The Running Grave and the Cormoran Strike mysteries

 I watched the first couple of series of Cormoran Strike on TV before I read any of the books. The TV series was fun, but my husband was beginning to get frustrated with the relationship between the protagonists, and couldn't see what it had to do with the plot. So I started reading the books.

The relationships are much stronger in the books, and make much more sense in terms of the mysteries to be solved as well. The author adds intervening cases - more and more as the novels progress - which make for bigger books and more digressions, but which also give a convincing depiction of how investigations really work - never just one job at once.

The Running Grave particularly appealed to me because of the main plot. Some of the digressions did annoy me, but I love the book. I love the author's depictions of people and places. And I'm (fairly) convinced that the series will come to a natural end sometime, rather than just petering out. So I'm eager for more.

The Running Grave by Robert Galbraith

I read this with a broken wrist. How is that relevant? Well… it’s a big – really big, really heavy – book, and I didn’t (couldn’t) put it down. It was not good for my wrist, but I loved it.

A friend told me I was bound to love the Running Grave because I like religion, questions of faith and cults, and other such things. She was right. The author gives a very convincing depiction of how people end up drawn into things they might naturally be suspicious of, and how hard it is to turn away from something you’ve committed yourself to in the past. She even brings out the difference between faith and cult, in clever dialog and musings between her protagonists. And she creates a fascinating mystery as well.

Running Grave may well be my favorite Cormoran Strike novel, though I could wish for less musing about relationships and more action in resolving them. Still, a really good book and highly recommended.