*SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS INK BLACK HEART *SPOILERS*

I'm joining the IBH name change trend too having finished the book this afternoon. Annoyingly didn't have any time to read over the weekend.

Really enjoyed it. Like others I didn't enjoy it quite as much as LW and TB but it was still a brilliant read. I think it explored some really important issues whilst still being a great 'who done it'.

I never understand those who say Galbraith's are too long. I'd have liked a res more chapters. I wanted to hear more about Isla's pregnancy and Robin's date.

Agree with those that hope we see more of Matthew as there's no way he and Sarah have longevity. Robin can kick him to the kerb again.

I also wonder if this is the end of Charlotte which would be a shame because she was on the receiving end of the line of the book for me:

'If I was the sort of bloke who thought it was ok to hit women we wouldn't be having this conversation because you'd be dead'.

My only dealt criticism was 'not enough Barclay'. Love Sam. He's a great character.

I wonder if JKR is trying to avoid the wish fulfilment pairing of Hermione and Ron, although Strike and Robin are much better match than Hermione and Ron ever were!

I don't think people will stop buying the books if they do get together - there's still plenty of tension possible, and I think the dynamic of them as a couple would be really interesting as well. Having them ride off into the sunset together at the end of the last book is a bit of a cop-out really.

I'm not sure how much wining you think an alcoholic is going to be doing, the80sweregreat 😃I don't see how a police officer and a private detective could work as a couple (see VI Warshawski for this!) but that shouldn't stop Robin from trying - she's always played it safe. (The appalling Pez doesn't count).

If she gets them together though then the books won't sell as well as people won't be as invested or just become bored
Robin with Ryan may work, he seems normal.
Robin will be sympathetic with his past issues and they will bounce off each other as they have same job too. It might be nice to see her having fun with someone else. Strike isn't one to have that much of a laugh , Robin needs a bit of fun and wining and dining!

Does anybody else not want them to get together?

I feel like the "will they won't they" teasing is half the charm, and if they did get together it would ruin it.

But JKR is a sucker for pairing everyone off neatly at the end so I expect they will.

Just finished, really enjoyed it but not quite as much as LW and TB. I accept why (and admit the series is all the better for it) the Robin/strike relationship development slowed down for this one but I am desperate for them to get together. I think they might get together around book 8 and will experiment with Robin leaving the agency and joining the police so they’re not working together too, before this causing problems and then a happy ever after type ending for the end end.

Oh .I did watch silkworm , but i forgot this !
Oh well , Linda Bassett is a good one

She played Liz Tassell

They have to get together one day !
I have a hunch it'll be book 10 at this rate
Keep up the momentum, not sure how though ?

I didn't know this re silkworm and lia !

Lia Williams was in Silkworm thought wasn't she?

Can i join?

I finished it on Saturday. I did enjoy it but not as much as Troubled Blood which is by far my fave. Going to re-read it more slowly. I didn’t try and guess who Anomie was as I know she lays a trail making it impossible to make an informed guess. Suspected there was more to the Upcotts though but also sort of Hartella/Worm28/Kea Niven, not much detail about their backstories.

im assuming at this point that Robin and Strike won’t get together until the last book? As I think it’d really lose its magic if they did before then and the dynamic was more about domestic stuff/arguments! Can’t take 4 more books of nothing but angst though so something has to develop surely.

I was surprised that he would date Madeline with the Charlotte connection too.

There is a lady on ' the capture ' who plays a spook and she would play a good Pat too
( Lia Williams )
Although not sure how old she is meant to be ?

Was on another forum today and they had a list of old characters ( not the main people obviously)
people would like to see mentioned again
The driver in Cuckoo ( something jones ) on tv would be good.
Can't remember who else they mentioned !

Oh yes - she would be fab in the role

I was really surprised that Strike was stupid enough to date anyone who moved in the same circles, and was in regular contact with Charlotte. It was totally obvious that Charlotte would exploit the situation to obtain information and keep tabs on him

OMG Linda Bassett would be fabulous.

@fruitstick it wasn't that Anomie and Paperwhite weren't logged on at the same time - they were, and Anomie asked several times 'are you talking to anyone else in a private channel', knowing full well that Robin was - it was that Paperwhite and Anomie didn't post messages at the exact same time. That's why the chats were laid out chronologically, i.e. the private channels were laid out so the timestamps (if we could see them) matched the mod channel.

I never really got the point of this - you'd expect that Anomie as the admin would be able to see things like how many private channels there were, who was in them, etc (and probably read the messages) without having two identities. So as a test of loyalty, anyone talking to Anomie should assume he already knew the answer to the question, rather than that you could get away with a lie.

Surely it has to be Linda Bassett aka Phyllis from Call the Midwife?

She'd make an excellent Pat

Oh and of course nonbinary/genderqueer: they/she/he/it (actual quote from her bio).

There is someone on Twitter squawking about the book being ableist/transphobic and I had to laugh, because her profile/background is almost identical to Katya's - CFS, spoonie, fibromyalgia, POTS, has developed long covid, always moaning about how exhausted she is by doing the slightest thing, and moved to the coast with her mum. So many similarities I did wonder if JKR was familiar with her. I'm disabled myself with a chronic illness, but my god does she go on about it!
She was wittering on the other day about how 80 of her followers still follow JKR and what a disgrace it was, and how she might have to unfriend them. She's a 52 year old woman who acts like a spoiled child.

Do you know who I would cast as Pat? Helena Bonham Carter.

She'd be brilliant and relish the chance at an accent.

I did briefly consider that Anomie was two people, or that they were multiple characters - but then decided that she'd already used that plot in Career of Evil - she even brought up the severed leg again!

I was annoyed by the columns of chat (on kindle) and why they were typed out in real time, but I suppose the observant amongst us could then have worked out that anomie and paper white weren't on at the same time.

But then I'm frequently logged onto two different devices under two different names so that doesn't really follow either

When I think of Pat, she's a cross between Dot Cotton and Pat Butcher. I love her.

Yes I did!

Did anyone notice that Evan Duffield was mentioned? It's not often a character from another book , that isn't a main one , pops up.