I didn't finish it. The writing was very cliched. Also, the plot seemed to be an implausible mishmash of different traditional mystery elements.

I thought this book was fantastic!

It was my first Robin Lockwood novel, and worked perfectly as a standalone. I really was expecting more of the novel to be about the house and the curse, but I loved the all of the back story that was included about Jose Alvarez and his case, what Robin did, etc. before the real "mystery" happened. Once the murder happened, it was definitely giving me Clue vibes! It was excellently written and the narrator was an amazing choice. I was definitely enraptured in her expressiveness of emotions and wanted to listen to it all in one go.

This book was fast paced and definitely a fun ride. I will say the narration was very poor, but more so because of the quality of the audio than the narrator themselves. But the story and the writing was a classic Agatha Christie style ‘who done it’ mystery. It was a very easy story to get involved in and had a decent amount of twists and turns. I will say at one point, characters were being referred to by their first and last names interchangeably and that did get confusing. I don’t think this will rank as my top mysteries of the year, but I thought it was a fun ride that never seemed to drag!

This was a great legal thriller/murder mystery book! It had excellent pacing and really grabbed my attention immediately. It gives background of Francis Hardy’s legal career and a confession that has weighed on him for years before contacting Robin Lockwood to attempt to right a wrong.

There’s also an explanation of how Hardy believes Black Oaks is cursed and shortly after Robin has helped Hardy to the best of her abilities, Hardy and one other guest at Black Oaks have been murdered and now Robin must investigate the goings on at Black Oaks and if it’s truly cursed.

An attention grabbing read with a few unexpected twists!

The audio narrator was a perfect pick for this book.

4 stars

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Thank you to NetGalley and MacMillan audio for the audio ARC in exchange for an honest review!

This book felt a lot like a dinner theater Murder mystery, in the best way possible. The locked door killings occurring in the room of multiple viable suspects kept the book entertaining. It was a quick listen, and the narrator was great at keeping me in the story.

Murder at Black Oaks was my first Phillip Margolin book and obviously my first in the Robin Lockwood series. It started out at full tilt with the story of Melville and a few of his trials with a few twists and turns that had me headed into thinking it would be one kind of story, only to have it switch to a totally different one. I enjoyed Margolin's writing, thought the narrator was great at keeping my interest and attention through the large number of characters, and the locked room mystery aspect was interesting as we try to figure out who is committing any number of crimes in the spooky mansion. I had two problems with this book: 1. the spooky mansion backstory was really not necessary as I thought there was plenty going on in the house to try to make the house's history a part of the story and that plot line itself was brought up and then dropped so i didn't see the reason to put it in in the first place; and 2. for all the buildup in the main story line, that plot line and character just kind of disappeared. I did enjoy the story as a whole and am interested in going back to the start of the Robin Lockwood series to get to know this character better. since I thought she was great Thank you to Macmillan Audio and NetGalley for the early listen in exchange for my honest opinion.

Jose Alvarez was convicted of killing a girl in college. The DA at the time was Frank Melville. Years pass and Frank has now gone to work at a private firm. He is representing a client who is later to be found not guilty. After the trial, not only does the defendant say they did commit that crime, but they also confessed to the murder that Jose was put in prison for. Knowing that his attorney cannot break confidentiality, the man discloses this information to Frank. Years go by and Frank has retired and lives in his home in the Oregon mountains, Black Oaks. Frank calls Robin Lockwood to help him prove that Jose is not the killer and get him out of prison. In the midst of all of this, more eerie things start happening at Black Oaks, which is rumored to be cursed. Can Robin solve a few crimes during her stay at Black Oaks?

So I want to start by saying I love the other Robin Lockwood books. I like her as a character and always find the stories interesting. However, this book felt like it was all over the place. Halfway through they introduced so many characters that fit into different story lines. I did enjoy the outcome but was not thrilled about the journey to it. I loved the narrator so that saved it for me a little. And like I said, I am a Lockwood fan so I did like the book, just not nearly as much as the past ones.

Thank you to the author, the publisher, and NetGalley for a copy of this work in exchange for my honest review!

Author Philip Margolin is known as a "master of heart-pounding suspense." 

The first five books in Philip Margolian's Robin Lockwood series were intricately plotted, character-driven, and showcased Margolin's signature "heart-pounding suspense".

Unfortunately, "Murder at Black Oaks"(Book #6) lacked the cohesiveness, relatability, and "heart-pounding suspense" anticipated and expected from a Philip Margolin thriller.

(What happened, Phillip Margolin????)

The book had a promising start, focusing on attorney/client privilege and wrongful convictions.  

The book quickly lost its focus. 

The storyline veered off in different directions when it should have stayed on course.

Too many characters were added and these characters were shallow and not fully developed.

The book's hocus-pocus, "legendary curse" element simply was not believable.

I listened to the audiobook and narrator Thérèse Plummer did an outstanding job with the narration.

Special thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Murder At Black Oaks by Phillip Margolin
Therese Plummer Narrator
What a mixed up mess. Any reference to Agatha Christie either in or about this book is complete heresy.
It is a mashup of a gothic novel, something like the Hound of the Baskervilles (escapee on the moors), old Lon Chaney movies (lots of talk about wolves/werewolves), and the Hellfire Club (satanic practices by the original owner of the gothic manor). All topped off with a Nancy Drew vibe. Plus for a lawyer to believe in a curse on his home is ridiculous. Besides, if he believed that, why was he living there in the first place?
I can only thank the gods that it was short and yet it took two separate murders mysteries to make it more than a novella.
I also did not like the unethical behavior of both Robin and her new investigator.
I really liked the first four books in this series but the last two have gotten worse and worse. Hate to give up on this series but think I have no other choice.
Therese Plummer was as always, excellent.

Release: November 8

*Thank you @netgalley & @macmillan.audio for an advance copy of this audiobook in exchange for an honest review*

First and foremost, this was an audiobook, so I must comment on the narrator. She was very pleasant to listen to and wasn't cringy with crazy voices. I hate that!

Second, this book was a bunch of different things all at once. The beginning was a court-type feel, the end was a murder mystery/Clue-type feel!

It was a very fast and easy listen and stayed entertaining the whole time. The only thing I didn't like is I felt like the author was trying to do a whole bunch of different plots and some stuff got lost in the shuffle. 🤷‍♀️ But I really did enjoy it!

This one was... interesting. I feel like it had so many big plot points that were introduced, lightly developed, then concluded and forgotten about quickly. It felt like the author was attempting to do some big twists but it was one after another. There were also so many characters that it was hard for me to keep track.

Retired DA Francis Melville has summoned defense attorney Robin Lockwood to his stately Oregon home, Black Oaks. Melville wants Robins help overturning a wrongful conviction from his days as DA. Melville helped convict a man for the murder of his girlfriend, but years later when he learned one of his wealthy clients was the real killer, Melville stayed mum. When Robin is successful and gets the conviction overturned she’s invited to a celebratory dinner at Black Oaks, but things go wrong almost from the beginning. Alvarez, the wrongly convicted man is on the guest list and anything but happy, Melville, meanwhile, is found murdered with a knife connected to the curse attached to Black Oaks. Reminiscent of Christie’s And Then There Were None, this is one dinner party you can be glad you weren’t invited to