The Hallmarked Man Epilogue: First impressions and full book spoilers.

A gender-reversed Troubled Blood, and how name meanings tell us where Strike went wrong.

Wow! That was not the ending many people expected (or wanted!) I was left with a lot of mixed feelings, loving parts of the final chapter, while at other times feeling like I did pre-Sark in this book. In other words, feeling like I'd like to slap both Strike and Robin silly.

While it was certainly kind of Strike to go to Niall Semple's funeral, it was rather foolish of him to give up the trip to Sardinia with Robin. I think it is likely they could have had a more reasonable conversation there than in the stairwell. Looking back, given that Strike remembers investigating suicides in the military and expresses worry for Wardle in his depression, we should have expected that suicide was a possibility for Semple.

If "Zeta" was Griffiths forcing Sapphire to make the call as he wrote down what to say, why the mistakes for local landmarks? Griffiths would have known the correct names. I was a little disappointed to hear Wardle had slept with Iverson, I was really hoping she'd manage to win Murphy's heart.

I was happy to see Lawrence turn up and give Strike an explanation, though I was surprised he gave away that much sensitive information. I certainly hope Rena is getting the help she needs.

First, if you read my earlier posts, you know I was not surprised by the incest outcome, having predicted it when I read the Part 1 preview. What is weird to me is that Valentine suspects the truth, yet Dino apparently does not, even though he noticed their physical similarities. While I was really hoping the plot would not go there--- it seems rather soap-operaish to me-- I like the way it was resolved, especially with Robin's gentleness in seeking out Rupert and convincing him to tell Decima the truth. I'd bet that Cosima's tears were because she realized that her DNA test, and talking about it in the magazine was the reason Rupert was able to confirm his suspicions. Despite the heartbreak of knowing they can no longer be lovers, I am glad Decima and Rupert will be able to move forward with a friendly, co-parenting relationship.

The good news for Decima and Rupert is, as half-siblings, they only share 25% of their DNA, as opposed to the 50% full siblings would share. This is more than first cousins (12.5%) but about the same as uncle-niece or aunt-nephew marriage, which is actually legal in many countries. Even more interesting, Decima and Rupert might be allowed to marry if they emigrated to Sweden. I'd certainly be thinking of cashing out all my assets and moving to another country if I were Decima.

Just for comparison, Roy and Cynthia Phipps, as third cousins, would be expected to share less than 1% of their DNA, and might not even register as related on many DNA tests.

Assuming Dino did cheat when he won the Legard family nef (and I wouldn't put anything past a Longcaster) it is poetic justice that the nef is back in the house of a bona fide Legard. And we see a bit of similarity between Strike and Rupert, both illegitimate sons of a wealthy man, who refuse to claim their rightful inheritance and take just enough to get themselves started on an independent life. And, I must admit, when Rupert buried his face in his hands after being told his son's name, I thought he might blurt out "What did she do a stupid thing like that for?"

I was glad to hear Strike and Robin point out to Decima how much good the investigation she started did for others, and remind her that her son is lucky to be healthy and have two parents who love him.

I'm sure people caught the common "John" in the fish names of Travolta and Elton. But, did anyone catch that the dog who attacked Strike was named Lennon?

• I am going to make my next prediction: they may go through a few more fish: (Fogerty? Entwistle? Mellencamp? We should start a betting pool) but Pat will eventually decide the tank is plenty full with just Cormoran and Robin.

• Another possibility: Strike will reconcile enough with his father that Pat will name a replacement fish "Rokeby." This fish will live (or perhaps die when Rokeby dies...)

I see now I was wrong about the symbolism of the priest that I speculated about in part 1. It occurred to me when Robin asked if his ear was still hurting, and Strike says no, he is "unsure exactly why he was lying, though he suspected he had not yet lost the habit of trying to appear as fit and un-f*cked as Murphy." He has, throughout the entire book, been trying to out-compete Murphy, hence his need to get Robin away to some romantic setting in order to "make the declaration." In the process, he has, like his fish namesake, been sabotaging himself.

Strike gets closest to Robin when he fundamentally acts as himself. Yes, he has changed certain behaviors (like putting effort into gifts) but he has done that not because Robin was trying to change him, but because he cared about her enough to want to make her happy. It is when he puts her needs first: hugging her on the verge, getting her whiskey and ice-packs and opening up emotionally, acknowledging her great work over a nice seaside dinner, and holding her hand during their chaste night in the Fellbrig Hotel, that he endears himself to her. Cormoran the "sea giant" doesn't need to beat Ryan "little king" Murphy "sea warrior" off with his late uncle's priest. In other words, he does not need to "strike" in the modern verb sense of his last name: to attack or to hit. Instead, he needs to revert to the original meaning of his name, which he told John Bristow about back at the very start of the series.

Strike: I've been told it has something to do with corn, measuring corn
Bristow: Really, is it? Nothing to do with hitting, or walkouts, ha-ha, no.... (CC, Chapter 3)

The Surname Database tells us this about the name Strike:

This unusual and very interesting name is an early medieval English occupational surname for someone who was employed to maintain the accuracy of a measure of corn by passing a flat stick or "strike" over the rim of the vessel holding the grain, thus levelling the grain and removing any excess. The derivation is from the Old English pre 7th Century "striccan" or "straccian" to stroke or smooth, Middle English "strike(n)". This was an important and responsible position in medieval England, particularly since there was some dispute over the measure to be used. The terms of Magna Carta (1215) provided for one measure of corn (the London quarter) to be used nationally, and there was a constant struggle between local custom and law.

If Strike wants Robin to choose him, he needs to, as he says, play to his strengths. As Pat says, he needs a new plan that will emphasize those strengths that attract Robin (or, in her words, make her melt): showing kindness and compassion, and working to promote fairness and justice. He needs to smooth things over and stroke her--- not physically (yet!) but emotionally, as he did on the verge, and in the hotel. This means opening up, as he did when he told her of his PTSD, and of his two meetings with Rokeby. He messed up in many ways in this book (and in fairness, so did Robin!) but going for the margarine tub and the peas shows that he knows how to make things right, and is going to make the effort.

I was planning to do a thorough review of the last chapter, and what I thought was good and bad about it, but this post has already gotten too long. More tomorrow.

Connections to even-numbered books:

The Silkworm:

• An unattractive and eccentric woman (Decima) hires the detectives to prove the father of her child has been murdered and mutilated. The detectives instead are able to prove that he has gone away voluntarily.

  • This is an inverse of Leonora Quine, the unattractive and eccentric woman who hired Strike to find the husband she thought had gone away voluntarily; instead, he turns out to be murdered and mutilated.

Lethal White:

• Strike shows up at a church service/reception feeling self-conscious about his injuries and bandages.

• A child is believed to have been murdered years ago. Our detectives find out what really happened.

The Ink Black Heart:

• As multiple people have observed, the romance at the end of this book is a lot like that of TIBH. Strike is bitterly disappointed that Robin has left to go meet Ryan Murphy.

  • "Cormoran Strike had just suffered a blow to the heart that the machete had missed....And the worst of it was, he knew his predicament could have avoided if only, in his own recently uttered words, he had opened his f*cking eyes."

  • "The black fish called Cormoran was again flailing helplessly at the top of the tank. 'Stupid arsehole,' he snarled. 'You've done it to your f*cking self.'"

    • Only this time, Strike knows what to do to save the fish, and he initiates that process.

Connections to #5 books.

Troubled Blood: After completing THM I feel much more confident in the power of the Double Wedding Band model, (see here, here and here) which predicted a lot of connections to Troubled Blood. When you break down the core mystery to its components, it winds up being a gender-reversed TB, only with two more potential candidates for the body (the ones who turn up alive).

• At the start, the police had three missing men as candidates for William Wright: Jason Knowles, Niall Semple and Taylor Powell. They were convinced that most of the evidence points to Knowles, so they are willing to accept that even though it is not conclusively proven.

  • In TB, the police had identified three missing women as possible Creed victims. Both lead investigators for the Bamborough case thought most of the evidence pointed to Creed so that was the generally accepted explanation, though not conclusively proven.

• In both books, Strike and Robin are hired to focus on one of the three candidates: to find out conclusively what happened to Margot and to prove whether or not the Silver Vault corpse is Jason Knowles.

• Our heroes wind up solving the cases of all three missing men, just like they solved the cases of all three missing women in TB.

  • For Jason Knowles, they end up satisfied as to what happened to him: he was killed as revenge by a professional criminal. It is not clear if his body was ever recovered or if the killer would ever be prosecuted for the crime.

    • This is similar to the outcome for Kara Wolfson.

  • For Niall Semple, they are able to deduce the location of a body that is submerged in a body of water, and the remains are recovered. The family is able to have closure and hold a proper funeral.

    • This is like Louise Tucker.

  • For Taylor Powell, they discover that the victim, who many of their witnesses seemed not to like, was actually a good person who was trying to help a young woman escape an abusive situation. He was murdered by a serial killer, who feared exposure of a long series of crimes if Powell remained alive.

    • This is like Margot Bamborough.

• In addition, they locate Danny De Leon, a person who had changed his last name. Danny had run away from London to a seaside town to escape choices of which he was ashamed, and because he knew the identity of a killer. The detectives travel to where he lives to confront him with the truth, evoking the ire of a family member. The detectives convince him that "the only way out is through" which means he needs to go public with his secret and testify against the killer.

  • This is like Steven Douthwaite.

  • Robin and Strike enjoy a simple but tasty meal after the confrontation.

    • They mention how they expected to see certain beasts of burden (TB: donkeys, THM: horses) but they aren't around.

    • During the Skegness meal, Robin talks about whether she wants children; on Sark, she tells Strike about her recent ectopic pregnancy and infertility.

      • Both conversations include her saying how she would feel torn between the job and her child and how she doesn't want to make that choice.

    • In both locations, they walk down to have a look at a windy sea before they head home.

• Another connection to Margot is that they solve the long-ago murder of mother Reata Lindvall. The solution to this murder requires them to locate a body buried in concrete.

• Inverse: In TB, Robin and Strike had a great connection at the end, buying perfume at Liberty's, then head off to the Ritz. In THM, Strike and Robin have a screaming match in the stairwell, and Robin leaves (probably to go to the Ritz?) alone.