jessicajernigan 's review for:

Career of Evil by Robert Galbraith

2.0

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What a disappointment. With Career of Evil, J.K. Rowling (writing as Robert Galbraith) foregoes the screwball charms of the first two Cormoran Strike books, choosing instead to create a much darker mood. The murder that gets the story going is grisly, and the three suspects are all truly horrifying specimens. One is a pedophile. Another a serial abuser of women. The last is the man Strike holds responsible for his mother’s death. This personal connection to the case at hand opens the narrative to unpleasant scenes from Strike’s youth. We also learn about serious trauma in Robin’s past. This is solid character development, but it’s unrelentingly grim, and not what I have grown to expect from a Galbraith novel. The chapters written from the perspective of the killer do nothing to lighten the mood.

I might have been able to adjust my expectations and enjoy the book anyway, but I was also frustrated by the sloppy storytelling and poor pacing. The amount of repetition here is maddening. Both Robin and Strike seem to be caught in temporal loops in which they go through the same memories and feelings over and over again. This might be true-to-life, but it’s boring to read. Less important—but no less irritating—is the seemingly endless reiteration of details that become less meaningful with each recollection. It simply is not necessary to remind the reader that the faux leather sofa in Cormoran’s office makes an unfortunate farting sound whenever someone sits on it.

But most disappointing to me was the way Rowling deals with the relationship between Cormoran and Robin. Utterly predictable and, therefore, hugely dispiriting.

The ending is a mess. The murder is no more baroque than those in The Cuckoo’s Calling or The Silkworm, but those books had a comedic quality that made overelaborate schemes seem plausible. Here, it just seems absurd, and the way in which Strike goes about resolving the case beggars belief. Then there’s the epilogue, which I either don’t quite understand or find ridiculous. Either way, I can’t say that I’m looking forward to the next Galbraith novel.