Bill's Book Series
Cormoran Strike and Robin Ellacott Novels
Author: Robert Galbraith
Tags: Detective, Mystery, Suspense
During the weeks it has taken me to build this blog site I have been struggling to decide which of the many series I have read should be the subject of my first post. I have decided on this series, not because it is the best I have ever read (although it is pretty damn good), but because I have just finished reading Troubled Blood, the fifth and latest book in the series. I figured that since it is still fresh in my mind I might find it easier to get my feelings about it down on whatever this medium is. We will see!
For those that have not realized it yet, Robert Galbraith is the Nom de Plume of J. K. Rowling, she of the Harry Potter books (of which I have read none but I did have fun watching the first movie two nights ago and can't wait to watch the rest). While I have thoroughly enjoyed this series, I have to get something off my chest as JK (or RG) and her/his marketing entourage are starting to piss me off. If you take a look at the book covers you will see that they are labelled as "A CB Strike Novel" or "A Cormoran Strike Novel". All of the advertising for the books highlight Cormoran Strike and even the BBC TV series currently in production is called "Strike". There is not one mention of Robin Ellacott and J. K. Rowling (if that is even her real name) should be ashamed. Hence, I have prominently included Robin in the title of this blog!!
Robin Ellacott is essential to these books and the business and personal relationship between her and Cormoran Strike is just as important and possibly more inspiring than the plots themselves. Robert Galbraith has done an excellent job of bringing these two characters to life and given them equal time and importance in the books so why would Robin have to take a back seat to Cormoran in the advertising credits of the book? I will make sure I ask him next time I see her.
Having gotten that off my chest it is time for a confession. The first couple of books in the series contained about 450 pages, the third book increased to just over 500 pages and when I finished the fourth book in this series which ran to 650 odd pages I was starting to think that they were getting too long. I am not a professional writer but I consider myself a professional reader and my gut feel was that you could eliminate 50 to 100 pages with no negative impact. Then, when Troubled Blood arrived and I saw that the page count was 927, I was convinced that I was right and that there would be a few hundred pages of filler to wade through that would take away some of the enjoyment. I was wrong and should have known better!
If you have taken the time to read the About... section of this web site you will observe that I emphasize the "journey" of a book; the time it takes to get from the introduction to the ending and the people, places, events and emotions that you experience along the way. Robert Galbraith has the ability to describe people and events in such detail that you are captured and captivated. I read the last 200 plus pages in one sitting and felt privileged to be part of the journey.
Cormoran Strike is an ex Royal Military Police Special Investigations Branch investigator and a veteran of the war in Afghanistan. His military career having come to an untimely end due to an enemy ambush, he has leveraged his skills in opening a fledgling detective agency in the heart of London. He is the result of a one night stand between a lifelong itinerant groupie mother and a then famous but now faded rock star father and was, consequently, raised by his aunt and uncle.
Robin Ellacott arrived at the agency as a temp with a very conventional upbringing and was following a very traditional path of engagement and marriage to a very conventional accountant. The agency pay is low but the allure of what appears to be mundane detective work is strong. Through hard work and intelligence she becomes essential to Strike in more ways then she imagines.
The stories are not overly complex but there is always an abundance of suspects and plenty of clues. We see and hear what the detectives hear and see and are given every opportunity to solve the case. However, there are multiple ways of interpreting the facts and we need to delve into the psychology of the characters to get the clear picture. Nothing is obvious until the final pages.
I find the realism and attention to detail in these books very refreshing. These are not the stories of an international detective agency with unlimited funds and resources with agents jetting everywhere to solve crimes around the world. This is a real-world growing detective agency dealing with real people who have their own secrets and reasons for being obstructive but by shear effort, perseverance and a little luck the truth is slowly extracted and the cases are solved.
The real strength of these novels, however, is the complex relationship between the protagonists themselves and their chaotic relationships with others in their lives, especially their special others. Strike's special other, Charlotte, is his beautiful but psychotic ex-fiancée that he met while at Oxford. She being from an entitled family and Strike having a dysfunctional background this was always (to this reader) a bad match and they careened through a tempestuous, on-off relationship for many years. She is a compulsive liar and continually and, at times, desperately looks for Strikes attention. It is clear that Strike was obsessed with her and is struggling to keep her out of his life.
Robin's special other, Matthew, is a little more conventional. Now an accountant, he and Robin grew up and attended school together and it was expected by friends and family that their relationship would survive college and continue on the trajectory of marriage, children, etc. Without giving too much away Robin starts to "find herself" at the detective agency and with new found knowledge of another "influence" in Matthews life doubts start to set in.
The struggles in their previous relationships and their necessary closeness in the detective business drives events that push the backstory of their lives to the forefront of these novels adding another fascinating layer to the series. To many readers, and I won't say if I am one of them or not (although I am a bit of a romantic), their relationship has become much more important than the plots. To illustrate this, I just did a web search for "what next for cormoran and robin" and got 416,000 results.
If you want to know more about this series there are plenty of good resources on the web. Try the Robert Galbraith web site or the Cormoran Strike entry in Wikipedia as they both have good descriptions of the main characters. However, I think the Wikipedia entry gives too much away and I would steer clear of it. In my opinion, the best way to enjoy this series is to dive straight in. I came across this series by accident in the library just after the first book was released. I knew nothing of Robert Galbraith and didn't find out who he really was until after reading the second book. However, I can unequivocally say that I have now spent many happy hours with Robin and Cormoran and enjoyed the ride with them as much as I enjoyed the Harry Potter rides at Universal Studios.
Happy reading!
Thanks for your blog, nice to read. Do not stop.