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.