Review of "Murder at Black Oaks: A Robin Lockwood Mystery" by Phillip Margolin

In this 6th novel in the 'Robin Lockwood' series, the attorney searches for a killer in a gothic mansion. The book works fine as a standalone.

Author Phillip Margolin is a fan of the Golden Age mysteries, and wrote 'Murder at Black Oaks' as an homage to the writers who penned those tales. Thus the story contains an unusual murder, a haunted mansion, secret passages, an escaped madman, a werewolf curse, and more. It's an old fashioned story, but it's good fun.

*****

In 1990 Oregon college student Jose Alvarez is convicted of murdering his girlfriend Margo Prescott and sentenced to death.



The prosecutor in the case, Frank Melville - who's convinced Jose killed Margo - considers it a job well done.



Then in 1997 prosecutor Melville learns that a man named Archie Stallings murdered Margo Prescott. Frank is desperate to 'out' Stallings, but is prevented by attorney-client privilege. So Jose Alvarez is left to rot away on death row, and Frank's life is marred by intense feelings of guilt. As a result Melville makes it his mission to free convicts who've been wrongly imprisoned.



Thirty years later Archie Stallings dies and Melville, who's now in a wheelchair.......



.....hires attorney Robin Lockwood to find a way to reveal the truth about Archie Stallings and get Alvarez freed.



Robin manages the feat with the help of her investigator Ken Breland....



......and Jose is released from prison.



Afterwards, Melville invites Robin, Ken, and Jose to his mountaintop estate, called Black Oaks, to celebrate.

As it happens, Black Oaks - which was commissioned by Frank's deceased wife - is a brick by brick replica of an English mansion named Black Oaks that was built in 1673. The English manor has a reputation for being cursed because all its residents came to horrible ends amidst rumors of witchcraft, devil worship, orgies, werewolves, etc.



Robin Lockwood and her party brave torrential rainstorms to drive up the mountain to Black Oaks. Also present on the estate are Melville's daughter Nelly;



Melville's research assistant Sheila Monroe;



washed-up actor Corey Rockwell, who hopes Melville will finance his comeback movie;



attorney Justin Trent;



housekeeper Mrs. Raskin;



and butler Luther.



As the guests are finishing dinner, a soaked man knocks on the door and introduces himself as Detective Carl Samuels.



Samuels explains that Victor Zelko, an inmate at a nearby hospital for the criminally insane, has escaped. The detective was looking for Zelko when his car slipped off the road, and other police can't make it up the mountain until mudslides are cleared in the morning.



So now we have a classic setup - people stranded in an isolated house with a maniac on the loose. Needless to say, a murder occurs in spooky circumstances....and it's followed by more homicides.

Robin and her investigator Ken help search for the killer, which is tricky in the labyrinthine Black Oaks estate. Astute mystery fans may guess some of the twists, which just adds to the pleasure of reading the story.

I enjoyed the novel, which is a fine tribute to Golden Age mysteries.

Thanks to Netgalley, Phillip Margolin, and Macmillan Audio for a copy of the book.

Rating: 3.5 stars