The Ink Black Heart: Chapters 1-7

The 200-day Pre-Hallmark Read-along

Looking at the start of The Ink Black Heart leads very naturally to the question of how The Hallmarked Man will begin, given the leapfrog pattern that is seen in this series. I was struck again by the multiple links with the start of Lethal White. These are the only two books in the series that come off of cliffhanger endings, and pick up almost immediately where the previous books left off. Both open with Strike and Robin at a social event in a swanky venue, specifically celebrating Robin and atypically away from their usual work setting. In both cases, Strike is trying to make up for something he regrets; in LW, he is apologizing for sacking her and trying to get her back; in IBH, he is trying to make up for his thoughtlessness in previous Christmas and birthday gifts.

TRG ended, of course, with Strike's grenade-style admission of love for Robin, just moments before she is to embark on a weekend getaway with Ryan Murphy. In a way, this is a "make-up" situation as well; Strike regrets not "opening his f*cking eyes" earlier, before Robin began the relationship with Murphy. She departs, and Strike heads off for the Flying Horse. The question is, will The Hallmarked Man follow the same pattern, and pick up immediately?

If so, many have predicted that Robin will ditch Ryan and track Strike to the Flying Horse (whose sign bears a white horse) for a clarification of the grenade he has just dropped, and that they will at last be forced to openly acknowledge their feelings for each other. The SE Files podcast based this speculation in part, on the epigraph for chapter 89 of TRG:

A white horse comes as if on wings.

He is not a robber, he will woo at the right time.

The appearance of a white horse not only links us to LW, but also to The Maid of the Silver Sea, the source for at least two epigraphs. As in LW and its epigraph source, Rosmersholm, the equine of MoSS is an agent of death, but solving its mystery ultimately allows the two protagonists of MoSS to move forward with their romance. For more on MoSS, see this wonderful essay by Bea Groves, and my own summary of the novel.

And, of course, bonus points if our heroes spy a silver-haired man in the pub.

So, will we see the Robin who abandoned the Flobberworm on the dance floor and ran after Strike to confirm his intentions, or the one who goes along with what is expected, unwilling to rock the boat? Or, as in LW, will we see both? Even if Strike and Robin do have it out at the start of THM, I don't think their issues will be resolved then. I think there will still be some drama and misunderstanding in their relationship for a book or two before they are finally united. Recall, Robin made the wrong decision at the wedding, and decided she had to give the Flobber-marriage a shot. And, Strike and Robin's relationship was screwed up for a while after the missed kiss at the Ritz. So, I am not expecting an early resolution.

I am more inclined to believe Robin will not double back and meet up with Strike, but rather continue on her planned getaway with Ryan, which will be plagued by thoughts about her feelings for Strike in the same way that her honeymoon and her trip to Zermatt were. I'm speculating that it will be a pretty miserable vacation, perhaps marred by a proposal Robin rejects or by a row that stops them sleeping together, much like Robin did not sleep with Matthew on the honeymoon or Hugh Jacks in Zermatt.

Now, what will happen after she returns, hopefully having split up with Murphy? That's anyone's guess. My exit strategy for Detective Murphy is him learning about Robin and Strike sharing a bed the night of her rescue and blowing up over it. When Robin sees he isn't capable of understanding why she needed him in an entirely unsexual way after that ordeal, she knows this is not the right relationship for her. I really hope their split happens because she sees they are not right for each other, not because he tracks her phone, sabotages her birth control or any of the other horrible acts some have predicted.

A more likely parallel: We learned an awful lot about the cricketer client at the end of TIBH, likely too much for it to be a generic background case. It seems likely that this handsome but obnoxious athlete's case will turn up at the start of THM, much as the case of "Miss Jones" began in TB and finished by launching a new plotline in TIBH. Without Miss Jones, Strike could not have gotten into Annabel's to meet Madeline. So, while the cricketer case may not be a main focus of the agency, it could lead to something interesting in either the agency's business or someone's personal life.

Another possibility: Two new subcontractors: ex-police Midge and ex-Patterson employee Dev were introduced in the opening chapters of TIBH. We left the last book with Strike considering interviewing another ex-Patterson employee, Kim Cochran. I predict that she will be hired and joining the team early in THM. I always like to look up name meanings in these books, and hers looks promising.

• Kim means "royal" or "fortress" while her likely given name, Kimberly, means "from the meadow of the royal fortress."

• Cochran: multiple meanings, including "red brook" "battle cry" and "skilled."

This certainly sounds promising, and made me curious about other subcontractors' names.

Dev means "God"; Shah means "King." Michelle (Midge) means "Who is like God?" while Greenstreet suggests a green light: i.e. go ahead with his person. And Samuel means "God hears" or "name of God" while Barclay means "birch wood" --- birch being a tree associated with purification and renewal. So, I don't know if Kim Cochran's name is a good omen, or if she is doomed not to work out because her first name does not evoke God.

A few more thoughts:

• I breathed a sigh of relief when Midge turned out to be a lesbian and Dev married, knowing this book would not be complicated by potential inter-office romances, other than Strike and Robin's slow burn.

• Knowing Ted's fate in the next book makes me happy Strike got to St. Mawes for Christmas. I do wonder what Strike and Robin got each other for Christmas, given the awkwardness between them. Hopefully he did better than flowers or chocolates.

Looking at the history of The Ink Black Heart cartoon, as conveyed through the media, I decided to see when the various news stories appeared in Strike-history.

• The first Buzz interview, and Anomie's grudge over Edie's alleged dissing of the game occurred during the skipped year of LW.

• The move to Netflix happened between the events of LW and TB. Paperwhite, Lord Drek and Vilepechora became moderators about this time.

• Edie's suicide attempt happened two days after Strike ran into his old physiotherapist outside Mucky Ricci's nursing home. Morehouse and Paperwhite are clearly lovey-dovey by this time

As big a presence as Edie Ledwell is in the book (According to the Sporcle quiz, she's the 5th most mentioned character in the series, following Strike, Robin, Matthew, and Margot Bamborough) it is odd to think this is her only actual live appearance.

The final thing that struck me as I read through Edie's print out of all the tweets was that she characterizes both Max R and Johnny B as Anomie's "helper elves." They will turn out to be Anomie sock-puppet accounts, just like "Sally Anne Jones," the sock puppet Edie identifies. Other Tweeters that will become familiar to us are Algernon Gizzard and Zozo. And, another Tweeter, Andi Reddy, will turn up on Wally Cardew's show as someone he calls out for hypocrisy.

Back on Tuesday for Chapters 8-15.