Publisher: Sphere
Author: Robert Galbraith (Pseudonym), J.K. Rowling
Series: Cormoran Strike
Release date: June 19th 2014
Genre: Mystery, crime, thriller
Rating: 8/10
Synopsis from Goodreads: When novelist Owen Quine goes missing, his wife calls in private detective Cormoran Strike. At first, Mrs. Quine just thinks her husband has gone off by himself for a few days—as he has done before—and she wants Strike to find him and bring him home. But as Strike investigates, it becomes clear that there is more to Quine’s disappearance than his wife realizes. The novelist has just completed a manuscript featuring poisonous pen-portraits of almost everyone he knows. If the novel were to be published, it would ruin lives—meaning that there are a lot of people who might want him silenced. When Quine is found brutally murdered under bizarre circumstances, it becomes a race against time to understand the motivation of a ruthless killer, a killer unlike any Strike has encountered before…
My Thoughts:
Until recently, I had refused to read any of Rowling’s post Potter publications. Harry Potter was such a major part of my childhood and one of the reasons I fell head over heels for reading, and I was so terrified that nothing else she created could come anywhere close to the series. Luckily, I was so wrong.
I can see why the Cormoran Strike series was published under the pseudonym Robert Galbraith. Rowling wanted it to be judged on it’s own merits rather than her name and compared to her previous success. After all, the world of crime riddled London is a far cry from Hogwarts and spells. Nevertheless, once you read this series it becomes obvious all over again why Rowling is such a worldwide success. Her writing is amazing, she has such an amazing talent at creating a world that 100% sucks you in. I have such clear images in my head of Strike’s office, with Robin’s desk and the leather couch. I can hear Cormoran’s curses in my mind as his knee plagues him with pain, I can see the excitement in Robin’s eyes when they make a breakthrough on a case.
I enjoyed The Cuckoo’s Calling very much, and The Silkworm follows in it’s footsteps. For the first time ever I have developed an actual interest in novels of this genre. Previously, the extent of my experience with detective/mystery novels was limited to Paul Auster’s City of Glass, and while that is a very engaging story in it’s own way, the characters and world do not have the depth which is created in Strike’s world. Strike and Robin are such opposites, but they make such a fantastic team. I really enjoyed how we got to see Robin become more involved with the cases in this novel, the relationship between the two is starting to grow more equal. Cormoran now realises that he needs Robin, and relies on her in more ways than he knows.
What I am genuinely pleased with throughout the two novels already published in this series, is the fact that I didn’t know who the guilty party was until the climax of the novel. Everyone has a motive, everyone seems guilty, so there is no way to know for sure who actually did commit the crime. I was kept guessing throughout, changing my mind constantly. I never had a strong conviction against anyone, and was desperate to find out who was guilty.
Isn’t that the whole point of a mystery? That you don’t know what happened, that you go through the guessing game along with the characters?
Anyway, I would definitely recommend this series to everyone, whether you’re a fan of Rowling’s or not. I definitely think that you should give it a try if you haven’t particularly ventured into this area of fiction before, it’s a great starting point for getting into detective novels. I know that I am definitely going to be exploring this genre a lot more, anyone have any recommendations for me?
Danielle 🙂
inked words and wrinkles 