St. Martin’s Publishing Group

Murder at Black Oaks is another fantastic suspense novel in the Robin Lockwood series. Criminal lawyer Robin Lockwood finds herself in the middle of nowhere at the top of a mountain in a house that looks and feels haunted. In 1997, Deputy District Attorney Frank Melville won a jury case in which Jose Alvarado is sentenced to death for killing his girlfriend. After Frank gets the main witness in the case off on rape charges, the witness confesses to doing the deed himself. Melville quits his job and goes to work in private practice. He and his wife Katherine end up purchasing and restoring a mansion in Black Oaks. Melville hires Robin to prove Jose’s innocence, and Robin ends up doing so. The history of Black Oaks is worrisome, and Robin agrees to work on another case for Melville. This time, two people end up murdered.

I really like the Robin Lockwood mysteries because there are always several things going on at once to drive the story. Not only are two people murdered, but one of the guests related to the Melville case may be a killer, which may or may not be related to the murder at Black Oaks. Twists and turns around every corner, readers will love this book.