The world’s richest author, J. K. Rowling, wrapped up the blockbuster seven-book Harry Potter series in 2007, and six years later she launched a new career writing mysteries under the pseudonym Robert Galbraith. The first of the novels featuring private detectives Cormoran Strike and Robin Ellacott debuted with the publication of The Cuckoo’s Calling in 2013. The two brilliant investigators proceeded to grab headlines in London by solving one complex and high-profile case after another. Now, in 2023, comes the seventh entry in the series with The Running Grave. In it, the detectives face their most dangerous case yet as they take on a criminal sex cult.
Estimated reading time: 6 minutes
A portrait of human depravity destined for the screen
Like its predecessors, The Running Grave weighs in at nearly 1,000 pages—but it’s never boring. Rowling—or, better said, Galbraith, since that’s as she would have it—treats us to in-depth character development, a dizzyingly complex investigation, and plenty of human drama. The novel is cinematic in its breadth and deeply satisfying as a portrait of human depravity.
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No wonder the book series has long since been adapted to television by the BBC. The fifth season of C. B. Strike is scheduled to air in the United States beginning before this year is out. However, The Running Grave may present the producers with a greater challenge than they faced in the earlier seasons. The cast of characters is unusually large. And the investigation calls on Strike and Ellacott to tap their intuitive powers in ways that may not be easy to show on a screen. And the depiction of a criminal sex cult might trigger a flurry of lawsuits from existing scam artists claiming they’ve been defamed. In truth, of course, Galbraith’s creation is entirely fictional and bears no resemblance to any high-profile cult that has featured in the news.
The Running Grave (Cormoran Strike #7) by Robert Galbraith (2023) 961 pages ★★★★★
A convincing design of a criminal sex cult
Galbraith has done an outstanding job constructing the cult at the heart of this story, the Universal Humanitarian Church (UHC). The rituals. The theology. A convincing backstory. And invented jargon such as ego-motivity (selfishness), spirit-bonding (sex on command), and flesh-object (family member). It’s all internally consistent and utterly convincing. When you hear the pronouncements of the cult’s charismatic leader—as I did listening to the audiobook of the novel—you can easily accept the man as a corrupt religious leader. There have been men in the news who sound much the same.
A story with many moving parts
The story Galbraith weaves around this ingenious creation drives the plot forward. But a great deal else takes place in the novel. Strike’s ongoing struggle to free himself from the deranged girlfriend he left five years earlier. Ellacott’s relationship with Ryan Murphy, the handsome cop she’d met on an earlier case. Strike’s and Ellacott’s ongoing effort to deny they’re in love with each other. The two detectives’ continuing challenges managing the many subcontractors they’ve taken on to help on the other cases they’re juggling all the while the UHC investigation is underway. And the stories surrounding the principal characters in and around the UHC. Somehow, Galbraith makes it all fit together nicely, and the story moves smoothly along from beginning to its surprising end.
One complaint about the writing
However, I do have one complaint. Galbraith insists on prefacing every one of the 136 bite-sized chapters of this nearly 1,000-page doorstopper with a brief quotation from the I Ching, or Book of Changes. Every. Single. Chapter. And with few exceptions the quotes are maddeningly abstract and impossible to relate to the story. But how could they relate? The book was written in China some 3,000 years ago. Here, from chapter 2, is a typical one:
Six in the fifth place means . . .
The companion bites his way through the wrappings.
If one goes to him,
How could it be a mistake?
Maybe you would find such things enlightening. For me, however, these interruptions in the flow of the story were exasperating and entirely unnecessary. Back in the days when writers were paid by the word, they would have been considered padding.
About the author
Robert Galbraith is the pen name of J. K. Rowling, author of the fabled Harry Potter series that has made her a billionaire. In a Q-and-A format on her website for the Galbraith books, Rowling explains why she is writing the series under a pseudonym.
“I really wanted to go back to the beginning of a writing career in this new genre, to work without hype or expectation and to receive totally unvarnished feedback. I wanted it to be just about the writing. It was a fantastic experience and I only wish it could have gone on a little longer than it did. I was grateful at the time for all the feedback from publishers and readers, and for some great reviews. Being Robert Galbraith was all about the work, which is my favourite part of being a writer. Since my cover has been blown, I continue to write as Robert to keep the distinction from other writing and because I rather enjoy having another persona.”
For related reading
This is one of The 21 best books of 2023.
You’ll find all six of the previous novels in this series at J. K. Rowling’s thrilling Cormoran Strike detective series.
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