The macabre is surely seeking out Strike as it grows in intensity with each installment of this series. A missing author with a distressing and bizarre writing style; a close den of writers and editors twisted by ambition and jealousy: all these drawn to what makes great writing and to a twisted net of lies, deceit, and mangled ambitions.

Aside from the fascinating metaphor that spins this story, it is the characters who bring this sort of desperate imagery to life. A Silkworm is boiled in water to harvest its fruits. I feel like there is some social commentary in there somewhere, but I can’t quite put my finger on it. There are many ways to interpret this story, but of course, only deciphering it through the eyes and mind of the ultimate guilty.

Robin’s character is fleshed out a bit in this one as she takes more of an assistant detective role due to her own natural merit. I will say, though, that it does seem a bit unrealistic that Robin is so ‘in love’ with the job. Especially since the nature of her particular job is creating some significant tension with Matthew. But there is a setup here so some proceedings do feel a bit pat, and makes the characters a bit obtuse (at least in this second book).

Again I was a bit lost with the detective-ing of the book. I find that I struggle a bit to follow the dialogue in audiobooks, as well as fail to make connections. Anybody else struggle with this? It’s easier to follow along with an audio fantasy, but maybe that’s because I am more used to reading fantasy.

Anyway, one of these days, I will buy all the physical copies of these books. I already have “The Cuckoo’s Calling”.

Did I find the ending/grand revelation a tad anti-climatic? Well just a little . . . I think I was expecting a bigger splash. However, there was one of the clever things that I, um, ~figured out~ before. That is my greatest achievement that I made that connection–again, being vague to avoid spoilers.

I gave this a 3/5 stars, I think, mostly due to Strike and the characterization. I think I was too disturbed by some things to give this a 4 (lol), but this is nothing compared to what is coming next! Haha, just kidding. But I will see you in that blog post when I review “Career of Evil”.

Thank you for being here.

Pax 🙂