The Sterling Inheritance

Midnight Investigations #1

by Michael Siverling

Working for his P.I. mother while trying to pursue a career as a musician, detective Jason Wilder keeps busy searching for a man who pulled a knife on him, dealing with an exploding office, looking for a mysterious woman, and investigating a brutal murder. Reprint.

Genres: Mystery

321 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2004

About the author

Michael Siverling is a veteran Criminal Investigator in Sacramento, California who has worked assignments ranging from homicide to political corruption to child abduction in cases that have taken him throughout the United States as well as Germany, Mexico and Romania. He has also been qualified as a police instructor in firearms and weaponless defense.

Reviews

[LJ]

THE STERLING INHERITANCE (Private Investigator-Fictional town (Part of Sacramento)-Cont) – G+
Siverling, Michael – 1st book
Thomas Dunn Books, 2004- Hardcover
PI Jason Wilder and the Midnight Investigation Agency, has been hired to find Tony Sterling. When he does, Sterling tries to shoot him. Sterling is then arrested for murder of a man found in the dumpster behind the theatre owned by Sterling and his sister. But when Sterling claims his sister is the actual killer and he then disappears, it clear things are not as they seem.
*** This book works because of the characters and the dialogue. The plot is a bit weak and way too much attention was spent on telling us where Jason parked his car. But the relationship between Jason and his mother, who owns the detective agency, is delightful and characterized by quips reminiscent of the 20s. It's a delightful first book and I am looking forward to the next one.

[Alissa]

Jason is a young PI in the fictional River City, Ca, so much time is spent on describing River City and it's wasted since it's a fictional town.
As for the genre, Jason is a younger PI so might appeal to 20 somethings. The mystery has a surprise (to me) killer and wraps up rather neatly without a lot of violence or build up. Characterization of Jason's mom (owner of the PI agency) is vivid and detailed but Jason lacks depth. Reviews said this is first of a series so it'd be interesting to see how number two turned out.

[Grey853]

The main character of this PI story tries a bit too hard to be funny and that didn't work for me. He's also bullied and pushed around by his mom, the head of the agency he works for. None of the story rang true. I give it two stars instead of one because it wasn't terrible, but it was just too predictable.

[Luanne]

This was a great mystery/thriller. Anthony works for his mother Victoria. Victoria and Anthony's late father worked for the police department. Victoria now runs a detective agency where Anthony works. A Russian expatriate hires the agency to find her husband. This book was hard to put down and well written. Definitely an author to look for.

[Viccy]

Jason Wilder works for a living: he is a private investigator for his mother's Midnight Investigation Agency. This was a fun read, not too deep, lots of action. I will read Michael Silvering again.

[Jennifer]

The Sterling Inheritance by Michael Siverling (2004)

[Lacrymosa Quiñones]

Loved this mystery book