(This book was written by J.K. Rowling if you didn’t know,
but I’ll refer to her as Galbraith because that’s what she wants to be called
so there.)
This one is a literary mystery! Sure to make readers happy
(that’s why there’s so many books about reading). There are some references to
the first book in this series (The Cuckoo’s Calling) but it also stands well
on its own.
I really enjoyed not how Strike solved the case but how he went
about proving it. Which is what makes up the bulk of the book anyways. It
involves some old friends that are very amusing and I quite liked. I hope they
appear in other books.
Strike’s relationship with Robin is very important here, she
wants to get training as a detective and is frustrated by Strike trying to
protect her. On top of everything else, Robin’s fiancée thinks that there’s
some hanky panky going on. Of course.
Anyways, the victim is a writer, and many of the characters
are involved in the literary business, in particular gruesome tragedies. The
quotes that appear with each chapter are also from tragedies which is quite
interesting. (It adds an element of surreal-ness when you realize that the book
in the story that reflects the murder is similar to the quotes on the chapters,
sort of reminds you that this story is also a book with an author, adding a
layer to the experience. I don’t know, it just seemed really meta to me.)
I quite liked it, maybe not as good as the original book in
the series, but no sequel ever outshines the first in a series.
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