Review: 'Murder at Black Oaks' by Phillip Margolin

How can a murder mystery in a Gothic mansion cursed with a werewolf legend go wrong? Layer in some hidden passageways, a fierce storm and a "Clue"-like collection of characters and you have Phillip Margolin's latest in a six-book series following the adventures of attorney Robin Lockwood.

Frank Hardy, a retired district attorney, requests Lockwood's help to free a man imprisoned on death row in a case that Frank had successfully prosecuted as a district attorney. Now, 30 years later, he's been presented with undeniable evidence that the man is innocent.

Robin gets the now-graying Jose Alvarez out of prison and they end up at a celebratory dinner at Frank's isolated mountaintop estate. Alvarez is outwardly bitter toward Frank, but the group gradually settles in. Cue the raging mountain storm, which washes out the roads and forces the guests to stay a few nights.

Then someone shows up dead. Make that two. With everyone a suspect, can Lockwood identify the killer in time to save herself?

This is a twisty but satisfying plot that doesn't reveal itself until the final pages. It could easily have begun with, "It was a dark and stormy night." Margolin's cheeky little gift.

Ginny Greene is a Star Tribune copy editor.

Murder at Black Oaks

By: Phillip Margolin.

Publisher: Minotaur Books, 288 pages, $27.99.