Robert Galbraith books get longer and longer! But does mean that choosing the book to fit this prompt is easy. According to Goodreads it has a whopping 1021 pages.

What it’s about?

From Goodreads:

The latest installment in the highly acclaimed, internationally bestselling Strike series finds Cormoran and Robin ensnared in another winding, wicked case.

When frantic, disheveled Edie Ledwell appears in the office begging to speak to her, private detective Robin Ellacott doesn’t know quite what to make of the situation. The co-creator of a popular cartoon, The Ink Black Heart, Edie is being persecuted by a mysterious online figure who goes by the pseudonym of Anomie. Edie is desperate to uncover Anomie’s true identity.

Robin decides that the agency can’t help with this—and thinks nothing more of it until a few days later, when she reads the shocking news that Edie has been tasered and then murdered in Highgate Cemetery, the location of The Ink Black Heart.

Robin and her business partner, Cormoran Strike, become drawn into the quest to uncover Anomie’s true identity. But with a complex web of online aliases, business interests and family conflicts to navigate, Strike and Robin find themselves embroiled in a case that stretches their powers of deduction to the limits – and which threatens them in new and horrifying ways . . .

What I think:

This is long, but surprisingly, it doesn’t feel like it. Looking back, I don’t think there is anything really that would need to be cut out.

This is complicated. There’s a cult cartoon where the creators and actors are problematic, a game based on the show where the creators and administration are problematic and a group of artists that are problematic. There are layers of complex relationships and rivalries, some of which are hiding behind the anonymity of the Internet and probate chat rooms.

The book explores, among other things, the nature of extreme fandom. What happens when the self-proclaimed ‘die-hard’ fans don’t like the direction the creators are taking with their own work? It explores their sense of ownership and entitlement and how that is channelled into online hatred.

Throughout the course of the investigation, the book explores how and why people become so involved in online gaming communities and their sense of belonging and how these communities can exploit vulnerable people.

Something that seems quite harmless can be much more sinister.

Robin and Strike have to work really hard on this investigation. Their previous success is making it harder for them to avoid being recognised. They also have to learn a lot about the world of gaming in order to fit in with secretive and increasingly suspicious online community.

And this is not their only investigation – they have other smaller cases that need to be looked after as well, so man power is spread thinly. Galbraith definitely illustrates the day to day grind behind the successful results. There are no quick wins or overnight successes here, just hard work and determination.

Another strand of the story is Strike and Robin’s relationship. As their feelings for each other continue to grow and indeed are becoming harder for both of them to hide, the conflict between personal and professional deepens. Neither of them is willing to damage what they already have.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It is a monster of a read with a lot going on and lots of different characters to keep track of, so I would definitely recommend that you set aside a chunk of time and dive straight it. This will expose you to the darker side of social media, including political extremism, sexual predators, and the sinister side of cancel culture.

If you are already a fan of the series, I think you will find this a satisfying read. If you’ve never read the Strike series, you definitely start at the beginning.