Murder at Black Oaks - Phillip Margolin

 Murder at Black Oaks - Phillip Margolin

She read

Release Date: Nov. 8, 2022

This is the sixth in the attorney Robin Lockwood series.  It is the third I have read. It would work well as a standalone. 

In 1990, district attorney Francis Melville successfully prosecutes Jose Alvarez for a murder and Alvarez is sentenced to death. A few years later, as the result of a privileged attorney-client communique, Melville learns who the real  killer is.  After the death of the guilty party, Melville asks Portland Oregon’s Robin Lockwood to help exonerate Alvarez.  All meetings with Melville take place at his desolate home, Black Oaks.  A replica of a 17th century English estate, it comes with a long sordid history and a curse. 

I have always liked Margolin’s books, and this one is no exception although it is somewhat different in that it includes a bit of spookiness and monsters.  As I read it, I  was reminded of  Agatha Christie’s stories.  Margolin acknowledged that attribution when a character said that they felt they were in an Agatha Christie novel. There were also mentions of werewolves and a hint of Frankenstein!  What fun!  

This was a quick, enjoyable read.  There are parallel stories to the main plot, something that seems to be a feature of the Lockwood series.  The one point that bothered me, though, was that I thought there was a flawed premise behind the unveiling of the motive of a killer in one of the side stories.  I don’t want to say any more about that lest I reveal a spoiler. 

Note:This was an ARC.  In some descriptions of the book, Melville has a different name (Hardy).

Thanks to #netgalley and #stmartinspress #minotaurbooks  for the ARC



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