The Ink Black Heart by Robert Galbraith

Book review

 The prospect of a new book — The Running Grave — appearing later this year was an incentive for me to re-read all previous six books in this engaging series by Galbraith (better known to her many fans as JK Rowling) This, the most recent, finds detective Cormoran Strike and his partner Robin Ellacott grappling with the poisonous intricacies of social media, as they strive to uncover the identity of the killer of Edie Ledwell, co-creator of cult animation, The Ink Black Heart. Edie’s body was found lying next to her seriously wounded ex-boyfriend, Josh Blay, in Highgate Cemetery — setting for the Ink Black Heart cartoon. 

In order to track down ‘Anomie’, the malevolent individual who attacked them both, Robin must enter the dark, gothic world of the animation and its spin-off game — whose participants have adopted names taken from Ledwell’s creation. She and Strike — increasingly hampered by the disability incurred when he served as a soldier in Afghanistan — must follow up leads on a range of suspects, all of whom have motives for murder. 

As fans of the previous books in the series will know, the sleuthing is intercut with an ongoing ‘will they, won’t they?’ scenario, in which both Strike and Robin find themselves having to choose between professional integrity and mutual attraction. Needless to say, this is entertainingly spun out over more than a thousand pages, some of it in the form of exchanges — laid out in parallel columns — between the moderators of the online game. This format can be hard to read, although it is ingeniously done. 

As ever, the London backgrounds are vividly captured, and the contemporary references pin-sharp. But if you haven’t read the earlier books, then it might be best to start there, rather than with this enjoyable, but intermittently challenging, blockbuster.

Are there any other ‘Strike’ fans out there? If so, which is your favourite of the six books so far? Any thoughts on the TV adaptation? (I think it’s great.)