By Robert Galbraith

The Short Take:

I have enjoyed all the prior Comoran Strike mysteries but this one was entirely too long at 1012 pages. Plus it felt like J. K. Rowling was more interested in making a statement about online trolling–which she hasexperienced–rather than crafting a challenging murder yarn.

Why?

Rowling has faced a mountain of criticism for her attacks on transgender women. In this novel, her dead heroine was subjected to the same treatment but for different reasons. When private eye partners, Robin Ellacott and Comoran Strike investigate the death much of their work takes place in web-based environments: private chat rooms, on-line game platforms, twitter feeds, and various websites. This adds the challenge of matching on-line avatar identities with possible suspects in the real world.

Ultimately, real world action suffers while the investigators are glued to their various devices, searching for answers. It makes for a rather tedious read, made more so by the shear number of pages.

The sexual/romantic tension between the two partners continues. The suffering caused by Strike’s artificial leg continues. It would be nice if Galbraith/Rowling brought some advancement to these plot devices, otherwise this line of mysteries feels forced and tired.

A Little Plot:

Edie Ledwell, creator of a popular cartoon, is being harassed on line by legions for allegedly “selling out,” led by the unknown Anomie. The continued harassment leads to her death, but is it suicide or murder?

For more about Galbraith, click here.

By the way, the British-made Strike TV series is quite good, with excellent casting. You can usually find it on one of the streaming services. Each book receives two to four episodes, making a quick binge.