When Agatha Christie wrote her crime novels they weren’t
seen as classics at the time, so whilst Robert Galbraith's Strike books are not yet deemed classics, is there the possibilty that they might be in the future? I don't know, so I've read them to see whether they are worth the time and effort.
My heart sank when I heard my favourite actor Tom Burke would be portraying the role of
Cormoran Strike in the BBC’s dramatisation of the Robert Galbraith novels. (Robert Galbraith is the pseudonym of J K Rowling. I started reading the Harry Potter novels but gave up part way through book four. The first three were OK, but I did not care for her style of writing and none of her characters appealed to me. I had grown
up reading Ursula K Le Guin who had alread written books about a boy who went to wizard school, and my opinion did the job much better!)
The Cuckoo’s Calling
The first novel introduces us to the private detective,
Cormoran Strike, a war veteran who lost his leg in Afghanistan. Cormoran not
only has the physical wounds of war to deal with, but the psychological issues
too. He has just finished a long and tumultuous
relationship with his girlfriend, he has substantial debts that need paying
off; he has resorted to living in his office and is now down to his last
client. Then John Bristow walks through
his door, and Cormoron’s life is about to change. John’s sister, the beautiful model Lula
Landry had fallen to her death from a balcony months earlier. The police ruled
it a suicide, but John knows differently.
He wants Strike to investigate the glamorous world of modelling, rock
stars and designers, to find out if Lula fell, or if she was pushed.
I was pleasantly surprised reading this novel and how
absorbed I was with the two main characters, Cormoran, and his new assistant
Robin. It seems an unlikely pairing, however, the two characters bounce off one
another and I instantly fell in love with them both; although I didn’t fall in
love with Galbraith’s writing. I enjoy
the author giving sufficient detail to transport you to a specific place; she
really encapsulates what a traditional London pub is like for instance. I like
that she has visualised our modern society, (her comments about fandom especially
struck a chord that made me question and think quite deeply about what she had
written) but I get exasperated that long meandering narratives that
serve no purpose are incorporated. “ ’Is there any chance,’ asked Strike, as
they were momentarily impeded by a tiny hooded, bearded man like an Old
Testament prophet, who stopped in front of them and slowly stuck out his
tongue, ‘that I could come and have a look inside some time?’” It was a cleverly written sentence, but it
served no purpose, it was as if she had had an idea and was so pleased with the
sentence it had to be placed in the novel.
Whilst I enjoyed the book, I did feel the plot was a little
loose. I’m also conflicted by the ending. On one hand it was
a clever twist, but on the other a bit confusing and disappinting. (I can’t say too much without giving the ending away.) Obviously the guilty party was playing on the idea that
Cormoran was a bit of a loser and desperate for cash.
Despite my frustrations, I finished the book wanting to know more about Strike and Robin.
Genre: Thriller, Mystery, Crime, Detective Novel
Release Date: 18th April 2013
Publisher: Sphere
Pages: 449
“Disclosure:
If you buy books linked to this site, I may earn a small commission from
Bookshop.org, whose fees support independent bookshops, at no extra cost to
you.”
The Silkworm
Bombyx Mori – it’s latin for ‘silkworm of the mulberry tree’,
but as I raced through book two, my mind kept changing the words to Bombay Mix,
I have no idea why, although I think it's possibly due to the overuse of the phrase!
Owen Quine is a novelist who wrote the novel Bombyx Mori, a
book that betrays his editor, publisher, agent…and now he has gone missing. We’ve left the world of models and
fashionistas behind to replace it with a world of novelists and amateur
writers. This book is faster paced and a lot darker and gorier than the first
novel and to be fair to Galbraith the writing has steadily improved from book
one, but I still found it grating. The Silkworm is not a silky
smooth read!
Whilst Strike fans will consider me too critical, I found that
maybe I am not the only one uncomfortable with the narrative of the book. Galbraith may as well have had a neon sign pointing out the issues that irk me. Strikes partner, Robin, finds a potential suspect’s blog. She
states, “A lot of it’s about how traditional publishers wouldn’t know good
books if they were hit over the head with them.” Galbraith then tries to inform
the reader what the difference is between plot and narrative. "Plot is what
happens," "narrative is how much you show your readers and how you
show it to them." I don’t wish to discredit Galbraith, I find the
imaginative side of her writing phenomenal, but, if I think back to when I
tried to read Harry Potter, the main thing that struck me was how one
dimensional the characters were and how progressively longwinded the books became.The Strike novels have
addressed the character issue to an extent, but I have to be honest, I wonder whether I only enjoy the Strike novels because I can visualise Tom Burke in the role.
That said the structure of the second book was certainly
better than that of the first. There was more complexity around the crime, and
the growing relationship between Strike and Robin is mesmerising. There is a level of humour that lightens the
mood, although often Robin is rather daunted by Strike and his ambivalence
towards the horrors that they have witnessed.
The compulsive nature of these books meant that as soon as
The Silkworm was finished I needed to know more about the fortunes of Strike. I
became obsessed with him and found myself finishing book 3 at 6 o’clock in the
morning!
Genre: Thriller, Mystery, Crime, Detective Novel
Release Date: 19th June 2014
Publisher: Sphere
Pages: 456
“Disclosure: If you buy books linked to this site, I may earn a small commission from Bookshop.org, whose fees support independent bookshops, at no extra cost to you.”
Career of Evil
This is by far the best of the three books.
Galbraith has found an intimacy with her characters and they have begun to flow
naturally from the pages. In book 3, Robin takes delivery of a gruesome
package, we recoil with her and we feel her revulsion when she opens the
packet to find a leg has been sent to her together with some lyrics from the band
Blue Oyster Cult. Strike is gloriously
deadpan as he tells the police that the leg isn’t even his size (having
lost his leg in Afghanistan) and this wry humour lifts what could be a novel
that takes its-self too seriously.Just as Inspector Lestrade was dismissive of Sherlock
Holmes, and Inspector Japp was dismissive of Poirot, Strike has upset the
police too many times and so they are scornful of his suggestions that this is
no ordinary crime. This crime is personal, someone is after Strike and they
will use whatever means necessary, including Robin, to undermine and hurt him.
And so the game is afoot, to delve into Strikes murky past to
work out who is sending body parts to Robin…and it turns out that Strike has
upset a multitude of people during his life, so it really could be anybody!
If Strike thinks that trying to locate a murderer is a
complex affair, then that is nothing in comparison to the quirks of human
nature. Robin is trying to organise her
wedding to Matthew; Strike is trying to establish a relationship with a
gorgeous but dull woman in the throes of divorce. What is blindingly obvious to
the reader is wasted on Robin and Strike, however hard they try, it is crystal
clear that their feelings for each other far outweigh the feelings they have
for their respective other halves!
Career of Evil has it all, complex relationships, an
enormity of disturbed characters intent on revenge, a travelogue up and down
the country from Scotland to London (I
specifically liked Robin’s trip to Harrogate…I love Betty’s tearooms, and if I’m
there I always have a pot of Betty’s house blend tea and a fat rascal.
Galbraith did not disappoint, both got a mention!) And let us not
forget Strike’s amusing sofa that is constantly mentioned throughout the book.
If the BBC adaptation doesn’t have the farting sofa, I have my complaint letter
at the ready!
So roll on book number 4. I have been converted! They are
not the greatest pieces of literature in the world, but they are compulsive
reading, you want to turn the next page, you want to know what happens next and whilst it is fun trying to solve the “who dunnits”…the biggest mystery of
all is what will happen between Strike and Robin…that is…if anything happens at
all!
Genre: Thriller, Mystery, Crime, Detective Novel
Release Date: 20th October 2015
Publisher: Sphere
Pages: 494
“Disclosure: If you buy books linked to this site, I may earn a small commission from Bookshop.org, whose fees support independent bookshops, at no extra cost to you.”
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