Career of Evil by Robert Galbraith

My reviews of The Cuckoo's Calling and The Silkworm. 

The third book in the Robert Galbraith (JK Rowling!) Cormoran Strike novel, Career of Evil takes us inside Strike's past. Robin, his assistant, is sent a body part in the mail and when asked if he knew who could have done that, Strike has four names of people he's had dealings with who may be responsible.  What follows is a whodunit in which Robin is in peril.

Dun dun duh.

There's a lot of misogyny and violence against women in this novel.  It didn't deter me from reading it, but if that's something that's a dealbreaker for you, I wouldn't advise reading it. 

This might be my least favorite of the Strike novels so far.  It's not just because of the scenes of graphic rape and dismemberment (!), but because it alternates POV from Strike to Robin to the killer.  Frankly, I don't find the killer's POV interesting - oh, he hate women and feels life has let him down, you don't say - and it almost immediately gave away who the killer was. 

On the other hand, the relationship between Robin and Strike is interesting and begins to get some development in this novel. I did enjoy some of that. It was interesting to see Robin begin to fully articulate why she was working for Strike and what her goals and interests were. It was also interesting to hear about some of her backstory, including what made her leave university early, although to be frank, it was an unsatisfying explanation.  It was fun to see Strike trying to deal with his feelings for Robin and what he was going to do about those feelings.

I also liked the London setting. Some of this is because I'm a loyal Harry Potter fan, so hearing names like King's Cross Station and Charing Road made me feel like maybe these two series are part of the same world. It's like a hunt to see if you can catch sight of something magical happening in the very mundane Muggle world where we're living.  But some of it was just that London is a big, exciting city filled with diversity and interesting things and I live in a small town where the most interesting thing is that the city just bought 75 acres of land on the other side of the highway and everyone just knows SPRAWL is happening (SPRAWL! So many social media posts about SPRAWL!). 

I feel comfortable with this writing. It turns out that Rowling can spin a good yarn. Who would have ever guessed?