Cormoran Strike is a bit startled by the insistent and distracted  woman who asks him to find her novelist husband, Owen Quine, who has been missing for 10 days. Leonora Quine is quite sure that he is at some literary retreat but there have been strange things happening, like someone slipping dog excrement through the mail slot or following her home from the store and she is more that ready for him to come home.  Strike is sure this is just a case of a runaway husband but when Owen turns up dead under the most bizarre circumstances and his soon to be published novel turns out to be a thinly disguised expose’ of the closely guarded secrets of some very important people, Strike suddenly has an over abundance of suspects to investigate and too many leads to track down.  And then at the most inopportune time Strike has an accident which causes a re-injury to his leg with the prosthetic, forcing him to slow down to recuperate.

Seeing her chance to get the experience she needs to become a detective in her own right, Robin, Strike’s assistant, begins to help Strike by doing surveillance, interviews and other mundane tasks. However her new dedication causes havoc in her relationship with her fiance,’ who can’t seem to understand why she wants to be anything other than a secretary.  Strike on the other hand is conflicted about the help that she offers. Although he realizes that she is being very useful and has great instincts, he can also see that this path could damage her personal relationships and his ambivalence creates an unpleasant misunderstanding between them, causing Robin to re-evaluate her commitment to Strike.

Despite all their personal issues, however, the case leads them through the the cut throat publishing industry from best selling authors to disillusioned writers filled with resentment, top dollar agents willing to do anything to land the next big blockbuster and editors who are constantly trying to get their writers to meet their deadlines.

Galbraith’s creates characters, all of them, not only Robin and Strike, who are so vivid and real you feel like you could have tea (or a pint!) with them.  Suspenseful and creepy, this book was hard to put down and kept me guessing until the very end.

Brenda’s Rating: **** (4 Stars out of 5) 

Recommend this book to: Sharon, Ken and Marian

Book Study Worthy? Not really

Read in ebook format.