The hallmarked man by Robert Galbraith

The 8th book in the Cormoran Strike series is another huge tome of 897 pages, but once again I had to finish it to find out what happens to Strike and Robin’s relationship and to discover the outcome of the mystery that they were investigating. Cormoran Strike is asked to discover whether the body of the man found murdered in the vault of a silver shop is that of Decima Mullins’ boyfriend who has mysteriously disappeared. She is convinced that he would not have left her as he is the father of her newborn baby and believes that the police have made a mistake identifying the mutilated corpse as a convicted robber. And the silver delivered to the vault has disappeared. As Strike and Robin investigate the case, different threads appear making it more difficult to find the identity of the dead man. The silver shop specialises in Masonic silverware and is next to a Masonic Hall, and the corpse had Masonic markings on his body. Other men are missing and could be related to the silver theft and they are currently investigating other cases that absorb their work time. Robin’s boyfriend Ryan Murphy is keen to move their relationship along while Strike has developed a plan to tell her of his feelings.

The Hallmarked Man is not a straightforward crime story. It is complex and often difficult to follow. I found the mystery confusing, with many characters to remember in the silver vault case, especially as I had to keep in mind the plots of the secondary cases that the Agency was investigating. However I was glad I persisted, to find all the threads neatly tied together in a satisfactory conclusion. I also found Strike and Robin’s relationship frustrating to read. Strike’s procrastination about declaring his feelings and Robin’s refusal to examine her relationship with Murphy took a sizeable portion of the book, but it was what kept me reading to the end, and no doubt will have me picking up the next book in the series.

Fans of the series will be keen to read The hallmarked man and like me, won’t be able to resist the next in the series.

Themes: Murder, Private investigators, Mystery.

Pat Pledger