I had enjoyed The Cuckoo’ s Calling so once I saw JK Rowling had a sequel, it was on my ‘to read’ list! Like many crime books, the main characters are the same but the relationships between them develops. In The Silkworm by Robert Galbraith, the chemistry between Cormoran Strike and his PA / assistant Robin is in the backdrop of the novel yet neither of them admit or give in to it. Robin’s upcoming nuptials to Matthew are there as a constant reminder yet despite his disapproval of Strike and the detective work, Robin does become more involved as Strike’s assistant rather than remaining as a secretary.
Like many detectives and private investigators in crime novels, Strike is overweight, smokes, drinks, belligerent, falls in love with the wrong women, swears a lot, turns down irritating clients if he can afford to, becomes a pain in the backside of the police / his superiors and uses his talents and his contacts to reveal the real killer.
He gets rid of an annoying and misogynistic client when a woman arrives to see him – although he wonders if she can pay him, he is intrigued by her tale. Her husband Owen Quine has disappeared and she wants Strike to find him. It doesn’t sound overly complicated but of course his disappearance leads to a mystery. ?There’s plenty of unpleasant characters in this one and the dead body isn’t in too good a state when it is found. ?The victim is a writer of a bizarre novel and the description of the novel’s contents wouldn’t enthuse you to read it or like the victim. London’s publishing world isn’t shown in a positive light either which I thought was interesting.
If you enjoy a ‘whodunnit’, you will enjoy it. ?It reminded me a little of Agatha Christie in the way the killer was revealed – remember how Poirot would gather everyone and tell them how events unfurled and reveal the killer at the last moment, the killer knowing that they were going to be revealed – the ending was a little like that as Strike brought other characters to the garden and the conversation led to the big reveal but of course, there was still a little more drama to come.
I can see it being made into a TV series at some point. I will continue to read the series as they are published but I’d prefer the Jo Nesbo Harry Hole series if given a choice.
