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The Guilty Plea (Detective Greene #2)

3.71 of 5 stars 3.71 · rating details · 245 ratings · 62 reviews

With The Guilty Plea, a gripping sequel to the international bestseller Old City Hall, Robert Rotenberg has delivered another sharp, suspenseful legal thriller with an explosive conclusion.

On the morning his high-profile divorce trial is set to begin, Terrance Wyler, the youngest son of Toronto’s Wyler Food dynasty, is found stabbed to death in the kitchen of his luxurious...more

256 pages

Published 2011 by Simon & Schuster

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Feb 09, 2012 Teena in Toronto rated it 3 of 5 stars

I had read Rotenberg's first novel, Old City Hall, in January and enjoyed it.

In February 2011 I was asked to review The Guilty Plea (it went on sale on May 3, 2011) and participate in his Guilty Plea blogger tour. It gave me the chance to read Rotenberg's new book in addition to submitting questions for him to answer.

The story is in Toronto and, like the first book, I am very familiar with the locations where action takes place. In fact, I live near the hotel where Terrance Wyler's girlfriend, A...more

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Sep 07, 2011 LJ rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: canada, contemporary_post_1945, legal_thriller, attorney, male_author, mystery, police_procedural

First Sentence: Even for Arceli Ocaya, it was too hot to sleep.

Det. Ari Greene is called to the murder scene of member of Toronto’s wealthy Wyler family, known for Wyler Fresh fruits and vegetables. The kitchen is awash in Terrance Wyler’s kitchen but, even worse, his 5-year-old son and the object of a bitter custody fight, is asleep in his bedroom upstairs. Defense attorney Ted DiPaulo receives a call from a fellow-attorney who is representing Samatha Wyler, the victim’s wife. Ted is asked to r...more

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Aug 03, 2011 Beth rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

On a hot August morning, Arceli Ocaya, the nanny of four year-old Simon Wyler, arrives at her usual time, 7:30 AM, to find that nothing is as usual. The front door is open, there is no sign of Terrance Wyler who always has the stereo playing loudly as he chops fresh fruit in the kitchen, and Billy, the family dog, who always greats Arceli with loud exhuberance, approaches her with his head down. Arceli heads to the kitchen and knows from the smell that there is a great deal of blood in that room...more

On a hot August morning, Arceli Ocaya, the nanny of four year-old Simon Wyler, arrives at her usual time, 7:30 AM, to find that nothing is as usual. The front door is open, there is no sign of Terrance Wyler who always has the stereo playing loudly as he chops fresh fruit in the kitchen, and Billy, the family dog, who always greats Arceli with loud exhuberance, approaches her with his head down. Arceli heads to the kitchen and knows from the smell that there is a great deal of blood in that room. Then she sees Terrance Wyler on the floor, his body torn with multiple stab wounds. Arceli races to the stairs, desperate to find Simon. The little boy is still sleeping.

Detective Ari Greene gets the call to lead the investigation. Greene is number four on the list of four detectives to be assigned to a murder; it is his bad luck that the death of Terrance Wyler is the fourth in the city. Because the homicide squad isn’t at full strength, Daniel Kennicott, a patrol officer, is assigned to assist Greene. Daniel and Ari have a good working relationship built on a previous case.

Shortly after arriving at his law office, Ted DiPaulo receives a phone call from another attorney, Winston Feindel, a family lawyer who referred criminal problems to DiPaulo. Feindel has been representing Samantha Wyler in what the tabloids refer to as the “divorce from hell.” The trial is scheduled to start this day. Feindel had referred Samantha Wyler to Ted so that he could prepare her for what would be a brutal cross-examination. Now Feindel tells Ted his job is done; there is no divorce when one of the parties is dead. And, by the way, when he arrived at his office Sam was sitting on the stairs waiting for him.

When Ari is talking to Simon, getting him ready to go to Arceli’s apartment until his relatives have been informed, the little boy drops a bomb shell. ” ‘She cried last night,’ ” Simon said…..’Silly Simon,’ Ocaya said. ‘Last night you were not at your mother’s house, you slept here.’ ‘My mom came into my room here at my dad’s house. She kissed me and she was crying.’….’She said she wouldn’t see me for a long time. How come?’ “

At Feindel’s office, Ted gets his own surprise from a member of the Wyler family. “She opened her arms and held out a red-and-white dish towel. He was about to take it. Then his lawyer’s instincts kicked in and he pulled back. ‘Sam, listen to me. Put that on the carpet and open it. Slowly.’ Fixing him with her eyes, she placed the towel down and unfolded the corners one at a time….’It’s from our kitchen’…. She exposed a black-handled knife, stained from top to bottom with blood.”

The Wyler family is ubiquitous in the Toronto area. Wyler Fresh billboards are all over the city and environs and the fruit and vegetable business has made the family very wealthy. Nathan, the oldest, is the hands on member of the family, the hard-worker who bears the responsibility of choosing each day’s batches of food, as perfect as possible to maintain the family reputation. Jason, the second son, is disabled. He has a motor neuron disease that is slowly killing him. Terrance, the youngest, is the golden child. Strong, good-looking, and charming, he benefits from the family’s success without having to contribute to it. Terrance met Samantha when she came to work as an accountant for Wyler Fresh. As an accountant, she was a plus for the family. She was not what they wanted for a daughter-in-law. When the marriage ended five years after it began, the Wylers wanted her to leave with what she came, nothing, including her son.

It is bad enough that Sam took the murder weapon from the scene but when the police learn that Sam had received a message from Terrance just before he died, the noose tightens. She had gone to the house and she claims that Terrence was already dead. Why did she live Simon there and why didn’t she call the police?

THE GUILTY PLEA is a police procedural/ legal mystery and it is a definite plus that the characters from OLD CITY HALL are back. Ari Greene, Ted DiPaulo, and Daniel Kennicott are characters that are fully formed, interesting, and compelling. The murder in THE GUILTY PLEA is the place from which the story moves forward and backward. The secrets of two families could destroy both if revealed. Affairs inform two stories, and the guilty plea has two meanings.

It has been five years since Rotenberg’s first book, OLD CITY HALL, was published. THE GUILTY PLEA is an excellent book, one I read in an afternoon. It doesn’t pack quite the punch of OLD CITY HALL but I do hope Rotenberg’s third book makes it to the shelves much faster.(less)

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Apr 28, 2011 Luanne Ollivier rated it 4 of 5 stars

I enjoy a number of genres - legal thrillers being one of them. But when mentally going over my list of favourite authors, I realized that none of the legal list were Canadian. So I was excited to read Robert Rotenberg's new novel The Guilty Plea.

Rotenberg is a practicing lawyer who lives in Toronto and has based his series in the same city. I love reading a book with Canadian references - Timmies, the Globe and place names as well - Eglinton/Bloor, Jane and Finch. Knowing the settings are real...more

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Sep 12, 2012 Philip rated it 2 of 5 stars

Honestly I was somewhat disappointed in "The Guilty Plea" after reading "Old City Hall". The Toronto setting is great and the excursion to Cobalt was OK and some of the characters were very intriguing and the main plot is complex enough to be interesting while still simple enough to easily follow along and most of the subplots are realistic enough and the writing is good enough to keep one flipping pages but there are a few glaring problems that made me not enjoy this book as much as the first o...more

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Dec 22, 2012 Shonna Froebel rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: canadian

Got this as an advance reader's edition (publishing date is May) at the recent OLA conference. And boy am I glad. Once I started reading, I was hooked. This is just as good, if not better than his first book Old City Hall.
We have some of the same characters coming back, specifically Detective Ari Greene and Officer Kennicott. Terrance Wyler, youngest of three sons in the Wyler Food company, is involved in a high profile divorce. He has a new famous girlfriend, and his influential family on his s...more

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May 24, 2011 Frank778 rated it 2 of 5 stars

I enjoyed Old City Hall. But was disappointed in this one. The highlighting of Toronto sites felt forced and gratuitous. Their descriptions as dull as a bad travel website. It was so inconsistent One minute going for a coffee at "Jet Fuel", another going to spmeone's "favorite" "french cafe" with no name as if Toronto is filled with so many "french cafes" that everyone has a favorite. One character, a visiting American reporter, said and "thought" that Canadians are "polite" so often it felt lik...more

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Sep 07, 2011 Lynn rated it 4 of 5 stars

This is not "great" literature, but I thoroughly enjoyed it; probably even more than his first novel "Old City Hall". Having lived in Toronto it was so much fun to read about all the various neighbourhoods that I know and have memories of. He really gets the flavour of multicultural Toronto. I also loved that he explained the court procedure as per how it happens in Canada. There were parts where I laughed out loud - good stuff! Entertaining light read - highly recommend this to any Torontonians...more

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Sep 11, 2012 Melanie Chabrol- rated it 5 of 5 stars

Give this a 4.5, a book I could not put down. We have all read the lady meets the rich guy, they fall i n love, someone has an affair, BUT that is where it all ends.

The very next day there is supposed to be a divorce trial and the husband is dead, guess who had the knife and brought it to the lawyer, that is right Samantha, the grieving widow. For the police, and lawyers an open and shut case.

But what will the evidence show. Lawyer vs lawyer, not just mentor vs student, who will be strong enoug...more

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Jul 26, 2011 Vicki rated it 3 of 5 stars

Robert Rotenberg's debut novel, Old City Hall (http://bookgaga.posterous.com/old-cit...) stirred delighted buzz and garnered warmly welcoming reviews from Canadian crime fiction circles and fans in early 2009. When the first foray is that good, establishing a pace, personality, setting and cast of characters that readers quickly become keen to revisit, two years feels like a long time to wait for the next installment.

The wait is over, and those waiting will feel well rewarded. Rotenberg has deli...more Robert Rotenberg's debut novel, Old City Hall (http://bookgaga.posterous.com/old-cit...) stirred delighted buzz and garnered warmly welcoming reviews from Canadian crime fiction circles and fans in early 2009. When the first foray is that good, establishing a pace, personality, setting and cast of characters that readers quickly become keen to revisit, two years feels like a long time to wait for the next installment.

The wait is over, and those waiting will feel well rewarded. Rotenberg has delivered another solidly crafted, engaging narrative with the right balance of primary and secondary (new and previously introduced) players, and diverting but not excessive or distracting subplots (that leave the possibility of being further explored in future books).

The plot of The Guilty Plea focuses on the case of Terrance Wyler, youngest son of a family in the high-end grocery business. He's found stabbed to death in his luxurious home the morning of what was to have been the start of his and wife Samantha's divorce trial, made sensational by the fact that he has taken up with a notorious Hollywood actress. That morning, Samantha arrives at her lawyer's office with a kitchen knife that is undeniably the murder weapon. In what is perhaps becoming a signature modus operandi, Rotenberg presents a much too obvious resolution and then proceeds to take it apart and take the reader along for an engrossing, often surprising reassembling of the real story.

The Guilty Plea is seasoned with artful passing references to Old City Hall, and reconnects again with Detective Ari Greene, police officer Daniel Kennicott, Crown attorney Jennifer Raglan and other previous characters. However, The Guilty Plea can likely be enjoyed with no familiarity with its predecessor. This second novel is almost as crisply paced as the first, although it grows ever-so-slightly sluggish a little over halfway through, and then gets firmly back on track.

Once again, while The Guilty Plea offers up an intriguing and consistently sympathetic cast that interacts in interesting and compelling ways, the most vibrant cast member is still the city of Toronto. Seen in sensorily evocative moments across all seasons (the opening scene in the doldrums of sultry August is especially memorable), and in everywhere from coffeeshops and restaurants to landmark buildings and cemeteries, Rotenberg proves a mastery of establishing a sense of place even more impressive than his skills with plot and character. The fact that Rotenberg heads out into the city to write, rather than exclusively cloistering himself in an office or cottage retreat to write, has paid off in terms of his stories' atmospheric authenticity.(1)

Ultimately, The Guilty Plea culminates in an untidy but not implausible resolution. It's therefore pretty lifelike. It's also therefore infinitely book-club-debate-worthy or just individually ponderable - all not bad things at all, especially to pass the time during the wait for the next thoughtfully forged installment in Rotenberg's increasingly formidable franchise.

1. Robert Rotenberg: In search of a public place to write
http://arts.nationalpost.com/2011/05/...(less)

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Aug 02, 2011 Christian rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: fiction, police-law-investigation

This is a fun sequel to his first book, Old City Hall. Like the previous novel, this is a "Open and shut case....or is it?" story. It has good pace and the characters are engaging. One curious thing. What is his obsession with immigrants? He has most of his characters either immigrants, the children of immigrants and much of the story is placed in various immigrant communities such as Little Korea, China, etc. Based on his books, one would think there are scarcely any people who are not more tha...more

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Jun 14, 2013 Lisa Ann (Ketsy) rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: Fans of Crime Thriller and Legal Fiction

Recommended to Lisa Ann (Ketsy) by: Goodreads, First Reads

Shelves: first-reads, goodreads-wins, canadian-fiction, holocaust-survivors, mystery, romance, toronto, crime-novels, 21st-century-fiction, legal-thriller, crime-and-punishment, legal-system, law-justice

To be truly honest, I had never read a "Crime Thriller" before The Guilty Plea by Toronto Lawyer Robert Rotenberg. I had never really thought I would be intrigued by this type of fiction, and I am glad to know I was very wrong in this case.

The Guilty Plea is set in my home-town of Toronto, Ontario -- the landmarks, legal jargon, and the system is familiar to me -- and I really enjoyed the bits of 'inside' jokes and reminders about how wonderful my City, my Province, and my Country really is. I l...more To be truly honest, I had never read a "Crime Thriller" before The Guilty Plea by Toronto Lawyer Robert Rotenberg. I had never really thought I would be intrigued by this type of fiction, and I am glad to know I was very wrong in this case.

The Guilty Plea is set in my home-town of Toronto, Ontario -- the landmarks, legal jargon, and the system is familiar to me -- and I really enjoyed the bits of 'inside' jokes and reminders about how wonderful my City, my Province, and my Country really is. I loved the characters in this novel, particularly that of Lead Detective Ari Greene.

This is a story about a murder, one that seems so straightforward from the out-set, yet takes a dozen twists and turns as you find yourself drawn into the details. A high-profile divorce, nasty e-mails, and the soon to be divorced husband found dead in his home while his wife turns up with the murder weapon at her lawyers on the morning of the divorce proceedings. Seems rather open and shut, but it is exactly the opposite.

I loved the behind the scenes look at what lawyers go through, along with their families, when they are involved in a high stakes trial. Toronto Lawyer Robert Rotenberg gives us all the details, the good, bad, and ugly - and reminds us that sometimes there are no winners or losers when it comes to crimes of passion. Families are destroyed, no one is left unscathed.

Bottom Line: This novel is fast paced and full of the twists and turns that will keep the reader locked in tight for a wonderful ride. Well written, edited to perfection, and full of personality - This is a novel that will thrill fans of the genre and those who are just looking to dip their toes in a little summer crime thriller. And yes, I am still waiting for the Toronto Maple Leafs to win the Stanley Cup too Mr. Rotenberg, I Beleaf!

**This review is based on an ARC provided by Goodreads, First Reads giveaways. The opinions expressed are my own, and have been in no way influenced by Goodreads, The Author, or the Publisher.**(less)

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Sep 05, 2012 Christina Vasilevski rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2012, canadian-authors, mystery

Review originally posted on www.christinavasilevski.com

One of the genres that I've often had trouble "getting" is that of the crime/procedural (which was why I had problems with both Zoo City and Empire State ). In terms of my reading habits, then, my enjoyment of Robert Rotenberg's books is an outlier.

Old City Hall was Rotenberg's debut, and The Guilty Plea picks up right where it left off, with many of the same characters. The premise here is similar to that of the first book: someone has bee...more

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Jul 28, 2011 Matt rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: favourites

A sensational Canadian legal thriller, with Canadian characters, in a Canadian city. Thank you Robert Rotenberg for helping write a novel set in Canada that actually portrays the Canadian legal system in its true light.

I was captivated from page one in this murder mystery that brings together family, marital issues, the law, and small town Ontario. Rotenberg helps show Toronto in a new light and uses his previous experiences to bring the characters alive and makes the reader want to keep forging...more

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Jul 19, 2011 Bernie Charbonneau rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: canadian-author, library-book

This is the second novel by this Toronto lawyer. Having read the first one and enjoying the book I did not hesitate to give his latest legal thriller a go. It took me a few pages to get into this plot but I'm not sure if it's because of the beautiful wheather or the actual story. Once into the plot, I found the characters believable and was intriqued right to the end. Living in the Toronto area made the book also fun to read because of the relation to some of the places described in the novel. R...more

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Dec 02, 2012 Peter rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: canadiana, fiction, mystery, travel

A follow up to his first mystery, Old City Hall, Rotenberg has avoided the second book curse and delivered a decent suspenseful legal mystery. A wealthy man, a member of a family of grocers, is found dead and his soon to be ex-wife seems to be the most likely culprit. Rotenberg, a Toronto Criminal lawyer brings some nice touches to the way investigations and prosecutions are truly done and some intriguing "Canadian" touches as well. It is a good read.

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Feb 26, 2012 Richard Thompson rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: mystery

I was excited to spot this on the "new" shelf at the library. I had read Rotenberg's OLD CITY HALL years ago and had been very impressed.

This was one was just as good. Set in Toronto (with a side trip to the small town of Cobalt in northern Ontario) and featuring police detective Ari Greene. A local businessman who is involved in a messy divorce is stabbed to death on the eve of the trial and all the evidence points to the wife.

Good characters — you see the case from the points of view of Greene...more

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Sep 03, 2011 Diane S. rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Very good legal thriller. I have to say I enjoyed this one more than many of Grisham's later ones. Set in Toronto a young mother is accused of killing her husband, says she is innocent and the case goes to trial. Many revelations. twists and though I had an idea of who the real killer was I have to say I wasn't sure. Very well written and learning about the legal system in Canada was a bonus.

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Nov 29, 2011 Jan Polep rated it 4 of 5 stars

2nd book in series about Ari Greene, a detective in Toronto and every bit as good as the first - "Old City Hall". Characters are broughty into the story slowly so that you can easily keep track, snapshot of police/legal/life in Toronto is laid out well, and plot bombs are dropped at just the right places. Thought I could put it down at 10:30 last night only to pick it up again at 3:30am to finish. Now that's a good book.

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Dec 13, 2012 Jina Howell-Forbes rated it 5 of 5 stars Recommends it for: readers who likecourt room drama and multiple complex relationships

Recommended to Jina by: Amazon

Shelves: great-series

This is the second book in the Ari Greene Series. It is a combination solve the crime and try the accused. The cases or complex, as are the on-going relationships between the recurring characters. The series is set in Toronto Canada, and the differences in the justice system and the cultural differences between US and Canada add even more interest to the stories. Very compelling and fun series.

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Sep 03, 2011 Vivian rated it 4 of 5 stars

This second entry in Rotenberg's Old City Hall series was quite the page turner. Some reviewers have found the plot a little weak, but I thoroughly enjoyed returning to Toronto and the great cast of characters. I almost polished this off in one night, I did not want to stop reading. Bummed that I'll have to wait at least another year for the next in the series.

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Sep 02, 2011 John rated it 4 of 5 stars

Another fun courtroom drama and murder mystery by the Toronto criminal lawyer. Ensemble cast carried over from his previous novel, Old City Hall. Great for lawyers, since there are no legal howlers and the book reflects an understanding of the real criminal justice world. Not just for lawyers, though. Humans would enjoy it too.

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Jun 02, 2012 Kathy rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Found another really good one. This is a second book and I have his first book on the iPad ready to read next. Like the Toronto location , the details about trying cases in a Canadian court. Characters are intriguing with lots of room to see development.

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Feb 09, 2012 Jack G rated it 3 of 5 stars

Not as strong as Old City Hall but still a fun read. He understands and explains the Canadian legal system along with developing a number of characters introduced in his debut novel. Toronto and its culture are part of the story line.

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Dec 08, 2012 Pgchuis rated it 4 of 5 stars

Enjoyed this very much, although the ending was strange. Ari seemed to have no flaws, although I was confused about the nature of his relationship with Margaret Kwon. I'm going to go back and read the first book in this series now.

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Oct 30, 2011 Maureen rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I do love a good mystery/courtroom thriller and this book was both. This is the first book by Rotenberg that I have read and it was very, very good. The characters are well-formed, the plot is plausible, the twists and turns were unpredictable and this all adds up to a very enjoyable read. One of my GR friends has wondered why Rotenberg is not as well known as Grisham - I agree with her - this book is every bit as good as Grisham and in fact much better than many of his recent, extremely formula...more

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Jun 26, 2011 Peggy rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: canadian, mystery

Good mystery, but to me the big plusses are the Toronto setting and the fact that a number of different characters provide their point of view. About two-thirds of this book (second in the series) is in the courtroom.

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Jan 07, 2013 Hella Comat rated it 3 of 5 stars

Set in Toronto, with lots of local references - all evidence in a fatal stabbing point to the victim's wife. Moved a bit slowly, but I enjoyed all the details about the Canadian legal system.

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Sep 30, 2012 Joanne rated it 4 of 5 stars

I love this book...I am now looking for his next book...STRAY BULLETS. The Guilty Plea was Editors Choice at store I shop but had to get Old City Hall (first book) to read first! I want to take notes so I can figure out the truth!

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Sep 14, 2012 Kristie Saumure rated it 4 of 5 stars

Enjoyable if a bit more predictable than his debut novel Old City Hall.

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About Robert Rotenberg

After graduating from law school in Toronto, Robert Rotenberg became the managing editor of Passion, the English-speaking magazine of Paris. He then returned to publish and edit his own magazine, T.O. The Magazine of Toronto.Eighteen years ago he opened his own law practice and is today one of Toronto’s top criminal lawyers, defending, as he likes to say “everything from murder to shoplifting.”Rot...more

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The Guilty Plea (Detective Greene #2)

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