Name: Brishti Basu's review of The Silkworm by Robert Galbraith
Item: The Silkworm
Rating: 5
Author: Brishti Basu

Robert Galbraith

Private investigator Cormoran Strike returns in a new mystery from Robert Galbraith, author of the #1 international bestseller The Cuckoo's Calling. When novelist Owen Quine goes missing, his wife calls in private detective Cormoran Strike. At first, Mrs. Quine just thinks her husband 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 realizes. The novelist has just completed a manuscript featuring poisonous pen-portraits of almost everyone he knows. If the novel were to be published, it would ruin lives--meaning that there are a lot of people who might want him silenced. When Quine is found brutally murdered under bizarre circumstances, it becomes a race against time to understand the motivation of a ruthless killer, a killer unlike any Strike 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.

The Silkworm

Joy Cullinan

Brishti Basu

Couldn't put this one down, and when I did, I couldn't wait to get back to it. Rowling's proved herself, once again, to be the literal queen of story-telling - regardless of the genre or target audience.

Maelys

The characters of Cormoran and Robin are still highly pleasurable, just like, of course, the macabre murder. The plot might have been slightly less lively than the first one although it remained gripping enough to make you want to devour each page. I am particularly looking forward to Robin developing a proper role as a detective.

Meagan Fischer 

I'm copying and pasting my review of #1 (with minor edits) because the same ideas apply:

I was excited to read anything new by Jo when I found out these were coming out, and the story drew me in well enough when I initially read it. Mystery/crime novels have a way of doing that. But the characters were shallowly drawn and annoying or unrelatable at times - why is Cormoran such an asshole about his godchild? It was a good casual read but no great work of literature. I guess within the upper half in terms of quality for the genre. Not much stands out as very memorable, but I still might read some of the later works in the series if I didn't have other things higher on my to read list.

I will say good for her for branching out and doing something different. Just in terms of personal development, writing a crime mystery series after becoming famous for a children's fantasy story is something I respect.

Lara Engle

I love these Cormoran Strike books. Cormoran and Robin are realistic, flawed, but still powerful and daring. The ancillary characters are entertaining and appropriately mysterious. The murder in this one is particularly gruesome and while I thought I had figured out the murderer early on, I was close but not quite right.

Now to watch the next couple of episodes of C.B. Strike. I know the book is better, but the show is pretty dang good.

W. J. Long III

Book two in the Cormoran Strike series is a ride that hit particularly well with me. Continued on from The Cuckoo's Calling are the same tarnished London world and twisted supporting cast. There are secrets and well-formed turns that far outstrip Galbraith's first outing and in-depth conversational games that not only elevate this novel but hint toward exciting chapters to come.

Strike and Robin continue to be the highlight, though Robin obviously the all-star. Her bright and refreshingly common nature reaches off the page and makes me feel for her in ways that are profound where I'm concerned. 

The relationships between existing characters evolve in unpredictable but satisfying ways, while the mystery at the story's core kept me guessing up until the final pages. I highly recommend this novel to anyone seeking a grounded detective novel that grows beyond the formula we all know so well.

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.

Rohan Uddin

Quite enjoyable. (Rowling's) ravings on the literary landscape seem true and make a good crime story.

Prashanth Srivatsa

Fun, fast paced and keeps you guessing till the end. I guess detective thrillers are written for that purpose. As good as Cuckoo's Calling, if not better. Rowling is explicitly critical of the growing number of mediocre writers, and her insights on the publishing industry make it all the more worthwhile.

Tiago Mariz

An absolute banger of a crime novel that got me out of a reading slump. Incredible fast paced plot with sound characters and lovely descriptions of autumnal London leading up to Christmas. Looking forward to continuing with this series!

 He had expected death, but not this. 
A carcass: trussed, stinking and rotting, empty and gutted, lying on the floor instead of hanging from a metal hook where surely it belonged. But what looked like a slaughtered pig wore human clothing.
It lay beneath the high arched beams, bathed in light from that gigantic Romanesque window, and though it was a private house and the traffic sloshed still beyond the glass, Strike felt that he stood retching in a temple, witness to sacrificial slaughter, to an act of unholy desecration.
Seven plates and seven sets of cutlery had been set around the decomposing body as though it were a gigantic joint of meat. The torso had been slit from throat to pelvis and Strike was tall
enough to see, even from the threshold, the gaping black cavity that had been left behind. The intestines were gone, as though they had been eaten. Fabric and flesh had been burned away all over the corpse, heightening the vile impression that it had been cooked and feasted upon. In places the burned, decomposing cadaver was shining, almost liquid in appearance. Four hissing radiators were hastening the decay. The rotted face lay furthest away from him, near the window Strike squinted at it without moving, trying not to breathe. A wisp of yellowing beard clung still to the chin and a single burned-out eye socket was just visible.

Izza

Todd Luallen

I intended to stop reading after the first book in the series because some of the content was not to my taste. But the ending of the first book had a big payoff, so after months of consideration I picked up the second in the series. It was a disappointment. It feels like the author is trying to distance herself from YA (the Harry Potter series for those unaware) and is going out of her way to embrace the adult reader. This book had plenty of fringe sexual behavior as well as a good deal of adult language (the first book had this as well). There weren't any sex scenes, but the author made a choice to create a plot where this sexual behavior was paramount to the story. I didn't find it entertaining, and as a result I will look elsewhere for my next book. 


Also, why do authors choose to quote other books at the beginning of chapters? In this book, there was a quote at the beginning of every chapter. I hadn't read any of the quoted books. I don't care about any of those other characters. I don't know the story. And I don't really get the connection between the quote and the chapter. I'm assuming it's intended to be a foreshadowing mechanism. But it comes across like a mini-commercial in the middle of a movie. Think about it, you're watching Fight Club, and all of sudden you see a clip of Rocky running up some steps in a jogging suit, then it cuts to the credits, and then you're back to Fight Club. Do we have to deal with commercials in our books too?! We don't even watch commercials for TV anymore. These quotes felt like the mini commercials that are so jarring on Youtube.

Eva Bailey

3.5 stars. This was very fun and the ended was super satisfying.

Riah Forbes 

Riveting! I hope you never stop writing, JK Rowling.

Yulande Lindsay

Did not see that coming at all. She's good is J.K. Rowling. Disturbingly good at the darkness that can be found in the ordinary human being. A grotesque mystery that English/ Nordic mystery writers seem to be good at. Recommended.

Melanie Richards

4.5 stars

Like the first in the series, highly entertaining, the kind of book you gobble up quickly. Though she is writing in a genre that could just be all flash and no substance, there is always some sort of touching humanity to JK/Robert's characters.

I'm curious to see which industry is examined in the next book. I don't love when books are meta (about writers, or writing), so I'm hoping that the publishing industry was central because she had some thoughts about it or was inspired by it—rather than having run out of ideas.

Kim Tyo-Dickerson

Rowling sends up the publishing biz in a very gruesome way in her second Strike mystery. Awesome.

Vedat Güven

Serinin ikinci kitabı. Savaş gazisi tek bacaklı dedektif Strike iş başında. Ve yine polisin yanlış kararını ortaya çıkararak cinayeti çözüyor. Kitap sürükleyici, kurgu tutarlı ve tam dozajında kullanılmış süprizler var tabi ki.

Maria

вторая книга действительно лучше первой!

герой по-прежнему непонятен - толстый, некрасивый, угрюмый, и при этом на него продолжают вешаться женщины. его страдания по шарлотте так и вовсе невыносимы

Becky

Brilliant! I'm loving this series. There's just something about a good crime novel which I love. I was hooked and needed to know whodunnit. 

Once more the writing was excellent and the character development was fab. Robin's frustrations were totally understandable and although Cormoran has a habit of acting male he employed some logic to his dickishness.

4.5/5

And by the way, that is NOT how you end a novel, J.K. I can't read the next one right away, so I'm going to be stuck with the duplicity of that moment for at least a week!

Daniel Arnott

I enjoyed The first one and in my opinion The Silkworm is far better. Would definitely read a third installment

Mayra Melo

It's a shame I can't fully relate to these characters. It's the only reason the Cormoran Strike series can't get a 5-star review from my end. I merely like Strike and I honestly can't get any essence from Robin. At all. She's bland. I hope we get to dive more into her character in the following books, so maybe some sort of solidity can materialize.

After you get used to Rowling's new modern-but-flamboyant style, this book - like its predecessor - reads like a breeze. Even though I miss her past character-driven narratives, I think she created a cool setting, always focusing on the mystery at hand. Like a modern Agatha Christie and her giant, less sophisticated Poirot.

Author Rachel Cooper

I'm not much into mystery detective novels. This one in particular took a long time to get into. However, I am a fan of J.K. Rowling, and I had read the first book in this series (The Cuckoo's Calling). Having finished this one, I will freely admit that until the last, I had no idea who the criminal was. It was quite exciting to find out!

laura

** spoiler alert **
           This was a really good mystery. I loved seeing the relationship between robin and strike develop. It is becoming such a strong part of the book. I thought the mystery was so good. I really want to re read this book again . It was a book that dev requires a re read. I also loved the mystery it was so cool seeing the inside of the book world. I loved the various characters and especially the characters of strike past that were introduced. I liked how we got more info about strike past and i hope in future books we will get more info about robin. I am so excited for the next book!

I really like this series and am going to jump to the next one soon. I hope this series gets popular and she writes more.

Joy Cullinan &
The Silkworm by Robert Galbraith

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