Rating: 
Summary: Suspenseful plot overcomes plodding prose
Review: I listened to the unabridged book on tape of this book everywhere I went for the last few days. It had great courtroom tension, changing suspects and lots of suspense. This was a good thing because more than once the dialouge was so stilted and cliche that I found myself wincing.This is fundamentally a book about lawyers (for better or for worse). Every key character is either a lawyer or has a life that is entwined with the legal system. It isn't always a pretty picture. Almost all of the characters come off as some sort of obsessive personality. Interesting, yes; sympathetic, not really. Still, you keep wondering who killed the supreme court law clerk and, then a month later, the Oregon Supreme Court justice. Are the killings related? There are more than a few great theories and line between the obvious and the sublime is very sketchy. Bottom line: an entertaining read that will tickle your thinking process without challenging it too hard.
Rating: 
Summary: On the edge of your seat? You will be with this book!!
Review: I totally enjoyed this book. It was so fast-paced and suspense filled that I could not put it down. This was my second book by the author and I think that I was better than "Gone, But Not Forgotten". In "After Dark", right from the start, you know, I mean you really KNOW who the murderer is, it's just a matter proving it. Then at the end of the book, about the last 8 or 9 pages, you find out who the real murderer and all you can say is, "Oh, my God! This can't be"! I cried, because I had come to like and have much respect for this person and now he had committed murder for the love of a woman. Beautiful, just beautiful!
Rating: 
Summary: A good read
Review: I'm not a big fan of legal thrillers, but I liked this book. Although not as good as his other book, Wild Justice, this one was a page-turner, and only a few pages throughout the courtroom testimony were boring. I was a little disappointed by the ending, but I would still recommend this book.
Rating:
Summary: Surprised by bad reviews
Review: I'm so surprised by the poor reviews... I think the book was great! It had my attention and I was unable to put it down... I was up until dawn one morning reading it because I couldn't wait to finish. It wasn't Gone but not forgotten, but it was a very intense book. You should also read the Undertaker's Widow, another great one! Don't be fooled by bad reviews, if you like mystery and can handle the intensity, read these books! He beats John Grisham and Richard North Patterson by a long shot... and I love their stuff!
Rating: 
Summary: Non-thrilling, predictable, unbelievable
Review: The plot was entirely predictable. Come on, he spoon-fed us the culprit with the description of his obessisive behavior early on. It was then just a matter of figuring out how Margolin would decide the killer would be revealed. The characters were very flat, the dialogue inane, and the thought that Matt and Abbie would ever be on the verge of marriage is unbelievable. I guess the moral of the story is "You can't always get what you want" (and I don't want anymore by this author).
Rating:
Summary: Awesome!
Review: This is my 3rd book by Mr. Margolin and all three are awesome! Very superb writing and can't put down books. Now, I'm reading my 4th one, Burning Man, and even my father-in-law, said it's a good book, so here I am giving my reviews because I want to let other readers to know, that you will not be disappointed. Reading his novels, is like watching a movie, and my imaginations just go wild. After Dark, just one of those who-dunnit books. So there, hopefully other readers can find this review helpful... Thanks
Rating:
Summary: This is the best book
Review: This is one of the best book that I have read in a long time. I could not put this book down. It took me 2 days to read this book. Because once you start it you have to keep going to find out what will happen next. It is a must read.
Rating:
Summary: Hard to improve on
Review: This one combines the best elements of the "cozy" and "suspense" styles of mystery-writing. The protagonist is Tracy Cavanaugh, a recent law school graduate who clerks for a justice of the Oregon Supreme Court. During her last days at the Oregon Supreme Court, one of Tracy's clerk colleagues is murdered. That murder is followed shortly by the murder of the justice who employed the murdered clerk. The murdered justice's estranged wife, herself a brilliant prosecutor, soon becomes the prime suspect. At the same time, Tracy's year of clerking is up, and she goes to work for renowned defense attorney Matthew Reynolds, who is defending the accused wife. This is definitely a better novel than "Undertaker's Widow", which was the first Phillip Margolin mystery I read. Most of the primary characters are well-drawn and memorable. The plot is unpredictable but doesn't stretch credulity. The last 75 pages give the plot several twists before the ultimate solution is revealed. The book is captivating and well-written throughout. This book provides one more example of the foolishness... several years ago, to change the rating system from a 10-star maximum to a 5-star maximum. This book is a cut above Hazel Holt's "Mrs. Malory, Detective in Residence", to which I gave 4 stars. It is also a definite cut below Elizabeth George's novels, all of which deserve 5 stars. I will stick with my contention that only real literature deserves 5 stars, and this isn't real literature. But it's about as good as genre mysteries ever get.
Rating:
Summary: A good read
Review: This one combines the best elements of the "cozy" and "suspense" styles of mystery-writing. The protagonist is Tracy Cavanaugh, a recent law school graduate who clerks for a justice of the Oregon Supreme Court. During her last days at the Oregon Supreme Court, one of Tracy's clerk colleagues is murdered. That murder is followed shortly by the murder of the justice who employed the murdered clerk. The murdered justice's estranged wife, herself a brilliant prosecutor, soon becomes the prime suspect. At the same time, Tracy's year of clerking is up, and she goes to work for renowned defense attorney Matthew Reynolds, who is defending the accused wife. This is definitely a better novel than "Undertaker's Widow", which was the first Phillip Margolin mystery I read. Most of the primary characters are well-drawn and memorable. The plot is unpredictable but doesn't stretch credulity. The last 75 pages give the plot several twists before the ultimate solution is revealed. The book is captivating and well-written throughout. This book provides one more example of the foolishness... several years ago, to change the rating system from a 10-star maximum to a 5-star maximum. This book is a cut above Hazel Holt's "Mrs. Malory, Detective in Residence", to which I gave 4 stars. It is also a definite cut below Elizabeth George's novels, all of which deserve 5 stars. I will stick with my contention that only real literature deserves 5 stars, and this isn't real literature. But it's about as good as genre mysteries ever get.
Rating:
Summary: Hard to improve on
Review: This one combines the best elements of the "cozy" and "suspense" styles of mystery-writing. The protagonist is Tracy Cavanaugh, a recent law school graduate who clerks for a justice of the Oregon Supreme Court. During her last days at the Oregon Supreme Court, one of Tracy's clerk colleagues is murdered. That murder is followed shortly by the murder of the justice who employed the murdered clerk. The murdered justice's estranged wife, herself a brilliant prosecutor, soon becomes the prime suspect. At the same time, Tracy's year of clerking is up, and she goes to work for renowned defense attorney Matthew Reynolds, who is defending the accused wife. This is definitely a better novel than "Undertaker's Widow", which was the first Phillip Margolin mystery I read. Most of the primary characters are well-drawn and memorable. The plot is unpredictable but doesn't stretch credulity. The last 75 pages give the plot several twists before the ultimate solution is revealed. The book is captivating and well-written throughout. This book provides one more example of the foolishness... several years ago, to change the rating system from a 10-star maximum to a 5-star maximum. This book is a cut above Hazel Holt's "Mrs. Malory, Detective in Residence", to which I gave 4 stars. It is also a definite cut below Elizabeth George's novels, all of which deserve 5 stars. I will stick with my contention that only real literature deserves 5 stars, and this isn't real literature. But it's about as good as genre mysteries ever get.
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