The Running Grave

This is the best in the Cormoran Strike series by far. I like series because you can really get to know the characters, but they have to move forward, and they do in these books. I do enjoy crime novels but JK Rowling also does manage to really make them much more interesting than some of the run-of-the-mill books.

I like this series because it is well written and the author – J.K. Rowling writing as Robert Galbraith – always features clever plot twists.

The Cormoran Strike series features an on again, off again romance between private investigator Cormoran Strike and his partner, Robin Ellacott. In the latest installment, The Running Grave, Cormoran and Robin are hired by a wealthy man whose son has joined a cult.

Robin joins the cult and moves into its rural Norfolk headquarters. The chapters devoted to her cult experience are well-written and creepy. Too bad there’s not more sex.

This book kept me up past my bedtime! It was so gripping and also so readable.

The characters are well-rounded and believable, and the interplay between them is as intriguing as the actual mystery they are trying to solve.

Because it’s a series, I already "knew" and cared about Robin, the female lead, so when she spends half the book in real and growing peril, there is an inescapable sense of dread.

The final reveal was satisfying (if horrific), and I didn’t see it coming, but it was the ride that I enjoyed as much as the destination.

Regardless of one's feelings towards J.K. Rowling, her prowess as an author is undeniable. Under the pseudonym Robert Galbraith, she brings us The Running Grave, another masterstroke in the Cormoran Strike series.

Strike and Robin Ellacott stand out as two of the most brilliantly crafted modern detectives. Yet, amidst their sleuthing brilliance, they remain palpably human, prone to relatable errors that only enrich their depth. This time, they're plunged into the dark world of a cult, weaving a narrative that's nothing short of captivating.

I’m the kind of mystery reader that when I think I know what's going to happen… show more.