the V.A. When Lenny’s public defender is called away to help a family member sick with COVID, Mike Daley steps in to take over his case. Contrary to Mike’s advice, Lenny rejects a continuance leaving Mike little time to prepare for trial. With the City on the verge of closing down, Mike must fly solo at trial as he desperately searches for witnesses in the homeless encampments and the drug-infested hotels in the Tenderloin. An intricate plot, engaging characters, powerful suspense, and a touch of humor are Sheldon Siegel’s hallmarks. In DOUBLE JEOPARDY , the fourteenth installment of his New York Times bestselling series, readers will discover once again why Mike Daley and Rosie Fernandez are two of the most compelling characters in contemporary crime fiction.

Deal Coin is dead. So is Tyson Gore -- the crypto company's rockstar CEO. Homeless addict Reggie Jones stands accused of his murder during a botched robbery in the heart of Salesforce Park. San Francisco Public Defenders Mike Daley and Rosie Fernandez race against time to uncover the truth. From gleaming office towers to powerful venture capital firms on Sandhill Road to tawdry strip clubs catering to Silicon Valley's elite, they follow a trail of betrayal, greed, and corruption. DEAD COIN is a story of San Francisco. It’s a tale of hope and greed, innovation and speculation, progress and decline. It’s a story that’s still being written. An intricate plot, engaging characters, powerful suspense, and a touch of humor are Sheldon Siegel’s hallmarks. In DEAD COIN , the fifteenth installment of his New York Times bestselling series, readers will discover once again why Mike Daley and Rosie Fernandez are two of the most compelling characters in contemporary crime fiction.

Amid the pulsating beats of an upscale strip club in San Francisco's historic North Beach, a chilling crime unfolds. Ex-cop César Ochoa stands accused of brutally stabbing the club's star dancer, Chloe Carson. The evidence is damning, but César maintains his innocence. In a desperate bid for justice, César turns to Public Defenders Mike Daley and Rosie Fernandez. As they delve into the shadows of the club, they unearth a web of sex, drugs, infidelity, and hidden pasts involving the city's elite. With time ticking away, the legal duo races against the establishment to unravel the truth in this lightning-paced thriller. In the 16th gripping installment of Sheldon Siegel's bestselling series, LAST DANCE , readers are plunged into a world where loyalties crumble and the line between guilt and innocence blurs. For Mike and Rosie, this could be their most challenging case yet, where one misstep could be their last.

A lawyer is dead. A homeless man is accused. And the truth is buried where no one wants to look. When a high-powered attorney is found brutally murdered in the driveway of his Marina District mansion, all eyes turn to Freddie Alvarez, a homeless heroin addict caught at the scene. The evidence against him seems airtight, and the city demands justice. But when Freddie insists he’s innocent, San Francisco Public Defenders Mike Daley and Rosie Fernandez are called to take on a case that will push them to their limits. In a city where the rich protect their own and the poor are disposable, the line between guilt and innocence is razor-thin. With the trial just days away, Mike and Rosie dive into a frantic investigation, joined by Deputy PD Nady Nikonova and Mike’s PI brother, Pete. Their search for the truth takes them from the opulent homes and exclusive nightclubs of San Francisco’s elite to the grim, forgotten corners of the City’s homeless encampments. As the clock ticks down, the pressure intensifies. Every witness has something to hide. Every clue leads to more questions. One wrong move could cost Freddie his life—and destroy Mike and Rosie’s careers, their reputations, and their future. In NEVER PLEAD GUILTY , the 17th electrifying installment of Sheldon Siegel’s bestselling series, the stakes have never been higher. Packed with relentless twists and Siegel’s signature courtroom drama, this is a legal thriller that will keep you guessing until the final verdict. For Mike and Rosie, this isn’t just another case—it’s a fight for justice in a world where the truth is the most dangerous weapon of all.