"Murder at Black Oaks" was a good locked-room murder mystery. There were some pretty obvious plot twists, but also some rather creative and surprising twists. Having the story involve the exoneration of a man on death row who was wrongfully convicted, as well as investigations into other possible wrongful convictions, was an interesting twist. Frank Melville (who is the murder victim at the heart of the story), was the prosecutor who helped convict Jose Alvarez, who was then sentenced to death. Years later, while in private practice, he learned the identity of the real killer but legally could not say or do anything about it (attorney-client privilege). As a result, Jose spent thirty years in jail, when the travesty of justice, if circumstances had been different, could have been rectified years earlier. The author does a good job of portraying Jose's anger at his situation, including his anger at Frank Melville, who wants to make amends, as well as Jose's confusion being back in society, as so much has changed in the thirty years he was incarcerated and as he has spent the last thirty years with his days regimented and almost all decisions made for him (when to eat, sleep, shower, exercise, etc.), so being able to make his own choices is unsettling. The cast of characters is rather eclectic -- including attorney Robin Lockwood, who used to be an MMA fighter. This is actually the sixth book in a series featuring Robin Lockwood, although it is the first book in the series that I have read so far.

I received a copy of the e-book via NetGalley in exchange for a review.

Captivating and suspenseful. This was truly a not to be put down read. Defense Attorney Robin Lockwood is back again. One of my favorites, the story brings back the TV show Murder She Wrote combines with Agatha Christie. A true legal thriller.

Thank you NetGalley for the advanced copy.

Thank you so much for allowing me to read and review your titles. I really not the opportunity!

I do appreciate it and continue to review books that I get the chance to read.
Thanks again!

Unfortunately this book didn't do much for me. I found the writing style to be more expository than descriptive (more telling than showing), and never felt drawn into the story.

Review of Uncorrected Digital Galley

Former Portland district attorney Frank Melville knows Jose Alvarez, sentenced to death for murder, is innocent. Bound by attorney-client privilege, he was obligated to remain silent until the death of the man who’d confessed to the crime. He stepped away from his law practice and began working to free wrongly convicted and incarcerated individuals. He hires attorney Robin Lockwood to find a way to free the man.

Robin and her investigator, Ken Breland, do indeed find a way to free Alvarez. But while they are at Black Oaks on Solitude Mountain, Melville’s creepy recreation of a haunted English manor, Frank is murdered. But the “how” of the murder is a puzzle since the victim was in his wheelchair inside an elevator at the time of his death.

As the investigation into his murder proceeds, they discover another body.

Has the curse of Black Oaks claimed more lives? Will it reveal its secrets or will Robin become the next victim?

=========

Sixth in the author's Robin Lockwood series, this book works well as a stand-alone. Designed to pay tribute to the detective novels of Ellery Queen, Agatha Christie, John Dickson Carr, and other great writers from the Golden Age of mysteries. Along with the haunted mansion, readers will discover other ingredients from those early mysteries, including secret passages, a werewolf curse, and an impossible locked-room murder.

The inventive plot keeps the suspense building; the characters are interesting and diverse. Its strength lies in its homage to the Golden Age authors and the clever incorporation of those early elements into the telling of this tale. A surprising twist near the end is sure to catch readers off-guard.

The eerie tale is fun, spooky, and unpredictable, giving readers an intriguing mystery to solve.

Recommended.

I received a free copy of this eBook from St. Martin’s Press, Minotaur Books and NetGalley
#MurderatBlackOaks #NetGalley

Great book Love all his books I have read Read this in two days Love all the characters especially Robin and Ken

I suggest the "dedication" page info be more prominent in synopsis. This is not a usual Margolin mystery. It is a "homage" to mystery writers of haunted mansions, werewolf, etc.
I felt like I was reading a Bella Lugosi mystery from the 50's.......And not a good one.
It was silly. Too many characters with silly back stories. No twists and predictable ending.
I was given this ARC in exchange for an honest review

Murder At Black Oaks is a legal/whodunit/locked-room mystery that lures you in from the beginning. The story isn’t fast-paced, but it isn’t quite the slow burn either. It’s paced just right with a storyline that captured my attention from the beginning and kept me guessing the next steps throughout the book.
Attorney Robin Lockwood was hired by former prosecutor, Frank Melville. Frank prosecuted Jose Alvarez, who was sentenced and put on death row for the murder of his girlfriend. Seven years later, the real murderer visits Frank and confesses to the crime of Jose’s girlfriend. After the confession, Frank isn’t able to free Jose due to the Attorney-Client privilege contract in place. Frank wants Attorney Robin Lockwood to help him find a way to free Jose from death row, despite the Attorney-Client Privilege. The story takes off when Robin investigates and researches a strategy to free Jose. As the story continues, you learn that the mansion which Frank Melville resides in has an eerie story behind it. When Robin and and other guests are invited to Black Oaks, murders occur that keep you wondering how the characters and the mansion’s history will intertwine and reveal the cause of the murders at Black Oaks during that rainy and stormy night.
Although Murder At Black Oaks is book #6 of the Robin Lockwood series, it can be read as a standalone. It is a quick, suspenseful and entertaining read which I enjoyed up to the very end. I didn’t expect it to end the way it did, which to me, made the story that much more enjoyable.

Thank you NetGalley and Minotaur Books for this ARC.

Continuing with his Robin Lockwood series Margolin gives us another very good thriller. Robin is her usual self confident, strong, and very perceptive.. Teaming up with her investigator Ken she continues to right a number of wrongs. In this case a lawyer, acting as a prosecutor convicts an innocent man for murder resulting in the victim's being sentenced to death.. He later learns his star witness lied. There is nothing the lawyer can do due to client-lawyer privilege. Thirty years pass and he is so very disturbed about doing nothing, he hires Robin to help right this situation. This was a quick terrific read.

4/5 stars - solid character development and a carefully crafted balance of suspense and action. An enjoyable read.

I tried really hard to like this, and I actually enjoyed the first 1/3 of the book, but the last 2/3 fell totally flat for me. The book felt disjointed, like there were too many ideas for one story. Not having read any of the author's other novels, I expected a little more backstory into the characters -- didn't get it. Gothic? Not really? Classic whodunit? Nope. It could have been a decent legal thriller, because there were several interesting issues raised, but that's not were the book went.

From reading some other reviews, clearly many people enjoyed this offering. Unfortunately I didn't.

I received a complimentary copy of the book from the publisher and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This ARC was provided to me via Kindle, from St. Martin's Press and #NetGalley. Thank you for the opportunity to preview and review. Opinions expressed are completely my own.

A story you won't want to put down. Fast-paced, a story that's vibrant with characters, scenarios, and imagery.

Murder at Black Oaks bears similarities to classic mysteries, including a fairly extensive cast of characters who meet at a mansion called Black Oaks, a kind of medieval setting for the murder of two people. When a lawyer, Robin, is approached to work on freeing a man who has been in jail for 30 years, she is able to find out why he should be freed and provide a life for him to pursue his goals of education and employment. The book moves along fairly well but also has some periods of disconnection. The eventual identification of the murderer is certainly a surprise, and it is not what the reader expects.

Murder at Black Oaks is a fast paced closed door mystery that takes place in an isolated castle. It centers around the overturning of a wrongful conviction and the efforts that a lawyer goes to for justice. A group gathers for a celebration of sorts at this castle. When someone is found dead and the rest of the guests are stranded, it is up to the lawyer to find out what really happened. I appreciate the fast pace and intresting setting of this book. I also liked the strong female lead character. The book does try and fit a lot into the plot but I think this would make a great movie - it was sort of a "Knives Out" meets "And Then There Were None."

A loving and clever homage to Agatha Christie, Ellery Queen and the many great mystery scribes of the past, this tale has all the ingredients: a closed-room murder, house guests in a 'haunted' mansion on a remote mountain top, a curse, a madman and more with lots of misleading clues to finally reveal a surprising culprit.
Added to the enjoyment are a couple of legal anecdotes of satisfying redemption.

3.5⭐
Are you looking for a light, legal-thriller this weekend? Well, this one should fit the bill perfectly!

Book six of the Robin Lockwood series but can easily be read as a stand-alone.

Robin is an attorney in Oregon hired by a former prosecutor and one time defense attorney, Francis Hardy. Her new assignment will be looking into one of his previous cases. Years ago he prosecuted a young man Jose Alvarez for the murder of his girlfriend. And Jose has been sitting on death row ever since. But hit the brakes. Now someone else may be guilty of that murder! Can Robin get Jose off death row before it’s too late?

I loved the beginning and was all in. But about midway the author veered off on a detour into the somewhat eerie and haunted home of Francis Hardy. Suddenly turning this read into a locked room mystery.

I wasn’t ready for the abrupt change in direction and personally would have preferred the focus stay on Jose. But hey... that’s just me!💁🏻‍♀️

Overall, another great addition to the series. And I always enjoy any book Phillip Margolin releases.

Hope you will too!

Thank you to NetGalley and Minotaur Books

Paying homage to the great mystery writer, Agatha Christie, author Margolin has included all of the basic tropes for an eerie whodunit. Retired wealthy , widowed recluse confined to a wheelchair lives in a spooky replica of a haunted Scottish castle. He hires an attorney to right a wrong he did 30 years earlier when he was a prosecutor and sent the wrong man to prison to wait on death row. Invited to the "castle" to apologize to the man he wronged, his young attorney, her assistant and the man recently released from prison arrive on a "dark and stormy night." Throw in an escaped prisoner from the local insane asylum, some shady household staff, a gold-digging nurse, inept police, cut telephone wires (and no cell reception) and of course a curse that comes with the house as well as your not typical murder weapon and you have the ingredients for a rousing mystery which could also double as an adult version of the board game, "Clue." Fun for those who like to try and outwit the detective and discover the "Who" "What" and Why" before the end of the book.

This is the first time that I have read this author; the description of the book intrigued me. A legal thriller spanning 30 years and lawyers trying to bring justice to an innocent man wrongly convicted of murder. An old eerie castle (complete with tales of werewolves ) is the setting for most of the story. I found that book dragged a little but in the end tied everything together to a satisfyingly conclusion.

I had often considered trying one of Philip Margolin’s books and this one looked intriguing, so I figured I would give it a shot. A creepy, isolated mansion with a curse on it, a group of near-strangers gathered together when the roads are washed out by a storm, a murderous escapee from a nearby mental hospital on the loose - what’s not to like? Thankfully, although Robin Lockwood is a series character, that didn’t affect my ability to get up to speed, possibly a benefit of taking her out of her regular surroundings.

Robin is originally contacted by Frank Melville, a former prosecutor who had put college student Jose Alvarez on death row for the murder of his girlfriend. Then, years later, the real killer confessed to him but made it impossible for him to bring justice to the wrongly convicted man. Now circumstances have changed, and he wants Robin to take on the case. After Jose is freed, Frank invites him and Robin to his house, a transplanted (or recreated - I wasn’t clear on which) English mansion, complete with a rumored curse - featuring werewolves, yet! The other elements of the classic “country house mystery” fall into place in quick succession, and soon after that the first murder happens, in a novel twist on the classic “locked room.” Finally, after several tense hours, the party is put back in touch with the rest of the world, but it is only some time later that Robin manages to pull all the threads together and expose the killer.

I had slightly mixed feelings about this book. On the whole, I enjoyed it and I didn’t guess the killer, which I see as a positive as long as I feel like I had a decent chance, but I'm not sure how well the plot fits into the Christie-esque framework. It also seemed amazingly coincidental that everything (most of which was beyond the killer’s control) came together as it did, but then Margolin does have a short blurb offering this book up as a homage to Golden Age mysteries. I’ve been reading quite a few of those recently and it’s amazing how much coincidence features in those, so intentional or not, I suppose that gives it authenticity. One thing that I did feel weakened it slightly right at the start was beginning with Frank’s story in Chapter One and then having him retell the same story to Robin when he talks to her, but that was a pretty minor detail.

Final verdict: If I could, I would give this book 3-1/2 stars, but I will round up and give it 4

I received a copy of Murder at Black Oaks from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This was my first read by this author. He did a great job at quickly drawing me in. Characters are intriguing and fully developed. I had to keep reading to see who did it. Highly recommend!!!