Phillip Margolin, the king of the legal thriller, is back with his second in the Robin Lockwood series, following THE THIRD VICTIM. Robin is a savvy Portland attorney, who also knows how to take care of herself since paying her way through Yale partially with her MMA fighting skills. That’s good, because she’s going to need them. Her latest case seems to bring out the worst in some people.

We join Robin as she’s about to represent a young woman who claims she was raped by a college football star. She wants to sue for a lot of money, so Robin sits in on the criminal trial to gauge the defendant and his story. Blaine Hastings is handsome, rich and cocky. He also has an attitude that says he’s above the law, and it doesn’t impress the judge one bit. So when he’s convicted, Robin sees an easy win for her client in the civil suit. But when another woman is raped and the DNA matches the football star’s, everyone is stunned. That’s impossible, because the guy was in prison.

"Margolin’s style simply goads his fans to read one more chapter. It’s almost impossible to stop once you’ve started one of his books. THE PERFECT ALIBI is no exception."

While they try to figure out what happened, Blaine is afforded another hearing. This time, he hires a different attorney. There’s no way he’d use Doug Armstrong, his original lawyer, considering the botched job that man did. Almost immediately after Blaine’s release on bail, Armstrong goes missing, and his law partner is murdered.

So is Armstrong dead, too? Or could he have been the one who killed his partner? Surely not; they were best friends. Where is Armstrong, though? Will he show up dead, or alive, or with blood on his hands? Well, it’s a very tangled web. The football star is on the run. It certainly doesn’t look good for him. His reputation for violence precedes him, and running away never helps. In addition to Blaine, there’s the District Attorney, who’s not well liked either. But has he done anything to cause Blaine to go after him, too? Should he worry?

Obviously, something wasn’t right with the rape trial, so the DA might want to watch his back. Actually, Portland’s entire legal community is on edge. Too many frightening things are happening. Robin, though, is most concerned about her client. The young woman seemed genuinely terrified of Blaine, and with him out on bail, there is almost nothing to stop him from attacking her again.

Clues come in from all over the place, with a connection even to New York City. What could have tied the dead guy to the Big Apple? Another victim. It’s almost as if the police have too many leads. Unraveling it all feels nearly impossible. But then there’s that one piece of evidence that finally has everything falling into place. And it’s a stunner.

Margolin’s style simply goads his fans to read one more chapter. It’s almost impossible to stop once you’ve started one of his books. THE PERFECT ALIBI is no exception. Besides, Robin Lockwood is one strong, modern, no-BS kind of woman. Nothing holds her back. She’s going to become a favorite. Don’t miss out on her cases.