A review by heathercottledillon
Career of Evil by Robert Galbraith

4.0

I am completely hooked on the Cormoran Strike series. I can't believe it took me so long to read them, but now that I have, I almost wish I'd waited until more have been published because I'm bummed about having to wait for the fourth one. I don't read a lot of mysteries because I think a lot of them are formulaic and I lose interest quickly, but these totally suck me in. The characters are fascinating, and Rowling does a good job of letting us get to know them slowly as the series progresses in a more natural way than getting a ton of information about them thrown out all at once. The plots are complex, with tons of red herrings, and I have a lot of fun trying to guess who the bad guy is--and I partially succeeded in "Career of Evil." In all three so far, I've been surprised by twists at the end, but the conclusions make sense when I look back.

I'm not crazy about all the romantic chemistry between Strike and Robin. At times I feel like they'd be a good pair, but mostly I wish that they could work together and be friends without any relationship drama. As Strike notes to himself, he and Robin are a great team and it would be a shame to mess that up. I still think Matthew is the worst: his total insecurity and hypocrisy when it comes to Strike and Robin, and, worst of all, the way he constantly belittles Robin and her career aspirations. After learning about Robin's past in "Career of Evil," it's easier to understand why she stays with him, but it still seems unlikely that a strong woman like her would put up with him. She suffered through a horrific ordeal, but she eventually came out of it tougher in most areas of her life, except for her relationship with Matthew. It seems like Rowling's made him so awful in an attempt to make readers root for Robin and Strike to get together. Still, while I could do without the romantic drama, I love these books and I can't wait for "Lethal White."