Novels No. 12 (LL330)

 

Robert Galbraith. The Running Grave. USA: Mulholland Books/Little, Brown and Company, 2023.

Another doorstopper to delight Cormoran Strike fans; the title is from a grim Dylan Thomas poem. Very early on, both our protagonists finally admit to themselves—after their last death-defying adventures (The Ink Black Heart, LL290)—that it's true looove they feel for the other. We won't hold our breath over which one will be bold enough to admit it to the other! Robin is going deep undercover to join the Universal Humanitarian Church (UHC), a cult-like organization of strange beliefs and stranger leaders. The detective agency was hired by Sir Colin Endesor whose son Will became a member—brainwashed, dad believes—and dad wants solid evidence of criminal wrongdoing.

The intricacies of their personal relationship are low priority as Robin and Cormoran seek and interview UHC members who left the church; that introduces a plethora of characters. When Robin is finally recruited for a Week of Service at UHC's Chapman Farm (as "Rowena Ellis" with a fully prepared bio), both her boyfriend Ryan Murphy and Strike are uneasy. Jonathan Wace, the church founder, and his wife Mazu, are known to be ‒ respectively ‒ seductive and terrifying people. Never mind the mysterious Prophets they espouse. The Farm, in its previous existence as a hippy commune, raises childhood ghosts for Strike, who spent a short time there with his gadfly mother Leda and half-sister Lucy. Now some of his extended family relationships need attention. The agency must also attend to business as usual. And Strike's troublesome ex-girlfriend Charlotte is on his case again. Stories within stories! Robin/Rowena stays for week after week, enduring privation and abusive rules, observing the hierarchy, the punishments, the insidious erosion of "false self" in order to become "pure spirit." She hasn't found the evidence she wants, while her deception grows riskier each day.

Rowling, I mean Galbraith, is a magic storyteller and this book is no exception; she has astonishing insight into the human condition, plus managing so many moving parts. Not only rich in characters, The Running Grave creates an entire cult with its own doctrine, saints, rituals, myths, and terminology. I love that she deftly conveys the speech of various regional English accents—you're right there in the room with them. With major surprise after surprise, our two protagonists push the main plot to nerve-wracking levels. I must admit a bit of letdown in the end, but a lengthy narrative does satisfy all questions. Probably the best yet!

N.B. I stopped gathering quotes at a certain point, to avoid spoilers. There are so many complicated events!

Interviewees

▪ "It became clear to us that Will had difficulty telling when people might be duplicitous." (38)

▪ "Suffice to say, the UHC doesn't let members leave through the front door unless they've stopped being of use." (75)

▪ "You've got to understand: people in cults have been rewired. Expecting them to snap back to normal isn't realistic." (75)

▪ "Wicked," she said with a sob. "Wicked, they are. I thought he was so good, Jonathan. He said to me, 'Brian was nearly better, Sheila, but he wasn't pure spirit yet, and that's why he died. You stopped him being pure spirit, shouting at him and not being a good wife.'" (142)

▪ "Daiyu was a spoiled brat ‒ but that don' mean ... what 'appened to 'er ... it was bloody terrible." (234)

▪ "She wus playing up fur the police. 'Look at me trying averything t'find har.' No, I din't like har," Shelley told Strike unnecessarily. (473)

Strike

▪ "It's not your fault, it's my so-called mother's fault," spat Lucy. "Where was she? Getting stoned somewhere?" (101)

▪ "We've heard," said Strike, "that there were beatings and whippings." (182)

▪ "I've heard Cherie spent a lot of time with Daiyu." (235)

▪ "Hang on," said Strike. "She said, 'But I could have stopped it'?" ... "Those exact words? 'I could have stopped it', not 'I could have saved her'?" (476)

▪ Had she threatened (as she'd done so many times before) to kill herself if he didn't give her what she wanted? (488)

▪ "Somebody's bugged Andrew's office. He thinks it was you." (532)

▪ "It's a bloody nightmare, him being five and a half hours away, every time something goes wrong. And before you say he'll miss his friends, half of them are dead, Luce." (640)

▪ "You really think they murdered Kevin because of his book?" said Sir Colin, sounding sceptical. (647)

▪ "I wouldn't want this investigation to devolve into a probe into Daiyu Wace's death." (649)

Robin

▪ "Honestly, I've just got a feeling about you. You're going to go pure spirit really fast." (163)

▪ "Did you see that?" breathed Penny in Robin's ear, as they descended the temple steps. "She opened the doors without touching them!" (217)

▪ "We sometimes call the materialistic world the 'bubble world' because its inhabitants live inside a consumer-driven, status-obsessed and ego-saturated bubble." (249)

▪ "Which of you will step forwards and enter the pool? Be reborn tonight. Cleanse yourself of the false self." (284)

▪ "Becca and I used to be flesh objects to each other, if that's what you mean," said Emily coldly. (328)

▪ Robin was aware that she, too, was beginning to crave the approval of church elders, and that this craving was rooted in an animalistic urge for self-protection. (360)

 ▪ Robin felt the saliva hit her, just beneath her left eye, and something broke inside her, some last vestige of restraint. They're all mad. They're fucking mad. (570)

▪ "You've got to go," whispered Emily frantically. "Jiang's waiting for you." (620)

Karin Slaughter. False Witness. Ebook download from TPL. USA: HarperCollins, 2021.

A jarring first scene in this standalone book made me question whether Slaughter would be going overboard with blood and gore, after I'd previously forgiven her (see LL300). The Slaughter name is so magnetic and her stories just so absorbing that yours truly has to say fangirl.

Buddy Waleski is a heavyweight, predatory thug who seduced his son's young babysitter, Callie. His wife Linda and son Trevor are unaware. Callie thinks this is love, but one night she innocently provokes him to the point of rage where one of them will die. Years later, Callie's sister Leigh Collier is an astute defence lawyer in a high-powered firm founded by Cole Bradley. A man accused of a vicious rape and assault is about to go on trial, fires his original lawyer, and then asks for Leigh to represent him; Bradley makes it clear she can't refuse. One week to prepare for a major case! To make it worse, the client Andrew Tenant turns out to be the boy she and Callie used to babysit, as Trevor Waleski.

After Buddy mysteriously vanished, Linda Waleski turned to her (Tenant) family's resources; her son Trevor/Andrew grew up in entitled circumstances. Leigh and her sister grew up in poverty as streetwise kids, neglected and abused by horrific mother Phil. Sheer determination made Leigh a successful career, with a daughter Maddy, and she's still close to separated husband Walter. But Callie is a junkie, living hand to mouth. Once a gymnast and school cheerleader, she exists in debilitating pain after surgery for a broken neck. And thus Slaughter sets up her characters for a twisting story of unbearable guilt, legal drama, and the fluctuating emotions of sisterhood. Andrew implies he knows what really happened to his father Buddy; he expects Leigh to destroy his battered victim's reputation in court to effect a not-guilty verdict—or else he will reveal the sisters' secret. How will that affect Leigh's trial strategy?

The tension becomes hair-raising even before the trial begins. Slaughter exhibits her mastery of character defining in two sisters who deal with guilt and love in different ways, both tough as nails when needed, in their very separate worlds. Leigh's moments of sarcasm are appreciated. Callie fights for Leigh the only way she knows how: fiercely, starting with Andrew's goth girlfriend, Sidney. The pace is perfect, the action gets very rough at times, but scenes with the kindly veterinarian Dr. Jerry will melt your heart.

Have I mentioned before that Slaughter writes off of ?! [insert horror face]

Bits

▪ Cole Bradley wasn't used to his subordinates having personalities. (51)

▪ "This is when Andrew first meets Tammy Karlsen. She's got a nice body. Face, not so much." (82, Reggie)

▪ "You can't stay at my house unless you're funding me, feeding me, or fucking me." (189, Phil)

Leigh

▪ Maddy had moved to the suburbs with Walter. This was a decision they had all reached together. (39)

▪ Buddy Waleski had disappeared. He'd abandoned his wife and son. ... That's what Leigh and Callie made it look like. (59)

▪ In seconds he transformed himself from hapless innocent to the suave psychopath who had kissed Tammy Karlsen, then followed her car, waiting for her to pass out so that he could kidnap and rape her. (98)

▪ She had protected herself from Buddy, but then she had put Callie directly in his path. (124)

▪ Now, she had to work her shadow case against Andrew, plus the actual case, plus put on whatever dog and pony show Cole Bradley was expecting. (251)

▪ She would not let those videos get out. She would not let Callie's fragile life get shattered. (399)

Callie

▪ "Trevor was asleep. We both checked." (169)

▪ "People don't make threats unless they want something. What does Andrew want?" (179)

▪ Leigh was the only connection she had left to anything that resembled a normal life. (183)

▪ The only person she had ever truly loved was a heinous pedophile. (187)

▪ Callie loved AA meetings, because it was the only time she could truly let her competitive side out for a stroll. (383)

▪ Sidney was smiling but there was nothing fun or sexy about her mouth now, because she had been playing Callie like a fiddle the entire time. (436)