Charlotte Campbell-Ross

A Psychological and Literary Look at her Life and Death

The death of Charlotte Campbell-Ross was the central and certainly one of the most shocking turns of events inThe Running Grave. For me, it was the part where the book genuinely turned into a "can't put it down" page-turner, and, when I originally blogged about it, I was simultaneously teary-eyed and searching Youtube for "Ding Dong the Wicked Witch is Dead" clips to include. 

Last November, my friend and co-podcast guest Nick Jeffrey published a post suggesting that Charlotte did not kill herself but was instead murdered, probably by a member of her own family. I usually find Nick's arguments pretty compelling, so I read his post thoroughly, digested his arguments and then, most atypically, found myself entirely unconvinced. 

I think there are psychological, practical, and literary reasons to take MiLady Berzerko's death at face value. Forced to accept that "Bluey" wanted nothing more to do with her, intoxicated and drugged, she left a series of voicemails for Strike, initially begging for his attention and, when that failed, threatened the things she knew he valued most---his agency's public reputation and his relationship with Robin. She entered the bath and slit her wrists, probably thinking there was at least a chance Strike would show up, intent on stopping her following through on her threats, but wind up rescuing her instead. After all, he managed to save her when she was locked away in Symond's house. And, if not, her spiteful suicide note, in which she blamed everyone but herself for her misery, would leave a bit of her hate for Strike and her family--including her three-year old twins--to carry forever. At that point, facing life without "Bluey" and finally facing criminal charges for her violent behavior, she was desperate enough to accept either outcome. Her actions were selfish and manipulative, right to the end, and entirely consistent with how her character has been described ever since university. Why do I think so?  The evidence comes after the jump. 

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From a psychological perspective, suicide is by far the most reasonable explanation for Charlotte's death.  The first peer-reviewed Harry Potter paper I ever published was about psychology in that series and how mental illnesses were represented in a way entirely consistent with diagnostic criteria. TheCormoran Strikeseries has continued that tradition, showing us realistic depictions of PTSD, panic disorder, BIID, schizoaffective disorder, bipolar disorder and psychopathy. 

Charlotte Campbell was a poster child for suicide risk. If the entire population of London turned out for a "Most Likely to Commit Suicide" contest, Charlotte would win. Unlike the cases of Lula Landry and Jasper Chiswell, there were no friends or family coming forward to say that Charlotte would never do such a thing, or wasn't in the right frame of mind to kill herself.  Because, nobody who knew her could truthfully say that. 

The following is a list of risk factors from the US Center for Disease Control's page on suicide prevention.  In BOLD, I've added indicators explaining which ones apply to Charlotte. Please notice, there is a lot of BOLD. 

Individual Risk Factors: These personal factors contribute to risk:

• Previous suicide attempt:  Perhaps the strongest predictor of a future suicide attempt is a past one. Charlotte has had at least three previous suicide attempts, two of which were nearly successful. She has made multiple other threats, often to Strike if he didn't do what she wanted. And he clearly wan't doing what she wanted. 

• History of depression and other mental illnesses: Charlotte has been hospitalized for mental illness several times, starting in her teens. According to Strike, she had multiple diagnoses and many different medications. 

• Serious illness such as chronic pain: There is a slim possibility that Charlotte had breast cancer, although it seems much more likely that she lied about that. In the absence of definitive knowledge, this one will have to be a "maybe." so I'll italicize instead of bolding.  

• Criminal/legal problems: Charlotte has just been arrested and was facing criminal charges for assault on Landon Dormer, in addition to going through a difficult divorce the previous year. 

• Job/financial problems or loss: Charlotte probably has enough money of her own so as not to be experiencing anything that a normal person would call a financial problem. However, she is divorced from the presumably much wealthier and titled Jago Ross and has recently ended a relationship with a billionaire. She may well perceive a financial loss as a result of losing access to those sources of wealth and prestige.

• Impulsive or aggressive tendencies: Charlotte has a history of physically attacking Strike, and, more recently Landon Dormer. She has been leaving messages on Strike's answering machine, threatening to inform on him to the media or to Robin. 

• Substance use: Charlotte regularly abuses alcohol and has been prescribed a variety of psychotropic drugs. Her glassy-eyed appearance in recent press photos make Strike suspect she is "taking something," She has alcohol and drugs in her system when her body is found. 

• Current or prior history of adverse childhood experiences: Although specific details are lacking, Charlotte's childhood was said to be more dysfunctional that Strike's. There were multiple divorces and remarriages among her parents, and substance abuse in the extended family. There is at least one incident involving her father starting a dangerous fire in the home. We also know she ran away from school as a teenager. 

• Sense of hopelessness: This is one that doesn't seem to exactly match Charlotte, though, in chapter 61, when listening to her final voicemails, Strike deduces that she "had admitted to herself" that Strike wasn't coming back. That could be considered giving up hope, at least on resuming that relationship. So, another "maybe" here. 

• Violence victimization and/or perpetration: Charlotte was both victim and perpetrator of violence. She was physically abused by Jago Ross, and violently attacked both Strike and Landon. It is also possible she physically abused her children or step-children; we are never told what Christabel Ross meant by her Reddit posts that described Charlotte as as bad as Jago. She certainly had no qualms leaving her twins with a violent father. 

Thus, of the ten individual risk factors for suicide, Charlotte has eight of them, and most of them have multiple examples. Additionally, there are possibilities for events that would qualify for the remaining two. If someone chose this moment to murder her, they were the luckiest killer to come around since Janice Beattie, to select such a victim. You can almost literally say Charlotte had "every reason in the world" to kill herself. 

Other practical reasons that make a future Charlotte-murder plotline unlikely.

• Wrist-slicing murders staged as suicides are extraordinarily rare, with only a handful of cases  ever reported. Based on my admittedly quick perusal of the scientific literature, I located 3, meaning that there are far more serial killer nurses out there than there are murderers who slit people's wrists and try to pass it off as suicide. The probability that someone close to Charlotte would both choose that specific way of dispatching her and successfully hide the signs that the wounds were the actions of a second party rather than self-inflicted are about the same as a pregnancy by swiped blow-job sperm; theoretically possible but so unlikely as to strain credulity. 

• Who is going to initiate the murder investigation? Nick argues that someone in Charlotte's family was responsible for her murder. If that is true, and especially if there is an extended familial plot to cover up the crime, who would be left to request the investigation? One recurrent motif we have seen in the Strike series is that idea that, if the right person doesn't turn up and demand the truth, a lot of murderers can remain undiscovered. 

  • John Bristow would have gotten away with Lula's and Charlie's murders if he hadn't decided to hire Strike. 

  • Leonora Quine would likely have spent life in prison had Strike not become convinced of her innocence. 

  • Janice Beattie could have kept on poisoning if Margot Anna hadn't spotted Strike in the Victory. 

  • Creed would never have confessed to Louise Tucker's murder if it were not for her father's decades of persistence and inquiry. 

• Charlotte's family appear content to let the suicide verdict stand; Jago Ross is presumably not sorry she is dead, and Landon Dormer has no further concern for her. Charlotte appears to have many acquaintances, but no close friends to question her death and advocate for her.  And, Strike clearly has no doubt about the inquest finding either. For him to investigate her murder, someone is going to have to barge into the agency and convince him to take on the case, and it's hard to imagine who that could be. 

Nick summarizes four major literary reasons to suspect that Charlotte was murdered:

1. The structure of the series suggests fake suicides in books 1-4-7-10 and the murder and investigation of Charlotte’s demise would latch the apparent 1-4-7 cycle to the putative 8-9-10 series close.

2. Sacha Legard’s invoking Lord Capulet about Juliet’s suicide is a literary allusion which, because that Shakespearean character’s death was a faked suicide as well as as her actually killing herself, points to Charlotte’s suicide being more complicated than it seems and that her family was somehow involved.

3. The unanswered questions of Charlotte’s recent past and the end of her relationship with Strike are loose threads that need to be resolved if the series is to end in a satisfying manner.

4. Amelia Crichton (mentioned briefly in every book from Lethal White on) is too good of a character not to see again and her name is suggestive of a practical woman with reason for choosing not to be open with Strike. As in “not letting him see the suicide note” as Charlotte supposedly wanted her to do.

My responses to each:

1:  The Juliet quotation: I find the interpretation of the Juliet quotation by Lindsay, Kenz, Pols and Shakespeare professor Kurt on The Strike and Ellacott files more convincing. You can find it in the podcast recording, starting arounf 24 minutes. Charlotte, who lived "half-addicted to her own pain" thinks of herself as a tragic Juliet figure, killing herself over love. But Strike, Team Rational, recognizes Romeo and Juliet as a couple of messed-up, foolish kids with equally dysfunctional families, not unlike himself and Charlotte when they met at uni. During their mental "conversation" in St. John the Baptist's, Charlotte asks Strike:

"Would Robin kill herself for you?" 

"Of course she wouldn't. She's got more bloody sense."

We've already seen evidence of this bloody good sense. Remember back in Career fo Evil, when the Flobberworm Matthew was texting her in Barrow-in-Furness, begging her to please let him know she was alive?  Her response was, "Oh, don't flatter yourself. Like I'd kill myself over you."  I think that the Juliet quotation is a pointer to Charlotte's own misplaced misery and self-delusion, not a clue that there is something fishy about her death

2. Unresolved questions: We are, of course, left with two important questions about Charlotte unanswered: did she lie about having breast cancer, and did she lie about conceiving, then miscarrying Strike's baby?  But, if we never get answers to those questions, will it mean an "unsatisfactory" end to the series? As with young Robin and the crab on the wall of her hometown church, the answers to these questions were never the point. Strike could have asked Amelia if the cancer story was true, but the man who, in Robin's words, would "never choose not to know," in this case, chooses not to know. I believe this is because he realizes that simply the fact that he believes her capable of such despicable lies is proof positive of a broken relationship and dead love. In Strike's own words, "What did it matter, now?" If Strike, the ultimate solver of mysteries, can be satisfied with these non-answers, so can the readers. 

3. Amelia's future:  I agree with Nick that she is an interesting character and worthy of more page space. Sadly,  I think it is most likely that Amelia is walking away on those sensible heels for good, just like Matthew did after Troubled Blood divorce settlement.  If she ever turns up again, I predict it will be in a minor side plot about her seeking to protect Charlotte's children*, rather than in a follow-up investigation into Charlotte's death, As Strike pointed out, Amelia's duty is to the living, and she is doing what they, especially the twins, need when she destroys the suicide letter. Amelia's name meaning of "hard-working" sets up her role as the series' opposite of Charlotte, whose name means "free." Amelia, like Charlotte, presumably has all the money she needs from the family fortune, but Amelia chooses to work for a living. Charlotte, in contrast, takes on little work other than cushy modeling gigs, and rejects as much responsibility as possible, including that for her own children. As she told Strike in Franco's, "I don't want to be needed, I never did. I want to be free."  At the end of The Running Grave, Strike is free from her, and I am confident he will remain so. This means there will be no murder investigation, and no way for Charlotte to entangle him further, from beyond her grave. 

4. The 1-4-7 latch and links to the remainder of the series. I'm as captivated by ring structure as anyone and believe it is John Granger's single biggest contribution to the study of Rowling's writings. If anything should have convinced me, it's this point. But, to date, the bulk of the ring connections have involved the focus cases of each individual book, not the overarching plots involving the personal lives of the protagonists. For example:

• Books 2 and 6 involves celibate killers jealous of their victims' literary or artistic works, and frustrated about their inability to contribute to the genre.

• Books 3 and 5 involve serial killers who have been acting undetected for some time. 

• Books 1, 4 and 7 involve familial murders by jealous siblings who (probably correctly) resent parental favoritism. 

  • As in Harry Potter, the 4th book inverts the theme compares to 1 and 7. For instance, Harry Potter 1 and 7 begin with the Dursleys fleeing their home to escape wizards; book 4 opens with wizards invading #4 Privet Drive, 

  • Similarly, Strike 1 and 7 discover a long-ago killing by a jealous older sibling, that a parent knew about or strongly suspected and chose to cover up. This killing was a different one than the modern-day case the detectives were hired to solve, but by the same perpetrator. 

    • Book 4 uncovers  a long-ago attempted murder by an older sibling; the modern-day killing was instead a patricide by the youngest child and victim of the previous attempt. 

Thus, there are already 1-4-7 latches involving the main murder cases, and therefore no need to loop Charlotte's death in to complete the cycle.  

Witness, in contrast, the relative lack of ring structure with events related to the personal lives of the protagonists:

• The books that tell us most of Leda's past are 3, 5 and 7, so more leapfrog than ring. The only deep look into her death was in book 3. Her youngest son Switch has only been mentioned in books 3 and 7.  

• Strike's brother Al appears in Books 2 and 5, Aunt Joan only in 5, and Uncle Ted in 5, 6 and 7. The closest we have come to a genuine appearance by Jonny Rokeby is his phone call in 5. 

• Robin visits her Masham home in 2, 3 and 5. Linda visits Robin in 3 and 7. 

• Charlotte appears in person in Books 1, 4, 6 and 7, and torments Strike remotely in 2 and 5. 

• Strike sees his nephew Jack in 1, 2, 4, 5 and 7.

If, as I have speculated, a second 7-part ring began in book 4, part 2, and if Leda's death is the big mystery to be solved in book 10, I would expect an echo of the Book 4 murder and a reflection of the Book 7. But, so far, the over-arching Strike and Robin sub-plots are not falling into a ring pattern the way the book's main cases are. If that because all those long-term plots had to be stretched out to 10 books, when the original series was expanded? Only JKR/RG and her editors know. 

So, even as I reject ring structure as evidence for Charlotte's murder, I will employ another structural model, literary alchemy, as evidence that Charlotte's death is exactly what it appears to be: a suicide born more of vengence than despair. Nick argues that the meanings of Amelia Crichton's first ("hard-working") and last ("boundary settlement" or "from the hiltop town") names indicate a sensible woman who would want her sister's death investigated, that Amelia's lack of suspiciousness is a "failure to act with what her cratylic name suggests" and that this should alert readers to the fact that the murder is not what it seems. I instead look to the very unusual (at least to us Yanks) name of Amelia's husband, Ruairidh, which I am told is pronounced "Roo-ray" and which means either "fiery," "red-haired" or, my personal favorite, "Red King." The last new given Christian name given in this very albedo book is the perfect rubedo name. 

This suggests to me that the Thomas Cubitt restaurant meeting represents not the start of a familial murder cover-up. but the final alchemical resolution of the Strike-Campbell conflict that began at that Oxford party some twenty years earlier. Strike made his peace with Charlotte at St. John the Baptist's; now he unites and reconciles with her extended family. Strike entered this meeting with Amelia reluctantly. expecting to "offer Charlotte one more chance at the clean sucker punch via her proxy."  Instead, Amelia chooses to spare him the impact of Charlotte's vitriol, and tells him she destroyed the letter. Strike, in turn offers her reassurance that she did the right thing by prioritizing the mental well-being of the twins over Charlotte's selfish desire to have them experience her wrath "when they are old enough to understand."  

Strike surprises Amelia by how well he understood Charlotte's self-torment by guessing the letter contents with uncanny accuracy.  Amelia surprises Strike by her non-resemblance (physically and behaviorally) to Charlotte and her willingness to acknowledge Charlotte's faults and the abject cruelty of her suicide note. This is not the same woman who assured the media Charlotte would be fully exonerated of assault charges when Landon was getting stitches in his face. 

They part, not exactly as friends, but as people with mutual respect and concern for each other. Amelia expresses admiration for Strike's work, and even honors the "ne-er do well of mongrel breeding" with an upper-class farewell kiss. Strike's appreciation for the "sensible" sound of Amelia's heels walking away reflects his improved opinion of her for having chosen her duty to Charlotte's survivors, her children above all. 

By putting the twins' needs first and sparing them forever from their mother's spite, Amelia does the very thing that Charlotte could not do in The Ink Black Heart. Charlotte's willingness to abandon her twins with Jago so she could pursue her own desires killed the last vestige of Strike's love for her; Amelia's actions allow a measure of reconciliation between the aristocratic sister and the rock star bastard who have always loathed each other. Whereas Tropical Storm Katie indicated disquiet and conflict, the bright sun (another fiery rubedo element) that emerges from the cloud at the chapter's close suggests that both Strike and we readers are being shown the clear truth. Charlotte killed herself. Her story is over. Strike has forgiven himself for his role in the ending, and both he and her family are moving on as transformed entities, at least in each others' eyes. 

In his follow-up essay to Nick's, John Granger gives one more reason to suspect Charlotte was murdered: JKR/RG's "signature knight's move" of narrative misdirection and defamiliarization. Given the title the author has provided for Book 8, I'm tempted to call it the "hallmark" of her writing. Dr. Granger makes a well-reasoned defense of the idea, but ultimately, it falls flat for me because of the fatal flaw that Granger himself points out. Narrative misdirection is too non-specific to have real predictive power. It opens the door to almost any speculation, no matter hw far-fetched. Once you fall into the "all signs point to X, readers are set up to believe X and want X, therefore the truth will probably turn out to be Y, not X" mindset, you can make a case for almost anything. For example: 

"All signs point to Ilsa being Strike's lifelong platonic friend, we all want to see Ilsa acting as Strike's lifelong platonic friend; therefore she will probably wind up falling madly in love with him, and she and Strike will dump their respective partners and run away together."  Or...

"All signs point to Robin and Strike as being madly in love and destined to be together, we all want Robin and Strike to proclaim their love and be together; therefore, they will probably wind up hating each other, Strike will return to Bijou, and Robin will choose a threesome with Saul Morris and Hugh Jacks. 

Or, imagine yourself back in early 2007, awaiting Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.

"All signs point to Hermione being an essential friend and helper to Harry in his mission, we all want to see Hermione helping Harry in his mission; therefore, Hermione will probably betray Harry and join the Death Eaters."  Or, even worse...

"All signs point to Voldemort being irredeemably evil, we are set up to want to see Voldemort as irredeemably evil; therefore, he'll probably wind up being a good guy all along and Harry will name his child 'Tom Marvolo Potter.'"

Looking back from the series finale, will the idea of Charlotte's death being anything but suicide be seen as equally absurd, compared to these other examples of hypothetical narrative misdirection?  Certainly not. It might come close, though. 

As for the signs that her final phone calls indicated Charlotte knew she was in danger and needed Strike's help, that scenario is consistent with her "Pick up, Bluey, I'm desperate..." and maybe even the "I need to talk to you. If you've got any humanity..."  It is not consistent with the "malevolent whisper" and the threats to Robin that composed her last words to Cormoran Strike. 

I chose the example of "Nice Guy Voldemort" last intentionally, because I do think that Charlotte's role in the series, though not a perfect Voldy-analog, is perhaps the closest we will see in a realistic series. Note the similarities:

• Charlotte was beautiful. So was Tom Riddle in his youth, before his evil manifested and the splitting of his internal soul was reflected in his body. Charlotte's anti-social tendencies were not reflected in her face, but they nonetheless eventually made her not at all attractive to Strike. 

• Charlotte could be charming. So could Lord Voldemort; that's how he gathered followers. 

• Charlotte lied frequently, when it suited her purpose. So did Voldemort. Remember how Harry died sneaking out of the Forbidden Forest, abandoning all 

  • In addition to lying about the pregnancy and the cancer, I am half convinced Charlotte lied about speaking positively about Strike to the press, given how quickly she turned on him when he refused to get a drink with her. If I were Strike I'd have called Ciara (not Elin or Medeline!) to check the story.

• Charlotte manipulated everyone around her. She may not have had the Imperious Curse at her disposal, or the undue influence techniques used by the UHC, but she could still use people and circumstances to get her way. Remember how she got Strike to join her at Franco's?

• Charlotte had no true friends, and there was little indication that she wanted any. Even her relationship with Strike was never a true friendship, and he told her so. She was ultimately shown to have no genuine affection for anyone, even James and Mary. Dumbledore said pretty much the same about Tom Riddle. 

• Even facing death, Charlotte showed no regret, only the wish to harm. Voldemort coldly dispatched his right-hand man Snape shortly before his death, and callously vowed to kill Draco during his final duel, ignoring Harry's call to "try for a little remorse." Charlotte wrote a letter designed to be as hurtful as possible to everyone she knew. 

  • True, Strike tells Amelia that Charlotte could feel regret "in her best moments" but, given her intoxicated state at the time of her death, it is unlikely she had one of those in the bathtub. 

  • Strike tells Amelia, that "If there is anything beyond, she'll know she shouldn't have written what she did." Although this is the closest Strike has ever come to "admitting the possibility," this is still a pretty big "if" for Mr. Team Rational, and it is likely meant as a gesture of comfort, rather than any genuine belief in Charlotte's opportunity for remorse in the afterlife.

• Ultimately, Charlotte would have destroyed Strike's life, as certainly as Voldemort would have killed Harry. Harry could have stopped Voldemort from dying, but that would have meant letting the Avada kedavra curse hit him, for the second time, and he can hardly be blamed for being unwilling to do that. Refusing to listen to the vitriol-fueled voicemails was Strike's defensive equivalent of Expelliarmus, and Charlotte has no one to blame but herself if the spell she spun of her own hatred rebounded. 

But, the best literary argument I can make against the Charlotte-was-Murdered idea is the scene in St. John the Baptist church. There, Strike reflects on Charlotte's life and their relationship, has a conversation in his head with her spirit and takes solace, if not in religious faith for himself, at least in the traditions he learned as a child and which give others comfort. I am in agreement with those who call this one of the pivotal scenes in the series, equal in importance to Harry's inner debate in Dobby's grave, or his afterlife conversation with Dumbledore. 

And, if Charlotte turns out to be a murder victim, rather than the suicide Strike believes her to be in the church,  he significance of that scene would be lost, much as if Dobby turned up at Shell Cottage alive and the buried corpse turned out to be a Polyjuiced Peter Pettigrew that Dobby managed to Summon-charm in front of Bellatrix's knife at the last possible second. My in-depth look at the church scene and its importance will have to wait for another post, but I don't think JKR/RG will diminish the artistry of this turning point by having the mentalized wraith of Charlotte lie to Strike, yet again. 

Stay tuned for an in-depth look at the encounter at St. John the Baptists. 

As always, comments and counter-arguements are welcome. 

*In chapter 136, Strike makes two references to  "her kids" when talking to Robin.

1. "She wanted to meet me right after Charlotte died, but I couldn’t," said Strike. "Then she closed up shop and went off to the country with her kids for a month."

2. "Feel sorry for Amelia and her kids, not me."  

The second clearly refers to James and Mary. The question is, does the first also refer to the twins? There has been no mention of Amelia having her own kids. Even if she does, they presumably would not need a month in the country to recover from Charlotte's death; Charlotte was certainly no better an auntie than she was a stepmother. If Amelia was allowed to take the twins away for a full month in the immediate aftermath of their mother's death, that could mean she has, or is seeking custody. Does Amelia know of the incriminating tapes of Jago?  If not, Strike would probably be happy to give her a copy.