The Silkworm (Cormoran Strike #2) by Robert Galbraith

I knew I was going to be hooked on this series ever since I read The Cuckoo’s Calling, and The Silkworm has more than lived up to its predecessor.

Fresh off the heels of the Lula Landry murder case, and with newfound fame and notoriety, Cormoran Strike and his assistant Robin Ellacott are working on a new case involving a missing author named Owen Quine. Strike begins his investigation at the insistence of Quine’s wife, who think he’s just run off for a few days and demands that Strike track him down and bring him home. At first, this appears to only be a missing person case. Strike takes it upon himself to read Quine’s latest novel, not yet published, and is shocked to find that it is a rather thinly veiled story featuring almost everyone Quine knew: his wife, his agent, his publisher friends, and in not exactly the most flattering light. Judging by the number of real life people he wrote about, this means there are a handful of suspects who could have wanted Quine to disappear for good. When Quine is discovered dead, it is only a matter of Strike narrowing down who had the most motive, and ability, to have murdered Quine in the grisly manner in which he was found.

Meanwhile, Strike and Robin are butting heads once again. Robin desperately wants Strike and her fiancé, Matthew, to get along but the minute they meet one another their respective suspicions are confirmed and it is clear that they hate one another. If Strike would only give Robin more responsibility helping with his cases, she can prove to Matthew that this is a job worth staying at. But that seems highly unlikely as Strike is more concerned with distracting himself from the fact that his own ex-fiancé is getting married in less than two weeks. They must both set their personal issues aside in order to pursue the case of Owen Quine’s murder, but of course that is easier said than done.

Just as in Cuckoo’s Calling there are a ton of potential suspects afoot. All signs point to it being Owen Quine’s wife, but Strike is convinced that it wasn’t her and that the real killer would know she would be an easy target to place the blame. There is mounting evidence that his wife did do it, though, making it so much harder to make the case that she didn’t. What they are dealing with is a new kind of killer, one more dangerous than Strike has ever faced.

I couldn’t put this down for many consecutive nights as each chapter landed on a cliffhanger and it was just impossible to stop reading. Strike and Robin make such an perfect team and although I wouldn’t quite refer to investigating a horrific murder an adventure, it is quite fun to read about all of their exploits. The ending was quite a surprise for me because I thought I had a pretty good idea of whodunit, but it was a satisfying ending nonetheless. There were so many potential characters who had motive to murder Quine, and all I will say is that the one you think didn’t do it, just might be the one who did. Next up, Career of Evil!