The Silkworm

By: Robert Galbraith

Narrated by: Robert Glenister

Length: 17 hrs and 17 mins

Publisher's summary

Private investigator Cormoran Strike must track down a missing writer - and a sinister killer bent on destruction - in this "wonderfully entertaining" mystery (Harlan Coben, New York Times Book Review) that inspired the acclaimed HBO Max series C.B. Strike.

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, he discovers that Quine's disappearance is no coincidence. 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 - meaning that almost everyone in his life would have motives to silence him. When Quine is found brutally murdered under bizarre circumstances, Strike must 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 J. K. Rowling's highly acclaimed series featuring Cormoran Strike and his determined young assistant, Robin Ellacott.

©2014 Robert Galbraith (P)2014 Hachette Digital

Love love love

A smartly written and engaging mystery. Eminently likable characters. Love the romantic tension between strike and Robin.

Love the characters!

Similarly to the first book in this series, I really appreciate the character development and their stories. Well written. Good if you like dramatic endings. I very much so enjoy the narrator for this series as well!

Excellent

Twists and turns like a roller coaster
Couldn’t stop listening to each and every word

Excellent Writing & Characters

Great mystery and characters in a very interesting plot. Some very dark parts but a lovely listen. Love this author

Gruesome and Ghastly

This had me on the edge of my seat, wincing with the brutality and gasping with each reveal. I recommend it, especially if you’re a gorehound.

lightning Strike

I love the story and absolutely the best narration. Makes me want to join their detecting team.

Another Winner

This is Book #2 of the Cormoran Strike Series and it's just as good as the first. I really enjoy the story and the writing style of Robert Galbraith (JKR). There's no way to figure out "who done it" in these novels but the fun is the chase. Cormoran uses as much intuition as skill and with a little help from his secretary/partner, they make a great team. Very enjoyable.

A well-worn genre enlivened with fresh characters

Even as it goes through the motions of standard detective fiction, this second Cormoran Strike novel admirably expands upon the well-rounded central characters established in The Cuckoo's Calling. As a former soldier and a natural detective, Strike lends himself to comparison with Lee Child's Jack Reacher, but where Reacher is personalized with a few token interests (notably coffee and mathematics), Strike is painted with softer strokes. He's introverted, yes, but his contact list defies the easy-to-apply label 'loner'. He is vexed by his family, but he embraces them with more than a mere sense of duty. He feels the desire to have a couple pints with lunch, but he recognizes the formation of bad habits and avoids them with some effort.

His receptionist-turned-protégée Robin proves to be equally well-rounded, particularly with respect to her fiancée. In a clumsier novel, her engagement to a side character would be nothing more than a burden for Robin to shed in the name of character growth. In Ms Rowling's nuanced world, however, the relationship is a genuine reflection of Robin's increasing confidence, and it bends and adjusts to her development with impressive realism. Whether or not the relationship will or should survive is far from a given.

Yes, the plot is fine too—it'll scratch the itch for those that crave a mystery to solve and concludes with reasonable coherence—but mystery plots are a dime a dozen. Characters like Cormoran and Robin are not.

Robert Glenister is well suited to this series, managing to narrate with both a seriousness and a lightness that matches Ms Rowling's remarkably well-balanced voice.

Absolutely Killer!!

It's not an easy listen. Because of the detail and the vast amount of secondary characters there was quite a bit of rewinding and even some rereading of chapters for me. At one point I even used a crib sheet. It was well worth the extra effort. A smooth clever plot that I was glued to till the bitter end. I sincerely was clueless to the outcome till it was revealed. For me, this book was 17 and a half hours well spent.

Cormoran Strike is my kind of hero. The compassionate private investigator without a quirk or an ex-wife that uses every day technology to his advantage. Thankfully his supporting staff is an educated woman with normal issues. I enjoyed their chemistry in both books but, it's as if the author was much more comfortable with her principals this time around. I would love to visit and grow with this entourage for years to come.

To not rave over Robert Glenister's brilliant narration would be sinful. Pure perfection how he melted into the background yet enhanced the author's work. Each character was spot on but, his handling of Elizabeth Tassel elevated this from a read to a performance.


Keep bringing this dynamic duo!

Cormoran Is Amazing!

It is hard to believe that the same author who gave us Harry Potter can also give us such a gritty and dark mystery series. Cormoran Strike is a private detective along the lines of Phillip Marlow or Sam Spade. The descriptions make you able to actually see his grubbiness yet gentile personality. The sophistication with which this series is written is part of what makes it so real. I feel like I know London's streets with the descriptions provided and the make up of the literary world. Can't wait to catch the next book in this series. I keep hoping that Robin and Cormoran can be a couple but that is part of what makes the series so intriguing, the play off each other's weaknesses. He's a damaged veteran of the Afghanistan war trying to revive his life. She's a nice girl from Yorkshire. They do provide the care for each other.