Robert Galbraith’s third book in the Cormoran Strike series is another great book from J.K. Rowling, who, it must be said, is a consummate storyteller. I never fail to get fully lost in her stories and this, to me, is what it’s all about when you read – to be in the book, as it were.
In this, Strike’s business is on the up and ticking along nicely when a macabre delivery addressed to Robin is brought to the office and starts an investigation into who might have the motivation to perform such a bold and horrific thing. Is it someone with a vendetta against Strike?
Galbraith does not shirk from showing us humanity’s darker side and this book, as it is centred around a potential serial killer, sends us into the desires and motivations of evil in all its black profanities but it is nothing that Dexter or The Silence of the Lambs hasn’t done before.
We follow the pair as they explore suspects and motivations which takes them around the UK. On the horizon is also Robin’s wedding to Matthew, which creates great tension in the book, Galbraith gives us insight into the feelings of Robin and Cormoran through his/her third person narrative, showing the obvious attraction they have for each other, partnered with the knowledge that to act on it would change everything. I love this dynamic and the chemistry that it creates – the old “will-they-won’t-they?” anticipation builder – and I hope in some ways that it remains unfulfilled. This book certainly ends on a sort of cliffhanger so the fourth will undoubtably build on this.
We also learn more about the characters themselves in terms of their past experiences as well as people they have encountered, who become part of the action of the book in Cormoran’s case; this fleshes Robin and Cormoran out as individuals as well as leading them both to a deeper understanding of each other and increasing many aspects between them: their friendship; respect for each other; partnership.
It all leads to a satisfying conclusion and I think, is better executed than The Silkworm; in terms of plot and narrative flow, it is smoothly delivered.
All in all, an easy read and I know that book 4 will very soon be sitting on my reading horizon, waiting to be opened.
Scuffed Granny 