When a severed limb is sent to the now-famous detective’s office, care of his long suffering colleague Robin, the duo set to tracking down the sender – not to mention the owner of the leg. Strike has narrowed down the list of suspects to three likely culprits but he and Robin must work through the clues quickly to catch the offender before any further crimes are committed.
Whereas The Cuckoo’s Calling was a classic whodunit which skirted around the gore and violence of the actual murder, and The Silkworm gave us the feeling that Rowling was flexing her thriller-writing muscles, and having a lot of fun with her grisly narrative, Career of Evil takes the depictions of crimes to another level.
Focusing on three sinister characters from Strike’s past, the book covers seriously unpleasant themes such as domestic violence, drug addiction, torture and child abuse, making it faintly reminiscent of Rowling’s first adult title, The Casual Vacancy. The identity of the killer is a surprise (although not necessarily in the way you might expect) with plenty of obligatory red herrings thrown into the mix.
Whilst I very much enjoyed the journey, what has stayed with me from this book is the development of the relationship between the two protagonists, Strike and Robin. I was left feeling a bit like a child watching her parents kiss – a bit uncomfortable and not sure I liked it! It’s not that I worry Strike and Robin’s eventual embrace might affect the dynamic of the story (which it undoubtedly would), it’s more that the two just aren’t believable as a couple. Forcing two such incompatible characters together would smack of predictability and a lack of imagination, and would bother me enough to prevent me reading another installment.
However, if Rowling resists the urge, this series has the potential to become a modern-day classic and, like Harry Potter before it, one that I will enjoy reading again and again.
Posted by RJB
Catalogue Link: Career of Evil
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