Words Jackie LaPlante
For many readers, summer is the season that affords the mental space and free time to take on an extra-large book. There are many days left to enjoy a blockbuster summer read, and the release of Robert Galbraith’s super-sized The Hallmarked Man in paperback offers the perfect moment to rejoin or discover this series.
It is no secret that Robert Galbraith is J.K. Rowling, a tidbit leaked even before the release of the first Cormoran Strike mystery in 2013. So, it follows that this series, like the Harry Potter collection, is well-written, erudite and suspenseful. It, too, is epic in page count, running from 450 at its outset to a whopping 1,225 pages in book six.
The series’ main character is the grumpy Afghan war veteran, Cormoran Strike, troubled by his prosthetic leg and unstable childhood. His brusqueness is tempered by business partner, Robin Ellacott, and the simmering attraction between them becomes a will-they-or-won’t-they scenario that is as much a motivation to read the novels as is the criminal plotline.
The Hallmarked Man is the eighth novel in the series, and finds Robin and Strike tasked to investigate a body found in a silver vault: the victim is either a convicted criminal, or the lover of Strike’s most recent client. In keeping with Galbraith’s fondness for using a cultural reference to direct the crime, this killing bears signs of Freemason ritual, and epigraphs alternate between romantic poetry and snippets of an 1871 treatise on Freemasonry. The Strike-Robin chemistry heats up, adding extra tension to their working relationship.
The enduring success of the Harry Potter novels demonstrates Rowling/Galbraith’s ability to create books whose every detail adds to the reading experience. Similarly, the Cormoran Strike novels are jam-packed with fascinating tidbits. References to everything from Virgil to Blue Öyster Cult mirror the novels’ themes. The London setting is vibrant and geographically correct (tested by my pilgrimage to Strike’s Denmark Street office), and each novel highlights a current issue – from tabloid journalism to cults and incel culture. The workings of the detective agency, and its contractors’ often red-herring cases, create further interest.
Robert Galbraith is masterful at drawing the myriad and complex plotlines of this 912-page mystery to a satisfying and credible finish, and creates anticipation for Cormoran Strike’s next case.
Take advantage of sunlit summer evenings to dive into a “biggie”. From the contemporary to the classic (all over 700 pages) here are some diverse suggestions:
1. A Little Life
by Hanya Yanagihara
2. Lonesome Dove
by Larry McMurtry
3. Crime and Punishment
by Fyodor Dostoyevsky
