*Spoilers spoilers spoilers* the running grave spoilers thread.. (Content warning - mentions suicide)

[EggTheParrot]

Just as the title says really.. spoilers ok in this thread. Let's keep the other one spoiler free??

Oh my god why is Robyn going undercover!

It’s just occurred to me that with all this weight loss, Strike’s favourite Italian suit will be much too big. Hopefully business is good enough for him to have bought a replacement.

Symbolism!! Didn't Charlotte buy him that suit?

I have just finished it today. I really don't know what to do with myself now!

I really want Strike to be sat in the pub and Robin to come and join him! Because she doesn't want a repeat of her honeymoon.

I've listened to the A Very British Cult podcast and it's fascinating!

I was unsure exactly what was happening with Jacob or how old he really was. And did he have health problems from birth or was he being slowly starved by the cult as some form of punishment for Louise?

Why are the subcontractors "subcontractors"? I don't understand how they're not employees, given Strike puts them on different cases and tells them what to do.

Will book 8 be an HMRC investigation?!

Of course!!!!

I felt Tom Burke looked trimmer in the last TV series compared to previous ones so not sure whether the weight loss will be as apparent on screen as in the book.

Yes I was enjoying all the similarities to trans ideology. Using the C word on the feminism board used to get your post deleted, not sure if that’s the same now.

@Catleveltired yes they're freelancers but not sure they would meet the tests for IR35. I guess there's no mutuality of obligation (they choose which jobs to accept) but no right of substitution and they're not really responsible for choosing how to deliver an outcome. You can imagine it on some of the smaller jobs, ie client wants to know if spouse is cheating, come back with proof, but often they seem to be working on jobs together under Strike and Robin's direction.

That said, we don't know if they're all operating inside IR35, no-one has ever mentioned this 😂

Could the subcontractors take on their own private work too ?
I've no idea how any of it works with IR 35 though ! It's always been a mystery as I've always worked as paye etc

Towards the end, Strike sent Barclay off to make friends with a military guy. I assumed Alex Graves brother-in-law. Did anything come of that?

It was Abigail's flatmate wasn't it? Barclay had to ply him with drink until he spilled her secrets?

I assumed he was born with disabilities and the cult didn't want to seek medical attention as it went against their beliefs and also would have drawn attention. I think he was just being murdered by neglect, the way most people who died there were killed. I don't think they actively murdered people generally speaking.

Just finished. Absolutely loved it. Also did a genuine squee of delight when Fellbrigg Lodge was mentioned, because <dramatic pause> I have actually stayed there, yes! And even better, it was the very same room as described by JKR! So, theoretically I have slept in the same bed as Cormoran Strike <preens>

Yes it was Patrick, Abigail’s lodger. Not so much to get him to spill Abigail’s secrets but so Barclay could get an invitation back to Abigail’s flat where he found things like Kevin’s laptop and the gun hidden in a chair.

I used to take school residential trips to Aylmerton and go in the woods at Felbrigg - I was so excited to see Aylmerton pop up in this!

I really enjoyed listening to the audiobook. I like books about cults, I think because I had a strong Christian belief as a child and teenager and had a brief attraction to the Hare Krishnas, The various prophets in the Running Grave seem unlikely prophets not really worthy of idolatry but a small blue chubby god with a liking for young girls tending goats is pretty laughable too, without getting in to Ganesha.
I'll now reread "My life in orange" by Tim Guest his autobiography about his time in the Bhagwan cult that his mother dragged him to as a child where he spent most of his childhood.
I'm also reading "The Nirvana Express" by Mick Brown about how Eastern gurus came west with the last couple of chapters on Bhagwan and Rajneeshpuran

Have just read that Tim Guest died of a morphine overdose age 39 in 2009 5 years after writing "my life in orange". Another life probably ended early due to a wacky cult led by a charismatic charlatan

age 34

Yes, same for me. Lost two direct family members to suicide, one as a result of abuse and gaslighting from someone who was close to being a cult leader who tried the same on me. I was abused and manipulated for many years, but fought back. I found this very cathartic. Authorial integrity runs through these at every level. What I love is that she manages abuse and violence responsibly. I still can't get over the last Pullman I read and what happened to Lyra. It seems we are back to battles between light and dark.

I listened on Audible, I didn’t really concentrate, was waiting for what came at the end!! Although I always thought I didn’t want them to get together, now I think it might be nice. Not sure

When Strike suggested Becca was Daiyu I was agog! Thought that’s where it was going then. Initially I thought she was his child from an extra marital with Louise.

i did find it hard to follow so for the first time ever will be buying the actual book! I might treat myself to them all!! I couldn’t follow IBH but didn’t really like it anyway!!

The only negative thing I can say is that I’m worried the TV adaptation will be awful. Of the TV series CofE is my favourite. TB was cut too much. Much the same as the HP films.

I think she must research her subjects incredibly well and she takes a lot of care.
@SweetAndCrunchyLettuceMix I'm glad you found it cathartic, although I must have been a tough read.

I've listened to it on audible after reading it last week.

I liked the end but part of me was also a bit cross about it, or Robin will be.

I think Robin could see it as him just being melancholy about Charlotte and looking for someone to make him feel better, rather than genuine feelings. It was a shame he couldn't separate the two conversations.

Also to do it just before she was going away, and when she was finally beginning to recover felt like it was designed to spoil her weekend rather than expecting her to do anything. It's safer for him to do it that way, but also frustrating.

Ultimately I think that's why it's great writing, and how it can be spun out for another half a book at least.

It's such a huge twist at the end! I really didn't see it coming 😂. I want Robin to dump Ryan purely because he's Matthew 2.0 she needs to find someone who respects her and loves her for who she is Strike!

I'm glad Lucy and Strike reconciled a bit. I was sad about Ted but that happens so often after the spouse has died.

I might go back and re listen to them all!

I have to say I enjoyed the last book purely because I've been to all the pubs that strike went to

This book has remained in my brain after I finished it. I adored it; my favourite so far.

Hearing about Jacob broke my heart. I so wanted him to be saved.

I'm looking forward to possible meetings between Robin and Prudence again, as she works through the inevitable trauma from this book. Imagine waking up one day with the realisation that you've been eating carrots grown from a corpse.

Oh god; the little tidbits of Strellacott. Like food to a starving man, I've gone over them tens of times. I need more.

The audible pronunciation of the surname Zhou is incorrect. The closest to English pronunciation would be 'Joe'. It's not 'ju'. It's a Mandarin surname. If you've heard of Jay Chow (Chow is based on the Cantonese equivalent) that's the same surname.