Betrayal: A Robin Lockwood Novel

In Margolin’s magnetic seventh mystery featuring the MMA fighter turned Portland, Ore., criminal defense attorney (after 2022’s Murder at Black Oaks), Robin takes on the case of a former rival charged with murdering a family of four. When fading MMA star Mandy Kerrigan calls Robin after she’s arrested for the brutal killings of the Finch family, she feels duty-bound to help—Mandy’s sound defeat of Robin in an MMA match years earlier led her to pursue the legal education that launched her career. Though Mandy maintains her innocence, witnesses saw her banging on the door of the Finch family home after beating up the Finch’s oldest son, Ryan, at a bar when the performance-enhancing drugs he sold her showed up on a drug test. As Robin’s team prepares their case, they learn that Ryan’s lawyer mother, Margaret, was representing Russian mobsters accused of orchestrating an insurance fraud scam complete with staged accidents and sketchy doctors. By pulling that thread, Robin is convinced she’ll find answers about the Finches’ enemies that divert blame from Mandy. Robin’s sharp intellect and steadfast integrity make her easy to root for, and Margolin keeps the suspense at a steady simmer. Series fans and newcomers alike will be sucked in. (Nov.)