Unfinished Business

Mike Daley/Rosie Fernandez Mystery #18

by Sheldon Siegel

A cold murder case turns red hot—and San Francisco Public Defenders Mike Daley and Rosie Fernandez are caught in the firestorm.On Christmas Eve 1978, Luther Johnson was shot and killed in San Francisco’s notorious Hunters Point neighborhood. The crime scene was pristine. The weapon vanished. The lead investigator suspected drugs, but Luther’s father—legendary homicide inspector Roosevelt Johnson—believed the truth was far a police officer was involved. No arrest was ever made.

Nearly five decades later, the case explodes back to life when SFPD finds boxes of 1970s-era bullets in the garage of retired officer Kevin “Sully” Sullivan. The unfired rounds match the markings on the slugs that killed Luther. Roosevelt, now 87 and long retired, comes back to lead the new investigation, arrests Sully, and the District Attorney charges him with murder.

Sully is dying of cancer. His final a Public Defender. Roosevelt asks Mike Daley—son of his former beat partner—to represent Sully “to make sure we get it right.”

With only days before a high-stakes preliminary hearing, Mike assembles the closest thing he has to a family strike Rosie Fernandez, his ex-wife and co-chief of the Felony Division; Rosie’s niece Rolanda, a rising star in the office; and Mike’s brother Pete, an ex-cop turned PI. But the investigation is a minefield. Most witnesses are dead. The evidence is ancient. And everyone involved—including Sully and Roosevelt—has been carrying secrets for nearly half a century.

Packed with relentless twists, rich San Francisco atmosphere, and Siegel’s signature blend of courtroom tension and sly humor, UNFINISHED BUSINESS delivers a gripping legal thriller that will leave readers guessing until the final verdict. For Mike, Rosie, and Roosevelt, it’s a last chance to uncover the truth behind a lifetime of unanswered questions.

188 pages, Kindle Edition

Published March 26, 2026

About the author

Sheldon Siegel is a New York Times Bestselling novelist and author best known for his works of modern legal courtroom drama.

Siegel was born on the south side of Chicago, Illinois. He attended New Trier High School in Winnetka, Illinois, and later went on to attend the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign as an Accounting major. He graduated with a Juris Doctor from Boalt Hall at the University of California, Berkeley in 1983. He has been in private practice in San Francisco, California for over twenty years and specializes in corporate and securities law with the law firm Sheppard, Mullin, Richter & Hampton LLP.

Series:
* Mike Daley Mystery

Reviews

[Jude · Rating 5 out of 5]

Reading a Mike Daley/Rosie Fernandez book is akin to coming home to a family you know well. By this time, if you've read the previous entries in the series, you know the professional and personal story of Mike and Rosie, their rise to legal prominence in San Francisco, their family, and their external friends. The courtrooms, the DA's, the judges and Nick "the Dick" are all old friends. And, of course, Sylvia, Mike's gummy eating mother-in-law.

If you haven't read this series, I highly encourage you to start at the beginning; however, the author does a fine job of bringing you up to speed on who's who and what's what. Previous books in the series are compelling and well worth reading.

In this story, a cold case is reopened regarding the unsolved murder of former Homicide Inspector Roosevelt Johnson's son in 1968. Although an extensive investigation was done at that time, a suspect was never arrested. New evidence has come to light, and Roosevelt now believes there is a suspect and asks his old friend, Mike, and a previous DA, McNulty ("McNasty") to handle the trial.

I now know more about the movie "Taxi Driver" than I knew before. Let's say that bullets play an integral part in this story. I'm not sure how the author knows the brand of blouses worn by female lawyers, but perhaps Rosie has educated him.

This series is very well written. You will come to know the characters intimately and care about them all. No lags in the story as it, likes the books before it, flows evenly throughout the book.

This book is very bittersweet and is about more than just a murder trial. It is about family, food, investigation, and great courtroom sequences. Mike's "asides" while in the courtroom are perfect.

I look forward to Mike and Rosie's next adventure! My thanks to the author for this advanced reader copy!

[Gary S · Rating 4 out of 5]

In Unfinished Business, San Francisco defense attorney Mike Daley is drawn into a reopened 1978 murder case when retired cop Kevin “Sully” Sullivan is accused of killing a Black teenager, Luther Johnson, after bullets linked to the crime surface in his garage. With Sully terminally ill and insisting he was framed, Mike and his law partner Rosie Fernandez must unravel a case that has been distorted by police politics, racial tension, and half century old secrets. Luther’s father, Roosevelt Johnson a once legendary homicide inspector who has spent decades believing the department protected one of its own, pushes for the truth even as time runs out for everyone involved. As Mike digs through missing files, unreliable witnesses, and a deeply compromised original investigation, he confronts the possibility that the real story was buried to protect reputations, and that justice may depend on exposing what powerful people wanted forgotten.

[Simon Gosselin · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the 18th, yes you read that right, installment of the Mike Daley and Rosita Fernandez universe. The most recent ones were starting to feel a little bit rehashed and following a well known method. This time it’s different.

Mike has to defend the alleged killer of his old friend Roosevelt’s sons killer. The said murder happened 50 years prior. This was a great opportunity to bring back some pas characters and spoiler alert, I almost yell when they met Nick the Dick! It’s prime Mike Daley and also prime Sheldon Siegel writing. I must say that I had the eyes wet while reading the last chapters.

This is a very very good book with an incredible ending.

[kathy dooley · Rating 1 out of 5]

Dialogue

Siegle's past 2 novels have been huge disappointment s. This one had stoked dialogue and no plot. It was worth what I paid$0