PublishedLittle, Brown & Co., June 2014 |
ISBN9781408704035 |
FormatSoftcover, 464 pages |
Dimensions23.2cm × 15.4cm × 3.4cm |
When novelist Owen Quine goes missing, his wife calls in private detective Cormoran Strike. At first, she just thinks he has gone off by himself for a few days - as he has done before - and she wants Strike to find him and bring him home.
But as Strike investigates, it becomes clear that there is more to Quine's disappearance than his wife realises. The novelist has just completed a manuscript featuring poisonous pen-portraits of almost everyone he knows. If the novel were published it would ruin lives - so there are a lot of people who might want to silence him.
And when Quine is found brutally murdered in bizarre circumstances, it becomes a race against time to understand the motivation of a ruthless killer, a killer unlike any he has encountered before . . .
A compulsively readable crime novel with twists at every turn, The Silkworm is the second in the highly acclaimed series featuring Cormoran Strike and his determined young assistant Robin Ellacott.
Barbara is an award-winning bookseller who has a special interest in fiction, especially Australian fiction and children’s books for all ages.
I read A Casual Vacancy by J.K. Rowling and although I thought it was extremely well written with a plausible plot and descriptions of place, I really didn't like the characters. When the author of The Cuckoo's Calling was revealed I had no immediate inclination to read it. My customers raved about it and couldn't believe I hadn't read it so I took their advice, and thoroughly enjoyed it. The main character private detective Cormoran Strike, though slighly damaged, is so engaging and Robin, his assistant is endearing and their rapport is infectious.
The following crime novel The Silkworm centres around the publishing industry with the death of an author with Cormoran and Robin in the thick of it. The head of a publishing house is giving a party to introduce his latest author and a memorable quote stopped me in my tracks. The host says "publishing is currently undergoing a period of rapid changes and fresh challenges, but one thing remains as true today as it was a century ago: "content is king" Robert Galbraith aka J.K. Rowling has proved she is the queen of content.
