JK Rowling’s writing has improved noticeably from the first Harry Potter books. I haven’t read The Casual Vacancy yet, both because the story doesn’t appeal to me and it’s received a generally lukewarm reception, so it came as a bit of a shock to see her writing about sex and characters who use foul language. It’s almost like hearing my mother use those words. But, once you get passed that (assuming that, like me, that’s something you even have to get passed), this is a […]
London Calling
I finally (finally) got around to reading the debut mystery novel of “Robert Galbraith”, now famously a pseudonym adopted by goddess divine J.K. Rowling. The Cuckoo’s Calling, the first entry in the Cormoran Strike series, was engrossing and wonderful, and I’m pretty much an idiot for waiting this long. The book starts with a brief prologue, with police making their way through a horde of journalists to the body of an apparent suicide victim; a famous and beautiful woman who has seemingly jumped from […]
Better and better
I finally got a chance to read the third book in J.K. Rowling’s Cormoran Strike mystery series and it didn’t disappoint. It was definitely the strongest of the three. Robin felt like a lead character, there was some good character work, and the mystery was complicated and interesting. Private detectives Robin and Cormoran are doing pretty well for themselves at the start of Career of Evil. They’ve built a business that’s actually making money and are working at the top of their game. Then, Robin […]
J.K. Rowling is a goddess
If you’ve never heard of Robert Galbraith before, it’s for a good reason: Galbraith is a pseudonym assumed by J.K. Rowling. I haven’t researched the reason for the pen name, but given the content of this book (and the first one in the series, the excellent The Cuckoo’s Calling), which is much more mature and graphic, it’s not hard to imagine that she’d like to keep this image separate from her Harry Potter books. So, getting into it: Cormoran Strike is a private investigator in London. […]
One of my favorite duos in literature
Career of Evil (2015) is Galbraith/J.K. Rowling’s third novel following private detective Cormoran Strike and his assistant-cum-partner, Robin Ellacott. I discovered this series through my book club when we read The Cuckoo’s Calling. I followed it up by reading The Silkworm on my own. Each book has a self-contained, engaging, and complex murder mystery. The connection between all three books is the relationship between Cormoran and Robin. Robin starts working for Cormoran in the first book, she becomes more indispensable to him in the second, and they […]
“… cheer the fuck up and eat your burger.”
The Silkworm (Cormoran Strike #2) by Robert Galbraith, Robert Glenister (narrator)
*Note: This review was completed in 2016 before the author’s views towards our trans siblings began to be widely known. My reading experience was what it was and these reviews will remain up, but it should be noted that I find her TERF values abhorrent, which have only become more clear over time, and her doubling down in Summer 2020 has made the decision to walk away from her as a creative force the only acceptable choice for me. I will no longer be supporting […]
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