3.5 stars. A significant step up in quality from The Cuckoo’s Calling which was good, but lost a little steam at the end. The silkworm just kept building and building into a solidly great reveal. I’ve heard excellent things about the third book in the series, so I’m pretty excited to tackle it in 2016. But back to The Silkworm…
Rowling takes on the publishing industry in her second Cormoran Strike novel so not only is it a fun mystery, it’s also slightly satirical. Novelist Owen Quine goes missing and his wife hires Strike and Robin to track him down as this is not an unusual occurrence. Now, I’m sure this shocks you, but Quine turns up dead. Police, obviously, suspect the wife, but Strike is sure she didn’t do it and he stays on the case to prove it. There are plenty of suspects after all. Quine’s incendiary last novel gave plenty of people motive to kill him.
Like I said up top, the ending is much more satisfying than her first book. I also really liked that we got more of Robin’s personal life and her growth as a budding detective. Strike is great, but it’s no secret that I am much more interested in Robin. Can’t wait to see how her story develops in books to come.