I wrote the following review a couple of months back and never got around to publishing it. I’m adding it here, just as I wrote it.
I have a habit of writing reviews for books that I’ve been blown away by, and this is one of them. In fact, I’ve made the effort of rating only books I’ve liked on Goodreads as well. But, I digress.
Career of Evil, the third of the Cormoran Strike series by Robert Galbraith, true to its cover is impossible to put down. I kid you not – I started reading this on a bus journey from Pondicherry to Chennai and I got down at my stop, walked to the nearest McDonalds and drowned myself in the next fifty pages and 700 odd calories of McFlurrys!
Cormoran Strike is a war veteran turned detective who rose to fame solving the murder of Lula Landry, an extremely famous model along with his now partner – Robin. The plot surrounds a human leg that has been addressed to Robin at Strike’s office with a note (of course) – a song by a band that Strike’s long lost and infamous mother used to listen to. Robin and Strike take to investigating the case in an attempt to catch the alleged murderer with a clear vendetta against Strike. Strike is sure it’s one of three men he knew from his past and they all seem to have just as good a reason to do it. The story takes us through the detective’s past – unraveling memories from his time he served as a veteran, investigations from his past and of course his dark and troubled childhood. In the meantime, Robin is facing turmoil herself with a possibly disloyal fiancé and a fast-approaching wedding. She’s torn between her work which her fiancé strongly criticizes and ridicules and, forgiving him for infidelity in the past.
Amidst all this, more crime and body parts appear along with more lyrics from the same band which I would like to mention are downright poetic! While Strike is fighting to keep Robin safe and solve the case at the same time, he finds himself opening up to her and resolving to keep things as professional as he can.
While the whole plot seems as dramatic as can be, Galbraith (Cough) Rowling has made an epic roller coaster of the story. Right when you suspect one of the three to be the murderer, she presents new information making you all the more eager to get to the end! Both characters, Robin and Strike have developed so much over the book – they’re not your typical great personality and super positive people. She’s developed both of them to be strong, though reserved, not a cliché of goodness – but people who’re rational and headstrong.
To be frank, I haven’t quite finished the series. I read the first part of the series – The Cuckoo’s calling which wasn’t her best work (supporting my misgiving that I do not review books I have reservations about) but the Career of evil is definitely a Crime-genre-fanatic-worthy read!
I’m still waiting for my copy of ‘Lethal White’, the fourth book of this series to arrive, so do stay tuned for my review soon.
Picture credits: Zetizen
Faltering on cloud nine. 