Murder at Black Oaks: A Robin Lockwood Novel

by Arib Phillip Margolin Sabila

In Phillip Margolin's Murder at Black Oaks, Attorney Robin Lockwood finds herself at an isolated retreat in the Oregon mountains, one with a tragic past and a legendary curse, and surrounded by many suspects and confronted with an impossible crime.

Defense Attorney Robin Lockwood is summoned by retired District Attorney Francis Melville to meet with him at Black Oaks, the manor he owns up in the Oregon mountains. The manor has an interesting history - originally built in 1628 in England, there's a murderous legend and curse attached to the mansion. Melville, however, wants Lockwood's help in a legal matter - righting a wrongful conviction from his days as a DA. A young man, Jose Alvarez, was convicted of murdering his girlfriend only for Melville, years later when in private practice, to have a client of his admit to the murder and to framing the man Melville convicted. Unable to reveal what he knew due to attorney client confidence, Melville now wants Lockwood's help in getting that conviction overturned.

Successful in their efforts, Melville invites Lockwood up to Black Oaks for a celebration. Lockwood finds herself among an odd group of invitees - including the bitter, newly released, Alvarez. When Melville is found murdered, with a knife connected to the original curse, Lockwood finds herself faced with a conundrum - who is the murder among them and how to stop them before there's another victim.

196 pages, Kindle Edition

Published November 24, 2022

Reviews

[Mark · Rating 2 out of 5]

Story hinges on an “attorney client communication” that clearly isn’t privileged because the client communication to his attorney was not made to seek legal advice. Goes downhill from there.

[Dorothy Judy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Book #3 in the Robin Livingston series was another good one. Asked to clear an innocent man from a death row sentence gets Robin in to more intrigue. Asked by an ex-prosecutor to come to his scary home way outside Portland puts her in the middle of another mystery. Phillip Margolin writes so well and keeps you glued to the pages. Have to wait on a hold for #4 but it should be worth the wait.

[Jessica · Rating 4 out of 5]

Needed a quick read that grabbed my attention. been in a funk didn’t realize it was a series going back to the beginning now

[Ellen Voyles · Rating 2 out of 5]

A very easy read but not my style of mystery. It has a lot of surprises and the plot is very based on solving a crime.

[Katy Lovejoy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not bad considering I'm getting sick of pretty much only finding murder mysteries

[Odaly Chavez · Rating 3 out of 5]

kind of all over the place

[Debbie Harden · Rating 5 out of 5]

Dry easy ready. I was sick and curled up with this book and read it in a day. Kept me engrossed, had many surprises, which made me sad in the end but it made sense.

[Cassie Smith · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the second Phillip Margolin book I have read. They were recommended to me by a friend. I really enjoy these novels. The mysteries are good, the plots are solid and with the two that I've read, there's been somewhat of a twist at the end. I'll definitely be picking up more of these.