The
Running Grave, by Robert Galbraith.
As we all know, Robert Galbraith is a pseudonym for J.K. Rowling. This is the seventh novel she has produced under this name featuring Cormoran Strike and Robin Ellacott who, thanks to various fearless exploits in previous books, run a very successful Private Detective Agency.
Galbraith’s series also has a romantic undertone in
each book: will Robin and Strike finally
acknowledge the feelings they have for each other and stop messing about with
other, lesser characters?
Sadly, the answer is a resounding NO. And it takes Galbraith nearly 1000 pages to
do it! You have to have strong wrists
and lots of patience to navigate the progress of the labyrinthine plot and a photographic
memory to keep track of the myriad characters required to flesh out the latest
reason for which Strike and Robin have been hired: a prominent businessman has engaged them to
find out the whereabouts of his rebellious son Will, who has disappeared
(willingly) into the clutches of the Universal Humanitarian Church, a
relatively new quasi-religious group operating out of various U.K. cities. It has the requisite charismatic leader,
handsome Jonathan Wace, known as Papa J., and lots of adoring followers, all
living in religious freedom and bliss on a big Norfolk Farm which presumably is
self-supporting. The members donate lots
of money to various charities – and to Papa J., and the best way to find out
just how above-board (and safe) everyone is, is for Robin to go Undercover as a
prosperous new recruit.
And what she finds chills her to the marrow, not to
mention putting her in terrible physical danger: all is obviously not well at the Farm, and
God is nowhere to be seen. Cruelty is
everywhere. She manages to escape with
Strike’s help, but what about the other ‘recruits’? Who’s going to save them?
There are parts of this book that are heart-in-the-mouth
exciting, and others that just amble and jog along, reintroducing characters
that, because of the length of the story the reader has forgotten about and has
to retrace plot steps, which is a shame.
Galbraith is too good a writer to indulge in so many superfluous
characters, and too good to get lost in his/her own plot. FOUR STARS.
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