[REVIEW] The Silkworm

Series: Cormoran Strike #2
Author: Robert Galbraith (Pseudonym) for J.K. Rowling
Genre: adult, contemporary, mystery, crime, thriller, detective
Published: June 24, 2014
Publisher: Mulholland Books / Little, Brown and Company

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. 

When novelist Owen Quine goes missing, his wife calls in private detective Cormoran Strike. At first, she just thinks he hasgone 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 realized. The novelist has just completed a manuscript featuring poisonous pen-portraits of almost everyone he knows. If the novel is published, it will 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 Strike has encountered before…

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“The only thing he ever told me about Bombyx Mori was that the silkworm was a metaphor for the writer, who has to go through agonies to get at the good stuff. That was it.”

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The Silkworm is instantly one of my fave reads (or even is my fave read) this year so far.

The Mystery! The Silkworm started with a missing person case although the revelation about it actually being murder isn’t so much of a surprise. While the murder was actually stated in the blurb, I still felt the thrill towards it. It was, of course, expected yet I was reading every single word towards it while holding my breath for the revelation or the clear statement of it. AND FUCK I was gripping the book while I was reading those parts.

Solving the Case. I don’t think crime fiction is about ‘who’ did it. I think crime fiction’s enjoyment or entertainment lies in how the crime is solved or how the murderer is revealed – the checking for clues, the interviews, the investigations, etc. It’s how well the author solves the mystery.

The Silkworm kicks off in one of the most interesting and engaging ways ever. The first (maybe) ten chapters were already full of intriguing things. And take note that we’re only in the ‘missing person’ case on that one. As the story moves to Strike’s discovery of the murdered body, The Silkworm becomes more gripping. I read every single word. And from this point on, it just became more difficult to put down.

The murder of Owen Quine is very elaborate and somehow well planned which made the mystery even more interesting to crack. It’s quite easy to narrow down suspects and one of the most exciting parts in here is how Owen’s wife seems to be framed for the murder.

Rowling (Galbraith) just let me read some of the most unusual things yet. Owen Quine’s novel, Bombyx Mori,  is a grotesque and peculiar novel that’s full of symbols and oddity. As Strike delves into the world of Quine’s writing and Bombyx Mori itself, his investigation becomes more interesting especially with the depictions of the people in Owen’s life as well as the portrayal of Owen’s death in the ending of the novel [Bombyx Mori]. The imagery and descriptions of how he was murdered was very vivid in my mind as I read it.

One of the things I like about The Silkworm is the development of Strike and Robin’s relationship. There’s Strike who thinks he understands Robin but no, he doesn’t. Well not until Robin finally speaks out. There was so much tension between the two as they solve the mystery. Their personal lives play some of the most interesting parts in the story – Matthew’s thoughts on Strike, Robin’s fondness of investigative work, Charlotte’s wedding, etc. I really like how Rowling doesn’t only focus on the mystery or investigation in hand but also to the further development of her hero, Cormoran Strike.

The Murder Solved. Unlike in the The Cuckoo’s Calling, I kind of suspected almost every possible murderer in here although it seems quite clear right from the beginning when it was revealed. I wasn’t surprised when it was stated but how Strike revealed it and the divulgence of the murderer’s grotesque antics was riveting.

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What I Like: (1) the absurd murder, (2) Bombyx Mori, (3) the development of Strike and Robin’s relationship, (4) Robin’s conflicts, (5) Mrs. Quine and Dodo, (6) the thrilling solving of the crime, (7) EVERYTHING ABOUT THIS NOVEL!

What I Didn’t Like: N/A (≧∇≦)/

riveting mystery + absurd murder + character development = MUST READ!