Barbara's Reviews > Career of Evil

Career of Evil by Robert Galbraith
Rate this book
Clear rating

by
2172096
's review

liked it
bookshelves: wom-2015-challenge, 2016-challenge



3.5 stars

This is the third book in Robert Galbraith's (aka J.K. Rowling) series about grizzled private detective Cormoran Strike, a veteran of the war in Afghanistan who lost his leg during the hostilities, and his pretty, strawberry blonde partner Robin Ellacott.



As the story opens Strike and Robin are working on a couple of cases and getting on with their private lives: Strike is dating beautiful (almost) divorcée Elin.



And Robin is planning her wedding to Matthew - a handsome but insensitive guy who resents Robin's job and her friendship with Strike. (As before, most readers probably wonder how Robin can continue her relationship with this irritating guy.)



Robin receives a package at the Detective Agency and - thinking it's some wedding doodads - opens it to find the severed right leg of a young woman.



Not only is this horrifying but it seems to be sending a message because Strike is missing his right leg. Strike concludes that the package was most likely sent by one of three men who hate him:

Jeff Whittaker, Strike's former stepfather - a loutish, abusive, would-be rock star that Strike believes murdered his mother.



Donald Laing, a vicious man who once bit Strike's face during an Army boxing match. Later, when Strike was in the Military Police, he arrested Laing for horrific wife abuse and helped imprison him for 16 years.



Noel Brockbank, a serial pedophile who escaped prison because Strike struck him during an arrest. Brockbank blames Strike for his brain injury and epileptic fits.



Strike reports his suspicions of the three men to the police but they decide to concentrate on other leads, in part because they resent Strike - who became famous after solving a couple of high-profile cases that eluded the cops. So Strike and Robin take it upon themselves to track down the three suspects while continuing to work their ongoing cases.



Meanwhile, the killer goes on with his murderous spree. Parts of the story are narrated by the perp, who graphically describes how he abducts and kills young women. The psychopath seethes with jealousy and hatred for Strike and is determined to ruin his life, partly through targeting Robin. Thus, the killer sends another body part to Strike's partner.



Though it's clear the killer has Robin in his sights, she's determined to be a good detective and an asset to the agency. Thus, Robin refuses to take proper precautions and finds herself in some dangerous situations.



For me, this was hard to buy into. If I knew a depraved serial killer was following me around I'd for sure take cover - preferably in a bomb shelter.

Strike and Robin's pursuit of the killer takes them around London and to other parts of Great Britain as they follow leads, question people, investigate dwellings, and so on. During their inquiries the detectives come across a group of people that have 'body integrity disorder', a mental illness that creates an obsession to have one or more limbs amputated. This is especially infuriating to Strike, whose life is greatly hampered by the absence of a leg.



As all this is going on, Strike and Robin struggle with a mutual attraction that both seem reluctant to acknowledge.



Matthew also inadvertently reveals a secret that throws a spanner into his and Robin's upcoming marriage plans. In addition, the story reveals incidents that profoundly affected Robin and Strike in their pasts, which have continuing repercussions. It will be interesting to see how this plays out in future books.

After a good deal of drama and danger, Strike gets a 'eureka moment' that helps him solve the case. For me, this part didn't ring true and I felt unsatisfied with the story's climax. Other than that though, I enjoyed the book and recommend it to mystery fans.

You can follow my reviews at http://reviewsbybarbsaffer.blogspot.com/
65 likes · flag

Sign into Goodreads to see if any of your friends have read Career of Evil.
Sign In »

Reading Progress

Finished Reading
January 3, 2016 – Shelved
January 9, 2016 – Shelved as: wom-2015-challenge
February 9, 2016 – Shelved as: 2016-challenge

Comments Showing 1-4 of 4 (4 new)

dateDown arrow    newest »

message 1: by Deb (new) - rated it 5 stars

Deb Jones Great review! Robert Galbraith/J.K. Rowling seems incapable of writing a book with fewer than 500 pages -- which is great if all the details add to the story. I found that some of those details cause the plot to be plodding at times.


Barbara Thank you Deb. 😊🌺🍒


message 3: by Rebecca (new) - added it

Rebecca I agree, Deb. They just get longer and longer, and it doesn’t serve the pacing/action of the novel overall. The last one, especially, suffers from this. You can only stretch the canvas of suspense over a certain amount of framing, right? I think, because of the money she brings in, editors sit back and collect checks, instead of chopping a few hundred pages that need not be included.


message 4: by Barbara (last edited Apr 30, 2021 07:10AM) (new) - rated it 3 stars

Barbara Rebecca wrote: "I agree, Deb. They just get longer and longer, and it doesn’t serve the pacing/action of the novel overall. The last one, especially, suffers from this. You can only stretch the canvas of suspense ..."

The last one, Troubled Blood, is especially long. I liked it, but it could have been edited better.


back to top