Sheldon Siegel

Sheldon Siegel (born 1958 in Chicago, moved in 1980 to the San Francisco Bay Area where he still resides and practises law) – He is the prolific author of a long-running mystery series whose protagonists are non-Jewish defense attorneys. One of them is an ex-priest (Catholic). In 2013, Siegel initiated a new series with a Jewish protagonist – David Gold, a Chicago homicide detective. In The Terrorist Next Door, Gold struggles against a terrorist targeting iconic Chicago landmarks like Wrigley Field, Millennium Park, and O’Hare Airport. While the book is a mainstream thriller, David Gold’s identity as a Jewish detective is woven into the narrative through the setting and his background. The investigation takes the detectives through crumbling old synagogues in South Chicago, reflecting the author’s own history growing up as a Jewish native of that area. Siegel has spoken publicly on how mystery novels can embody Jewish values, such as the pursuit of justice. The David Gold series never went beyond this first book.

Siegel, Sheldon, (The Terrorist Next Door [pb, self-published by Sheldon Siegel, 2012] 978-0983006268 [hc, Poisoned Pen Press, 2013] 978-1464201646