Book Talk: Margolin, ‘A Matter of Life and Death’

This is the fourth book in the Robin Lockwood series, but — like the other three — it can easily be read as a stand-alone novel. Usually, I recommend reading series in order, but Margolin is different from many other “series” authors. You can pick up any one of his books and enjoy it without references to previous works.

In A Matter of Life and Death (2021, 312 pages in hardback) Philip Margolin bridges the gap between the MMA (mixed-martial arts) scene and courtroom drama. The protagonist is Robin Lockwood, a former MMA performer and Yale Law School graduate. She’s now a partner in the law firm of Barrister, Berman, and Lockwood, and she approaches the courtroom in the same way that she once entered the fighting cage.

Robin first encounters prosecutor Ian Hennesey when her client is in the process of gender transitioning. Eric, who prefers to be called Erika and has the final-stage sex-reassignment surgery scheduled in two months, is accused of soliciting an undercover cop as a prostitute. ADA Hennesey has been a coddled child and young man who has lost his first two cases. He’s been chastised by the D.A., and is determined to chalk up a win on this case.

However, during cross-examination at trial, Robin extracts the information from an honest cop that he was the one who brought up the topic of paying for sex. Robin’s defense is that her client was interested only in consensual sex with another man, a test of the female persona that Eric/Erika had adopted.

Her next case is far more challenging and critical. Joe Lattimore, who once had a few MMA professional fights, is homeless and lives in a tent city with his wife Maria and baby daughter Conchita. He’s been charged with homicide, beating Judge Carasco’s wife to death with his wrapped fists. His finger and palm prints are found inside the Judge’s home, his tennis shoes match the pattern found in the rain-soaked dirt in front of the house, he’s seen by Judge Carasco and Ian Hennesey running from the building, and his hand wraps are found in a dumpster next to the Judge’s house with both the blood of his last opponent and Mrs. Carasco on them.

But Joe claims that he did not kill Betty Carasco, and Robin believes him. However, he does think that he killed his last opponent in an illegal no-holds-barred match in a barn in a rural part of the county. However, Robin’s point is that what happened or didn’t happen in a rural barn has no bearing on the Carasco case.

Robin believes that the evidence against Joe is simply too pat. She’s sure that Joe has been set up to take the fall, and she’s determined not to let an innocent man face a death penalty. But this time, District Attorney Vanessa Cole is prosecuting, and Robin has her work cut out for her.

• • •

Jim Glynn may be contacted at j_glynn@att.net.