Thanks for this Louise! I too was caught by that 3 Fates link with Lethal White (a rare example (?) of a mythic character reappearing under a different name? Would like to think this is a very convoluted clue!). Very interested by your idea of some Masonic-influenced mishandling of DNA evidence by the police - it does feel a bit too 'Line of Duty' (thoroughly recommend if you haven't seen it!)/overdramatic to have Robin have to keep her Met boyfriend because of his being a Mason and this tying together the case and the romance, but maybe the Masons will band together to uncover police corruption rather than create it? That would be a twist....?!
Interesting! I do think Rowling's read quite a bit of PD James so that is a plausible connection for Silkworm beyond the tongue-in-cheek pleasure for authors of setting the cat among the pigeons with a murder set in publishing! ;)
What a wonderful surprise to find your thoughts in my inbox this am! The blurb was super disappointing to this shipper. But also inevitable, I suppose. I was definitely one who thought the wording of Strike’s TRG “declaration” was going to get in the way of the progress of their stymied relationship. More than a little tired of this missed signals trope despite loving the series over all.
I think that's the price we pay for getting a 10 book series instead of the 5 or 7 that I think were originally planned. A lot of TV shows go down hill when the "will they or won't they" lead couple finally gets together; I think Galbraith wants to avoid that. Hence we keep having all these setbacks like the missed kiss at the Ritz--- and now possibly Robin concluding that Strike would have diffused the bomb if Murphy hadn't shown up when he did, and could not have possibly been trying to tell her he loved her.
What will be interesting to see is if Strike reacts similarly to how he did in LW. He was fully expecting Robin to walk out on Matthew after she learned of the deleted messages (which was remarkably insightful of him--- see here: https://fartingsofaarchives.blogspot.com/2025/01/cormoran-robin-and-deleted-phone-calls.html); so much so that when he learned she had gone on her "honeymoon" he immediately took refuge in Coco and beer.
He may be sitting at the Tottenham expecting Robin to call off her weekend and return to him. Will he have a similar reaction when she doesn't, and treat us all to a Coco-Lorelei-Mads-Bijou part V? It doesn't sound like it, if the "impulse to declare his true feelings is becoming stronger than ever." Here's hoping we'll see more evidence of the alchemical purification.
I agree with Anne. I really hope whatever obstacles are thrown in their way this book are not just down to bad communication. While I get Louise's point that sitcoms sometimes go down hill after "they will," stretching out the "they won't" too much can become incredibly frustrating.
Even more dismayed than by the "seems to be committed" line, the fact that Strike feels the "impulse to declare his true feelings ... becoming stronger than ever" undoes the fact that he did declare his love already, albeit in a slightly oblique way. I just don't want to see them go in circles.
I absolutely share your frustration, however, I am coming to appreciate more and more that Rowling will continue to deliberately put her characters into the same dilemmas again and again with only incremental progress. I don’t claim to understand literary alchemy well, but what I do understand is that transforming iron into gold is an iterative process. I think JKR’s salve et coagula philosophy is circular — a ring, if you will, that can spiral human character towards refinement. In book 4, Robin and Strike hugged at her wedding, the she went away and obsessed about him, and then was dissuaded from her decision to connect with him by his displacement fucking of Coco, followed by Robin’s acceptance of the social role as caretaker of Mathew who became ill. In book 6, Robin and Strike had a missed kiss, then she went away and obsessed about him. This time, Robin does not step in to meet the social expectation of caring for lonely Axeman on NewYear’s. Strike, however, decides to hook up with a woman who’s initial recommendation is that she is a Robin-look-alike, drug-user, friend of Charlotte who makes herself available immediately after Midge suggests that Robin is probably hooking up in Switzerland. Just like with Coco, Robin is prevented from connecting with Strike by the presence of Madeleine. Eventually, she falls into a relationship with Murphy, in part because she wants companionship and also because being a girlfriend to an appropriate guy is the role expectation of Linda, Katie, Ilsa, and most of all, Murphy himself. I think the pattern will repeat in book 8, not because the author is trying to string us along, but because she wants to put her characters (and us) through the same tortuous process. This time, Strike (kind of) declares himself and Robin will go away and obsess about him. I do not think there will be a displacement jewel this time. Strike will find some other way to cope (how, I wonder). I do think Robin will face immense pressure to meet Murphy’s needs. I don’t think he’ll fall ill, like Mathew, but I wonder if his alcoholism will threaten to undo him. Or, maybe he’ll do something noble that puts his career in jeopardy, so that Robin will feel that ending their relationship would be too cruel. In the end, I hope she’ll find a path like Max’s Mathew, who left Max severely depressed with an injured heart, but also with a perfect space for a new friend. Most likely, Robin will have her own version of crawling away on the sidewalk from a violently incapacitated Mad /Murphy. Maybe in book 10 they will go away together, but I bet she goes without him again, obsessed, then decides to connect, and finally encounters no obstacles.
Thanks for this Louise! I too was caught by that 3 Fates link with Lethal White (a rare example (?) of a mythic character reappearing under a different name? Would like to think this is a very convoluted clue!). Very interested by your idea of some Masonic-influenced mishandling of DNA evidence by the police - it does feel a bit too 'Line of Duty' (thoroughly recommend if you haven't seen it!)/overdramatic to have Robin have to keep her Met boyfriend because of his being a Mason and this tying together the case and the romance, but maybe the Masons will band together to uncover police corruption rather than create it? That would be a twist....?!
I've never seen Line of Duty, Bea. That's the second recommendation I've gotten today, the other being PD James' Original Sin. (see here: https://fartingsofafaculty.blogspot.com/2023/10/the-double-wedding-band-model-possible.html?showComment=1748507584680#c8240612469231917537)
Interesting! I do think Rowling's read quite a bit of PD James so that is a plausible connection for Silkworm beyond the tongue-in-cheek pleasure for authors of setting the cat among the pigeons with a murder set in publishing! ;)
What a wonderful surprise to find your thoughts in my inbox this am! The blurb was super disappointing to this shipper. But also inevitable, I suppose. I was definitely one who thought the wording of Strike’s TRG “declaration” was going to get in the way of the progress of their stymied relationship. More than a little tired of this missed signals trope despite loving the series over all.
I think that's the price we pay for getting a 10 book series instead of the 5 or 7 that I think were originally planned. A lot of TV shows go down hill when the "will they or won't they" lead couple finally gets together; I think Galbraith wants to avoid that. Hence we keep having all these setbacks like the missed kiss at the Ritz--- and now possibly Robin concluding that Strike would have diffused the bomb if Murphy hadn't shown up when he did, and could not have possibly been trying to tell her he loved her.
What will be interesting to see is if Strike reacts similarly to how he did in LW. He was fully expecting Robin to walk out on Matthew after she learned of the deleted messages (which was remarkably insightful of him--- see here: https://fartingsofaarchives.blogspot.com/2025/01/cormoran-robin-and-deleted-phone-calls.html); so much so that when he learned she had gone on her "honeymoon" he immediately took refuge in Coco and beer.
He may be sitting at the Tottenham expecting Robin to call off her weekend and return to him. Will he have a similar reaction when she doesn't, and treat us all to a Coco-Lorelei-Mads-Bijou part V? It doesn't sound like it, if the "impulse to declare his true feelings is becoming stronger than ever." Here's hoping we'll see more evidence of the alchemical purification.
I agree with Anne. I really hope whatever obstacles are thrown in their way this book are not just down to bad communication. While I get Louise's point that sitcoms sometimes go down hill after "they will," stretching out the "they won't" too much can become incredibly frustrating.
Even more dismayed than by the "seems to be committed" line, the fact that Strike feels the "impulse to declare his true feelings ... becoming stronger than ever" undoes the fact that he did declare his love already, albeit in a slightly oblique way. I just don't want to see them go in circles.
I absolutely share your frustration, however, I am coming to appreciate more and more that Rowling will continue to deliberately put her characters into the same dilemmas again and again with only incremental progress. I don’t claim to understand literary alchemy well, but what I do understand is that transforming iron into gold is an iterative process. I think JKR’s salve et coagula philosophy is circular — a ring, if you will, that can spiral human character towards refinement. In book 4, Robin and Strike hugged at her wedding, the she went away and obsessed about him, and then was dissuaded from her decision to connect with him by his displacement fucking of Coco, followed by Robin’s acceptance of the social role as caretaker of Mathew who became ill. In book 6, Robin and Strike had a missed kiss, then she went away and obsessed about him. This time, Robin does not step in to meet the social expectation of caring for lonely Axeman on NewYear’s. Strike, however, decides to hook up with a woman who’s initial recommendation is that she is a Robin-look-alike, drug-user, friend of Charlotte who makes herself available immediately after Midge suggests that Robin is probably hooking up in Switzerland. Just like with Coco, Robin is prevented from connecting with Strike by the presence of Madeleine. Eventually, she falls into a relationship with Murphy, in part because she wants companionship and also because being a girlfriend to an appropriate guy is the role expectation of Linda, Katie, Ilsa, and most of all, Murphy himself. I think the pattern will repeat in book 8, not because the author is trying to string us along, but because she wants to put her characters (and us) through the same tortuous process. This time, Strike (kind of) declares himself and Robin will go away and obsess about him. I do not think there will be a displacement jewel this time. Strike will find some other way to cope (how, I wonder). I do think Robin will face immense pressure to meet Murphy’s needs. I don’t think he’ll fall ill, like Mathew, but I wonder if his alcoholism will threaten to undo him. Or, maybe he’ll do something noble that puts his career in jeopardy, so that Robin will feel that ending their relationship would be too cruel. In the end, I hope she’ll find a path like Max’s Mathew, who left Max severely depressed with an injured heart, but also with a perfect space for a new friend. Most likely, Robin will have her own version of crawling away on the sidewalk from a violently incapacitated Mad /Murphy. Maybe in book 10 they will go away together, but I bet she goes without him again, obsessed, then decides to connect, and finally encounters no obstacles.