Phillip Margolin

A lawyer who was set-up, imprisoned, and disbarred, only to be vindicated and reinstated, is determined to find out who set her up and cover their tracks with a trail of dead bodiesDefense Attorney Karen Wyatt exposed corruption in the police force and the District Attorney's office while getting her client exonerated in court. But in doing so, she put a target on her back and she was set-up on fake drug charge, imprisoned and disbarred until the conspiracy unraveled and her innocence was proven. Now reinstated to the bar, Wyatt is still interested in finding out who ordered her to be set-up - but the key figures were either killed or are in Witness Protection. In the meantime, Wyatt is a practicing defense attorney, whose current client is either guilty of a heinous murder, or is a too-trusting patsy for an acquaintance set-up for a crime he didn't commit. It will take all of Wyatt's genius to defend her client successfully but that's just one piece of an increasingly complex puzzle. With a deadly criminal drug gang, a powerful, corrupt figure hiding in the D.A.'s office, and a Congressman who turned up with an unbelievable story after disappearing for days, False Witness is twisty, breathtaking, and unpredictable thriller.

A new standalone legal thriller from the international bestselling author of GONE, BUT NOT FORGOTTEN.Charlie Webb is a third rate lawyer who graduated from a third rate law-school and, because he couldn't get hired by any of the major law firms, has opened his own law firm, where he gets by handling cases for dubious associates from his youth and some court appointed cases. Described as "a leaky boat floating down the stream of life," Charlie has led unremarkable life, personally and professionally. Until he's appointed to be the attorney for a decidedly crackpot artist who calls himself Guido Sabatini (born Lawrence Weiss). Sabatini has been arrested - again - for breaking into a restaurant and stealing back a painting he sold them because he was insulted by where it was displayed. But as Lawrence Weiss, he's also an accomplished card shark and burglar and while he was there, he stole a thumb drive from the owner's safe. Not knowing what else Sabatani has stolen, Webb negotiates the return of the painting and "other items' for the owner dropping charges against Sabatini. But the contents of the flash drive threatens very powerful figures who are determined to retrieve it, the restaurant owner (Gretchen Hall) and her driver (Yuri Makarov) are being investigated for the sex trafficking of minors, and there are others who have a violent grudge against Sabatini. When a minor theft case becomes a double homicide, and even more, Charlie Webb, an insignificant lawyer assigned to an insignificant case, is faced with the most important, and deadliest, case of his life. Going back to his long-time bestselling roots, Phillip Margolin returns with a brilliant standalone legal thriller in the tradition of John Grisham.

In Phillip Margolin's Betrayal, attorney Robin Lockwood finds herself defending her old nemesis in a multiple murder case with too many suspects, where success might cost her own life. Robin Lockwood is now a prominent defense attorney in Portland, Oregon but a decade ago, she was a ranked and rising MMA fighter. Her career came to a quick end when she was knocked out and concussed in the first round by Mandy Kerrigan, a much more talented fighter. Now the situation couldn't be more different, with Kerrigan on her last legs, her career nearly over, arrested for the quadruple murder of the entire Finch family...and Kerrigan's only possible friend is the attorney she beat so many years ago. For Robin, it's no simple case: Margaret Finch was a lawyer working for vicious Russian mobsters, and was in the cross-hairs of both the mobsters and the widower of a woman a client killed; her husband Nathan Finch was deeply in debt to a bookie who threatened his life; her son Ryan was the one who sold Kerrigan illegal performance enhancing drugs and was beaten severely by her when Kerrigan failed her drug test. To complicate matters further, the DA that Robin is facing is the man she's just started dating, the first person she's begun seeing seriously after her husband was killed. In a case where the stakes are high and the truth is elusive, where each new fact twists the case in a new direction, there is seemingly no way to win or direction to turn that will leave Robin Lockwood unscathed.

In Phillip Margolin's Betrayal, attorney Robin Lockwood finds herself defending her old nemesis in a multiple murder case with too many suspects, where success might cost her own life. Robin Lockwood is now a prominent defense attorney in Portland, Oregon but a decade ago, she was a ranked and rising MMA fighter. Her career came to a quick end when she was knocked out and concussed in the first round by Mandy Kerrigan, a much more talented fighter. Now the situation couldn't be more different, with Kerrigan on her last legs, her career nearly over, arrested for the quadruple murder of the entire Finch family...and Kerrigan's only possible friend is the attorney she beat so many years ago. For Robin, it's no simple case: Margaret Finch was a lawyer working for vicious Russian mobsters, and was in the cross-hairs of both the mobsters and the widower of a woman a client killed; her husband Nathan Finch was deeply in debt to a bookie who threatened his life; her son Ryan was the one who sold Kerrigan illegal performance enhancing drugs and was beaten severely by her when Kerrigan failed her drug test. To complicate matters further, the DA that Robin is facing is the man she's just started dating, the first person she's begun seeing seriously after her husband was killed. In a case where the stakes are high and the truth is elusive, where each new fact twists the case in a new direction, there is seemingly no way to win or direction to turn that will leave Robin Lockwood unscathed.

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: how to find out who is the murder among them and how to stop them before there's another victim.

New York Times bestselling master of mystery Phillip Margolin transcends his traditional territory in this new and different book, a haunting thriller inspired by an unforgettable photograph.Visiting an art museum displaying a retrospective of acclaimed photographer Kathy Moran's work, aspiring novelist Stacey Kim is stunned by the photo at the center of the show--the famous "Woman with a Gun," which won a Pulitzer Prize and launched the photographer's career. Shot from behind, the enigmatic black-and-white image is a picture of a woman in a wedding dress, standing on the shore at night, facing the sea. Behind her back, she holds a six-shooter.The image captures Stacey's imagination, raising a host of compelling questions. Has the woman killed her husband on their wedding night? Is she going to commit suicide? Is she waiting for someone she plans to kill? Obsessed with finding answers, Stacey discovers that the woman in the photograph is Megan Cahill, suspected of killing her husband, millionaire Raymond Cahill, with the six-shooter on their wedding night. But the murder was never solved.Drawn deeper into the case, Stacey finds that everyone involved has a different opinion of Megan's culpability. But the one person who may know the whole story--Kathy Moran--isn't talking. Stacey must find a way to get to the reclusive photographer or the truth may never see the light of day.

Defense attorney Robin Lockwood faces an unimaginable personal disaster and her greatest professional challenge in the next New York Times bestselling Phillip Margolin's new legal thriller, The Darkest Place. Robin Lockwood is an increasingly prominent defense attorney in the Portland community. A Yale graduate and former MMA fighter, she's becoming known for her string of innovative and successful defense strategies. As a favor to a judge, Robin takes on the pro bono defense of a reprehensible defendant charged with even more reprehensible crimes. But what she doesn't know--what she can't know--is how this one decision, this one case, will wreak complete devastation on her life and plans. As she recovers from those consequences, Robin heads home to her small town of Elk Grove and the bosom of her family. As she tries to recuperate, a unique legal challenge presents itself--Marjorie Loman, a surrogate, is accused of kidnapping the baby she carried for another couple, and assaulting that couple in the process. There's no question that she committed these actions but that's not the same as being guilty of the crime. As Robin works to defend her client, she learns that Marjorie Loman has been hiding under a fake identity and is facing a warrant for her arrest for another, even more serious crime. And buried within the truth may once again be unexpected, deadly consequences.

A genuine whodunnit (Kirkus Reviews)--Phillip Margolin, the master of the courtroom thriller, returns with a classic mind-bending puzzle in A Matter of Life and Death as Attorney Robin Lockwood must face her most challenging case yet, with everything stacked against her client and death on the line. Joe Lattimore, homeless and trying desperately to provide for his young family, agrees to fight in a no-holds-barred illegal bout, only to have his opponent die. Lattimore now finds himself at the mercy of the fight's organizers who blackmail him into burglarizing a house. However, when he breaks in, he finds a murdered woman on the floor and the police have received an anonymous tip naming him the murderer. Robin Lockwood, an increasingly prominent young attorney and former MMA fighter, agrees to take on his defense. But the case is seemingly airtight--the murdered woman's husband, Judge Anthony Carasco, has an alibi and Lattimore's fingerprints are discovered at the scene. But everything about the case is too easy, too pat, and Lockwood is convinced that her client has been framed. The only problem is that she has no way of proving it and since this is a death case, if she fails then another innocent will die.

Deadly intrigue, breathtaking twists, and exhilarating suspense await in the third book of Phillip Margolin's New York Times bestselling Washington Trilogy. Hot on the heels of Supreme Justice, Margolin delivers another heart-pounding thriller featuring private investigator Dana Cutler and lawyer Brad Miller, who are forced by a terrorist attack on a football stadium--and by the escape of Executive Privilege's convicted serial killer Clarence Little--to follow a sinister trail of lies, treachery, and betrayal into an unexpected new arena: the U.S. Congress. "Phillip Margolin knows how to pack in the thrills." --Tess Gerritsen

Deadly intrigue, breathtaking twists, and exhilarating suspense await in the third book of Phillip Margolin's New York Times bestselling Washington Trilogy. Hot on the heels of Supreme Justice, Margolin delivers another heart-pounding thriller featuring private investigator Dana Cutler and lawyer Brad Miller, who are forced by a terrorist attack on a football stadium--and by the escape of Executive Privilege's convicted serial killer Clarence Little--to follow a sinister trail of lies, treachery, and betrayal into an unexpected new arena: the U.S. Congress. "Phillip Margolin knows how to pack in the thrills." --Tess Gerritsen

Deadly intrigue, breathtaking twists, and exhilarating suspense await in the third book of Phillip Margolin's New York Times bestselling Washington Trilogy. Hot on the heels of Supreme Justice, Margolin delivers another heart-pounding thriller featuring private investigator Dana Cutler and lawyer Brad Miller, who are forced by a terrorist attack on a football stadium--and by the escape of Executive Privilege's convicted serial killer Clarence Little--to follow a sinister trail of lies, treachery, and betrayal into an unexpected new arena: the U.S. Congress. "Phillip Margolin knows how to pack in the thrills." --Tess Gerritsen

The "master of heart-pounding suspense"--New York Times bestseller Phillip Margolin--returns with a new legal thriller starring Robin Lockwood. A young woman accuses a prominent local college athlete of rape. Convicted with the help of undisputable DNA evidence, the athlete swears his innocence and threatens both his lawyer and his accuser as he's sent to prison. Not long after, there's another rape and the DNA test shows that the same person committed both rapes--which is seemingly impossible since the man convicted of the first rape was in prison at the time of the second one. Now, the convicted athlete, joined by a new lawyer, is granted a new trial and bail. Shortly thereafter, his original lawyer disappears and his law partner is murdered. Robin Lockwood is a young lawyer with a prestigious small law firm and a former MMA fighter who helped pay for Yale Law School with her bouts. She is representing the victim of the first rape for her civil lawsuit against her rapist, who is now convinced the rapist is stalking her and trying to intimidate her. At the same time, another client is up on a murder charge--one that should be dismissed as self-defense--but the D.A. trying the case is determined to bring it to trial. Now she has to mastermind two impossible cases, trying to find the hidden truth that links the two of them. Phillip Margolin, the master of the legal thriller, returns in one of his twistiest, most compelling crime novels yet.

"Margolin continues his return to the exceptional form of his early novels with this gripping, tightly plotted, and smoothly written legal thriller... A winner from a veteran genre author." --Booklist The "master of heart-pounding suspense" returns with a brand new series and a USA Today bestseller The Third Victim is New York Times bestseller Phillip Margolin at his very best. A woman stumbles onto a dark road in rural Oregon--tortured, battered, and bound. She tells a horrific story about being kidnapped, then tortured, until she finally managed to escape. She was the lucky one--two other women, with similar burns and bruises, were found dead. The surviving victim identifies the house where she was held captive and the owner, Alex Mason--a prominent local attorney--is arrested. Although he loudly insists upon his innocence, his wife's statements about his sexual sadism and the physical evidence found at the scene, his summer home, is damning. Regina Barrister is a legendary criminal defense attorney, known as "The Sorceress" for her courtroom victories. But she's got a secret, one that threatens her skill, her reputation, and, most of all, her clients. And she's agreed to take on the seemingly impossible task of defending Alex Mason. Robin Lockwood, a young lawyer and former MMA fighter, has just left a clerkship at the Oregon Supreme Court to work for Regina Barrister. The Alex Mason trial is her first big one, a likely death penalty case, and she's second chair to Regina. Increasingly, she's worried her boss's behavior and the details in the case against their client don't quite add up.

In this mesmerizing tale of suspense from New York Times bestselling author Phillip Margolin, attorney Amanda Jaffe--star of Wild Justice, Ties That Bind, Proof Positive, and Fugitive--becomes entangled in a murder case involving Big Oil, an estranged father and son, and the greatest ethical dilemma of her career .Dale Masterson, senior partner in a large Portland, Oregon, law firm, has become wealthy and successful representing the interests of oil and coal companies. When his colleague, Christine Larson, is found dead, Masterson's business practices are put under surveillance and a lower-level employee stands accused.The controversy surrounding the firm is magnified tenfold when Dale is found beaten to death in his mansion. But this time Dale's son, Brandon, is seen fleeing the scene. A dedicated eco-warrior obsessed with saving the planet, Brandon confesses to killing his father--for revenge, he claims--on behalf of all the people whose lives are being destroyed by his father's questionable clients.Veteran lawyer Amanda Jaffe is hired to represent Brandon, but what seems like an open-and-shut case quickly begins to unravel. If Brandon is really innocent--a radical activist determined to martyr himself for his cause--then who viciously murdered Dale Masterson? And what, if any, is the connection between his murder and the murder of Christine Larson? Smart, fierce, and unafraid of the truth even if it puts her in danger, Amanda begins to look deeper. What she finds will force the seasoned legal pro to make the hardest professional decision of her life.

New York Times Bestselling AuthorNew York Times bestselling master of mystery Phillip Margolin transcends his traditional territory in this new and different book, a haunting thriller inspired by an unforgettable photograph At a retrospective on the work of acclaimed photographer Kathy Moran, aspiring novelist Stacey Kim is fascinated by the exhibition's centerpiece: the famous Woman with a Gun, which launched the artist's career. Shot from behind, the enigmatic black-and-white image depicts a woman in a wedding dress standing on the shore at night, facing the sea. But this is no serene, romantic portrait. In her right hand, which is hidden behind her back, she holds a six-shooter.The picture captures Stacey's imagination and raises a host of compelling questions: Who is this woman? Is this a photograph of her on her wedding day? Does she plan to kill herself or someone else? Obsessed with finding answers, she soon discovers the identity of the woman: a suspect in a ten-year-old murder investigation. Convinced that proof of the woman's guilt, or innocence, is somehow connected to the photograph, Stacey embarks on a relentless investigation.Drawn deeper into the case, Stacey finds that everyone involved has a different opinion of the woman's culpability. But the one person who may know the whole story--Kathy Moran--isn't talking. Stacey must find a way to get to the reclusive photographer, and get her to talk, or the truth about what happened that day will stay forever hidden in the shadows.

New York Times Bestselling Author"Worthy Brown's Daughter is a fast and absorbing read, and Margolin's law expertise makes the book's climax . . . an exciting moment indeed." --Seattle Times A wronged former slave. A heartbroken lawyer. A seductive gold digger. A smitten judge. Will frontier justice prevail? Recently widowed attorney Matthew Penny has come to the newly settled Oregon frontier to start a new life. He encounters the most challenging case of his career when a former slave, Worthy Brown, asks him to save his teenage daughter from the man who owned them. Worthy Brown's Daughter is a compelling white-knuckle drama about two broken men risking everything for what they believe. Woven through with rich historical detail, it is a breathtaking narrative about the extent of evil and the high price of true justice.

New York Times bestselling master of mystery Phillip Margolin transcends his traditional territory in this new and different book, a haunting thriller inspired by an unforgettable photograph.Visiting an art museum displaying a retrospective of acclaimed photographer Kathy Moran's work, aspiring novelist Stacey Kim is stunned by the photo at the center of the show--the famous "Woman with a Gun," which won a Pulitzer Prize and launched the photographer's career. Shot from behind, the enigmatic black-and-white image is a picture of a woman in a wedding dress, standing on the shore at night, facing the sea. Behind her back, she holds a six-shooter.The image captures Stacey's imagination, raising a host of compelling questions. Has the woman killed her husband on their wedding night? Is she going to commit suicide? Is she waiting for someone she plans to kill? Obsessed with finding answers, Stacey discovers that the woman in the photograph is Megan Cahill, suspected of killing her husband, millionaire Raymond Cahill, with the six-shooter on their wedding night. But the murder was never solved.Drawn deeper into the case, Stacey finds that everyone involved has a different opinion of Megan's culpability. But the one person who may know the whole story--Kathy Moran--isn't talking. Stacey must find a way to get to the reclusive photographer or the truth may never see the light of day.