For fans of the legal thriller this book delivers. The book provides many twists and turns to satisfy even the pickiest of readers. For fans of Robin Lockwood this will make you like her more. For those like me who haven’t met Robin before, this book will make you want to read all the rest of her books. One comment of note, the lack of follow up from the first trial in the book disappointed me. I wanted to know more, but as this is a series book maybe it will be explored in another volume. All in all I loved the book! This book was graciously provided by NetGalley, the publisher and author in exchange for an honest review.

I really enjoy Margolin novels and this was no exception. Lots of twists and turns, leaving you guessing throughout. The plot was complex until the end. Great read. Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the advance read copy!

I love a good Phillip Margolin book and this one was good. It touched on a lot of topics that are hard to talk about: women's mental health, surrogate mothers, etc. The book was fairly predictable but Margolin excels with courtroom narrative.

Minus a star as the writing at times felt a bit wooden, even during the central scene in the book that propelled Robin to Elk Grove.

Thanks to NetGalley snd the publisher for the ARC.

I was given this book by Net Galley for an honest review -
This was a great book - but then i have never read a book by Phillip Margolin i haven't liked.
Robin is a great defense attorney in Portland but when her honey is killed, her world crashes and she goes home to mom to recuperate.
While there she is asked to assist in a case of a surrogate mom accused of kidnapping the baby. But what it looks like may not be what it is. Grab this book and prepare for the unexpected!

A simple yet important plot leading our characters from not to despair. Mentally health and surrogacy are well presented.
Thank you netgalley and the publisher for this arc

I enjoyed this book about the dilemmas a lawyer faces. The heroine of the book, takes a case pro bono and defends her to the best of her ability and gets client off. She then defends another client and the story takes off....

I have loved all of the Robin Lockwood mysteries. This is one was no different. When Robin loses the love of her life, Jeff, her world falls apart. This story follows Robin as she pulls herself back together and gets on with her life.

The Darkest Place is the fifth book in the Robin Lockwood series, and it does not disappoint. Robin, who is a defense attorney AND former MMA fighter, faces one of the biggest challenges of her life. In an effort to cope with this tragedy, she goes home for some rest and to gather her strength. Little does she know, things are not all quiet on the home front, and before you know it, she is embroiled in a case that is not all that it seems. There is a lot going on in this book, but the author ties it together well. I enjoyed the different threads of the story and how they all came together in the end. Having been a reader of this series, I am happy to see that it is not following a set template but continues to be fresh and engaging. Thank you to NetGalley, the author and publisher for the opportunity to review this book.

Police officer Marjorie Nolan finds her estranged husband's dead body. She and Joel, the husband, were embroiled in bitter divorce proceedings. Although the police suspect Marjorie in the killing, they have little evidence. Marjorie goes to Joel's current flame, Samantha, who is living in Joel's apartment. Since the divorce isn't final, Marjorie now owns the apartment and unceremoniously throws Samantha out. All is well until two brutes come to Marjorie to collect the money Joel owed to them- a huge sum.
Marjorie skips town, goes to Elk Grove and becomes a surrogate mother. When the baby is born, she is erroneously allowed to bond with the son, and al hell breaks loose because now she doesn't want to part with the baby. Once he is taken, she violently tries to get him back.
Now she is on trial for kidnapping and assault, as well as baby abuse, a subplot unworthy of the author as he has stacked the deck so well against the evidence.Marjorie is acquitted, but now arrested for killing her husband. She hires robin Lockwood to defend her in both trials. One might wonder where she got the money, because earlier in the novel she was told she could not access it as it would go to the people her husband had embezzled.
Margolin apparently forgot this fact. She returns to Portland for the big trial.
I thought the novel was predictable and underwhelming. I say that regrettably since I really like Phillip Margolin novels.
Thanks NetGalley for the ARC.

Robin Lockwood is a prominent defense attorney in Portland. She is know for her innovative strategies. She took on the pro bono defense of a reprehensible defendant. This decision wreaks devastation on her life. She goes home to the small town of Elk Grove and her family. As she is in town, Marjorie Loman, a surrogate, is accused of kidnapping the baby that she carried for the couple. Robin agrees to take on her case. This is an interesting story that I recommend.

I am a huge, longtime Phillip Margolin reader. His early novel, Gone But Not Forgotten, ranks in my all-time suspense thriller favorite list and made me go back and read everything before and after that he writes. I do love the Robin Lockwood series and this entry was really good. I liked it, it's solid, I just didn't LOVE it. It takes a direction that I am not sure how I feel about yet. It is a similar plotline that another favorite author, Karin Slaughter, used a few years back and I had similar feelings then too. I have since come to terms with that and still love everything she has written since in her series and am sure this will happen with this series, also, I will just have to wait and see with the next book. I was also just not a fan of Marjorie from the beginning. While there are a lot of twists, I felt that there were also a lot of coincidences but all in all a good read. I do recommend reading the whole series, as it is excellent overall. Looking forward to the next one!

Thank you to #NetGalley, Phillip Margolin and St. Martin's Press for this ARC.

An enjoyable addition to this series. The main character is dealing with a devastating loss as she returns to her hometown and gets involved in case that has many parts to it. A former female cop is first accused of abusing her child that she gave up and for kidnapping him and assaulting his new mother. the interplay between the legal work and the investigation was interesting. She then is accused of killing her husband who she was in the middle of a nasty divorce with. So lots of questions and issues to sink our teeth into and a likeable heroine in Robin to follow

Thanks Netgalley for allowing me to read this book. Robin who is a lawyer just had a difficult case and returns to her family home. While their she is askedto defend a woman who may not be who she claims to be. With more questions than answers it will take everything Robin has to find answers. This book kept me guessing.

This book was all over the place. The “connected” cases felt redundant (especially the numerous courtroom scenes) and the timelines just kept jumping around inefficiently. I also think the death in the very beginning was entirely unnecessary and left a disappointing tinge on the entire novel.

I’ve liked this series and I’ve never noticed how some of the dialogue can feel stilted at times. I’ll tune in for the next one but definitely a bit more cautiously.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

First off, lets talk about what pulled me into this book. Look at this cover ! It screams, "PICK ME UP" !!

The Darkest Place, title alone, peaked my interest. I needed to know more. So I proceeded on with my request . Thank you Netgalley, for allowing me the opportunity to read and review this novel before its March 8, 2022 release date.

Although this was my first novel by Philip Margolin, I can promise you that it will not be my last. The writing style is fluid, the chapters are engaging and leave you wanting "one more chapter" . The storyline was exciting, the character development was on point.

A little bit about the Darkest Place.

Robin is a defense attorney but she was also a MMA fighter (yikes!) . Talk about a tough cookie! Robin is known for her unique, yet winning strategies. When the judges asks Robin for her help on a pro-bono case, Robin knows she really doesnt have much of a choice but to help

Robin is unaware that this one decision will forever change her life .

After leaving the mess of behind her, Robin goes back to her hometown to recover from the aftermath of the case. Little does she know she is going to get thrown right into a case of kidnapping and assault. When Robin takes on Marjorie, as a client, she has no idea what she is getting herself into. Why is Marjorie hiding from her past, a warrant, and a fake identity?

Tune in March 2022 to find out!

I've read many books by Phillip Margolin and have enjoyed them all. This one, like all of them was easy to read and fast paced. Good characters and pacing. I highly recommend this book.

Phillip Margolin throws his heroine, Robin Lockwood, into a very deep and dark place... He has created such a strong character, it's a very special read as Robin navigates her way through this unchartered territory. She heads back to the Midwest to the safety of her family... and an interesting case falls into her lap. With much relevancy to current times, she and Stan work to represent a surrogate mother who may or may not be mentally ill. Told with a rapidly advancing timeline, Robin flies between the Midwest and her beloved West Coast as this case continues to evolve into much more than she thought. The Darkest Place is a very thoughtful, twisty, and fantastic novel - I'm already looking forward to the next Robin Lockwood book, perhaps Ms, Jaffe can make another cameo (fingers crossed)!

The Darkest Place by Phillip Margolin is a very interesting and thought provoking novel. The book is the latest installment in a series about attorney Robin Lockwood, who in this novel experiences a personal tragedy and moves back home to recover.

The plot revolves around a female police officer in the midst of a bitter divorce from a husband who has been found murdered and was involved in the embezzlement of funds from a company he co-founded with another woman with whom he was having an affair.

The bulk of the novel concerns the female police officer who agrees to become a surrogate for a couple who cannot have their own children. After giving birth, she decides she wants to keep the baby. Robin Lockwood is involved in her defense as a co-counsel with an attorney in her home town. The case is extremely interesting as is the trial for her husband’s murder - both of which will keep the reader guessing until the very satisfying conclusion.

I thank NetGalley and Minotaur Books for the opportunity to read and review this book prior to its publication on March 8, 2022.

This opens with an event that surprised me so much that I re-read the page to see if I read it wrong. It affected criminal defense lawyer, Robin Lockwood, enough that she went back to her small midwest hometown to regroup. The town also was sheltering a widow who was hiding from men that possibly killed her husband and were after the money they said he owed them. She was supporting herself by being a surrogate. When that didn't work well, she hires Robin to represent her.

This was very good. As someone who has enjoyed reading the series about Robin, I am still shaking my head a little about the big event at the beginning of the book, but I guess the author wanted to go in a different direction. I am looking forward to the next in the series to see how it goes.

The Darkest Place is the fifth novel in Phillip Margolin’s bestselling Robin Lockwood series. In this novel, Robin, as a favor to a judge, takes on a pro bono case which ends up having devastating personal consequences for Robin. She goes home to Elk Grove to recover and ends up defending a woman, Marjorie Loman, who is obviously guilty of kidnapping a baby she carried as a surrogate and then assaulting the mother. As the story continues, Robin stays in Elk Grove to finish the trial and uses some of her amazing tactics to win the case. There is also a murder trial involving Loman, and Robin agrees to represent her once again.

The Robin Lockwood series is one of the most true-to-form legal thrillers out there. Margolin knows his way around a courtroom and has the skills to make legal trials fascinating and believable. The Darkest Place is no exception, and readers will find themselves unable to put the novel down. There is constantly building suspense as the two separate plots are resolved, and as is Margolin’s style, the dénouement is a complete surprise. For those who have read the previous novels in the series, Robin’s character is known and loved. But for those just picking up this novel as a stand alone, there is enough in the novel to understand Robin and the supporting characters. Margolin does an excellent job of developing his characters, so it’s okay if readers don’t have the entire background.

This excellent book will make readers want to go back and read the previous books in the series. They are well-written and absolutely spellbinding. This is a favorite series and is highly recommended for anyone who loves a good legal thriller. Margolin has outdone himself again.

Special thanks to NetGalley for supplying a review copy of this book.