The Running Grave

The Running Grave by Robert Galbraith is number 7 in the Cormoran Strike series of crime novels. Private detective Cormoran Strike and his partner Robin Ellacott are involved in a number of cases when they are approached by a father who wants them to remove his son, Will, from a cult in which the son has become involved. Robin decides that she needs to infiltrate the cult, the Universal Humanitarian Church, to try and contact Will to discover what he really wants to do. 

Meanwhile Cormoran and his team attempt to identify and locate former cult members who left the church. It is soon discovered that many of the former cult members died shortly after their release - either apparently by suicide or violent death. However their investigations soon uncover the violent crimes occurring within the cult and the ill treatment and intimidation of members. Robin also discovers how some of the cult beliefs are used to manipulate church members.

J K Rowling (writing as Robert Galbraith) is an excellent writer of suspense novels, making the reader want to  keep reading to discover what happens next. However at 945 pages the book is once again too long.

The Ink Black Heart

The Ink Black Heart by Robert Galbraith (J K Rowling) is number 6 in the Cormoran Strike series. Although this is a very readable crime novel, at more than 1000 pages is is a little long and is cumbersome to read, especially when attempting to read the book in bed. However it is worth perservering.

When Robin Ellacott is visited in the detective agency office by the creator of an online cartoon who is convinced that someone is out to kill her, Robin decides that the agency is not at that time able to take on the case. Several days later later Robin learns that Edie Ledwell had been murdered in the grounds of Highgate Cemetery. As Edie had mentioned that a person named Anomie had been harassing her, Robin and fellow private investigator, Cormoran Strike, decide to discover the identity of this possible killer.

Edie Ledwell and Josh Blay had created a cartoon, Ink Black Heart, published on YouTube. After several episodes, an online game relating to the cartoon was created by two fans. The cartoon and the game soon had an active, and ever growing,  fanbase. Initially the fans discussed the characters and plotlines of Ink Black Heart but then online trolls infiltrated the online discussion and the tone of many of the comments became threatening.

Robin and Cormoran and their team are working on a number of other cases, however they manage to reorganise the schedule for this case, especially when the agency becomes a target of members of a right wing group that has infiltrated the fan forums. Much of the investigation involves exploring posts on social media to try and locate any relevant information. Throughout the book the author includes pages of text representing text from forums, Twitter and other social media sites.

Much of the book is about social media and the way that a few people can create a forum of hate. During the week that I read the book there was a report about social media attacks on one episode of a television show that a few people decided that they did not like. An article in the newspaper yesterday was about fans attacking J K Rowling on a site where a game based on the Harry Potter franchise was about to be released. When I checked the Good Reads website today - a site for members of the public to write reviews of books - there were many negative posts about J K Rowling posted by people who have not read the book. As one of the reviewers noted it is ironic that all these people attacking JK Rowling online are demonstrating the online vitriol which is a key element of the plot.

Back to the book: Much of the plot is a continuation of the personal challenges faced by Cormoran and Robin as they reflect on their private, as opposed to professional, lives. It is also a study of the development of the working partnership between the two main characters. All in all this was an enjoyable, but over long, book to read.

Troubled Blood

 Troubled Blood is the fifth book in the Cormoran Strike series by Robert Galbraith (J K Rowling). Strike and Robin are partners of the detective agency set up by Strike in the first book in the series.The firm now has three subcontractors on staff plus Pat who does the admin work and all the staff are busy on a variety of cases. Strike is then approached by the daughter of a woman who was probably murdered forty years ago to try and find out what happened to her mother. This is the first cold case handled by the agency and Strike and Robin accept the challenge.

The disappearance of Dr Margot Bamborough occupies the team for more than a year, along with the other cases on which they are working. The more that Strike and Robin investigate the longer the list of possible suspects grows. After forty years many of the people they wish to talk to have died or disappeared making the challenge of finding what really happened more difficult.

Strike and Robin also have issues in their private lives requiring their attention. The aunt who looked after Strike when he was a boy is dying from cancer and he makes a number of trips to Cornwall to visit his aunt uncle. Meanwhile, Robin's husband is determined to make their divorce proceedings as difficult as possible. Strike also keeps receiving messages from family members wanting him to attend a function for his father's band's new album which is about to be released. As Strike has only seen his father twice in his life he declines the invitations. 

This novel therefore largely focuses on the lives of the two main characters as well as the cases they are endeavouring to solve. It is a good read even though at 927 pages it is a hefty tome.

Lethal White

Against the wishes of her husband Robin is back working with Cormoran Strike in their detective agency. When a distraught young man arrives at the office to tell of  a possible murder that he may have witnessed as a child, Strike does not know whether to believe the story. Then the young man disappears. Meanwhile a member of parliament hires them to find people who are blackmailing him over a past event which was legal at the time.

There are many twists and turns as Cormoran and Robin attempt to unravel a series of crimes and events affecting the Chiswells, an upper crust family whose way of life is under threat. We also learn more about the lives of Cormoran and Robin as they both contend with relationship problems. Robin also has anxiety attacks caused by events that occurred in previous cases.

A lot happens in this complicated, plot including blackmail, murder, extra-marital affairs, political protests and misunderstandings. The book does keep the reader wanting to know what happens next however, as Robert Galbraith takes more than 600 pages to tell the tale, I felt that the book would have benefited with additional editing. This plot told in 400 pages may have been more effective in keeping my attention.

Career of evil

This is the third Cormoran Strike novel by Robert Galbraith about private investigator, Cormoran Strike, and his assistant, Robin Ellacott.

When Robin arrives at the office she is met by a courier delivering a parcel with her name on it. She was expecting a parcel containing items for her forthcoming wedding - she did not expect a woman's severed leg. So begins this story of violence committed by someone from Cormoran's past who wants to destroy, at the very least, Cormoran's reputation. When Cormoran contacts the police he gives them the names of four possible suspects to investigate. As you would expect, Cormoran and Robin also investigate the case. Robin insists on still working while Cormoran tries to protect her from an unknown killer who continues to commit his brutal crimes.

The book is also a study of relationships between the characters - the working relationship between  Cormoran and Robin,  Robin's relationship with her finance, Matthew and Cormoran's relationship with Elin.

The story unfolds through the viewpoint of Cormoran and Robin plus, from time to time, the perpetrator of the crimes. Throughout the book there are references to the music of the group, Blue Oyster Cult.

Once I started reading the book I wanted to just keep reading it. It is just as well that I have now retired from work giving me more time to read!

The silkworm

The second book in the Cormoran Strike series, this novel by Robert Galbraith is another murder mystery being investigated by detective and former soldier, Cormoran Strike and his assistant, Robin Ellacott. Cormoran is 35 and is a damaged person, not just physically (the lower part of one leg was amputated when serving in Afghanistan), but also emotionally as his former fiancee is about to marry. The main case investigated in The Silkworm concerns the search for the author, Owen Quine, who is reported missing by his wife. Quine has just completed his latest book and the release of the draft manuscript upsets many fellow authors and others from the publishing world as well as other associates of Quine. 

When Quine's body is discovered in bazaar circumstances the investigation turns into a hunt not only to discover the killer but also to find out why this has happened. Although the policeman leading the investigation is a former colleague of Strike when in Afghanistan, Strike is convinced that the police suspect the wrong person and sets out to solve the case himself.

The working relationship between Strike and Robin, who also wants to be an investigator, is further developed in this well written, fast paced mystery, adding another dimension to the novel. I have enjoyed reading the first two books in this series and look forward to the next installment in the Cormoran Strike series.

The Cuckoo's Calling

This is J K Rowling's second book for adults and was written using the pseudonym, Robert Galbraith. This time she has written a detective novel with the main character being Cormoran Strike, a veteran of Afghanistan and the son of a rock star junkie. His detective business is not flourishing until a new client asks him to investigate the death of his sister, the model Lula Landry. 

With the assistance of his secretary, Robin, Strike investigates the world of fashion, the paparazzi and show business in order to disprove that Lula's death was suicide and to prove that she had been murdered. This is a well crafted story with plenty of twists and turns as the investigation progresses. As the story develops we also learn more of the character of both Cormoran and Robin as they face up to decisions in their personal lives. I suspect that we may see these two characters in another detective story in the future.

In 2017 The Cuckoo's Calling was made into a three part television series for the BBC.