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

717 replies

EggTheParrot · 27/09/2023 12:42

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!

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user1471427958 · 01/10/2023 22:32

Something I can’t work out - how did Kevin’s body come to be buried at the farm?

Buffypaws · 01/10/2023 22:37

I think it was mentioned early on that as his next of kin his mother got to decide where he was buried so brought him back

Lancelottie · 01/10/2023 22:44

Anyone else think that keen Brexiteer Leonard Heaton is going to be surprised that his six months of the year in Spain is going to be rather trickier from now on?

I don't think that was in there by accident.

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Shortpoet · 01/10/2023 23:42

I’ve just twigged that Il Portico where Robin has the “best pasta in London” is the real world restaurant that had it’s windows smashed in and loads of fake 1 star reviews because JKR ate there.

tribpot · 02/10/2023 07:16

I finished it last night - loved it. I'm glad everyone else had the same feeling of utter dread about Robin going undercover. The box I cannot even think about.

Pat and Dennis - what a pair of legends. More effective at deprogramming Will than a clinic full of experts would have been.

I did think the way accents were written - Abigail, the Norfolk crew - could make it quite difficult for non-UK English speakers to read. And particularly anyone without English as their first language (I wonder how that type of stuff will be translated).

No-one has remarked on this so I assume we must have already known that Leda had a third child when Strike was much older?

Well - not sorry to see the last of Charlotte but I do think two suicides of mothers of two small children in the space of one book is a bit much.

I wouldn't enjoy doing the research for any of Rowling's books but this one least of all I think.

MargotBamborough · 02/10/2023 07:19

I've already started my re-read and thought of something which doesn't make sense.

If you read Kevin's detailed letter to Colin Edensor when he gives lots of background information about the church and his decision to leave, it's clearly been written by someone highly literate. Doesn't really square with him having been raised in the church since the age of 3 and not having had any proper schooling. He even talks about how Louise used to teach him, Becca and Emily their times tables in secret. So where did he learn to write like that?

the80sweregreat · 02/10/2023 07:23

Maybe the cult did have some kind of teaching of ' the three R's' ? Not much was mentioned about the school set up , but I agree Kevin's letter was well written

Lancelottie · 02/10/2023 08:04

I think they woul be taught to read so that they could read The Answer.

LargeSquareRock · 02/10/2023 08:09

This is slightly off The Running Grave topic, but was it ever revealed why Robin’s brother Martin punched Matthew at their wedding? Back in Lethal White I think.

MargotBamborough · 02/10/2023 08:13

LargeSquareRock · 02/10/2023 08:09

This is slightly off The Running Grave topic, but was it ever revealed why Robin’s brother Martin punched Matthew at their wedding? Back in Lethal White I think.

I think the two families all went off to the honeymoon suite to find Robin and Matthew after they left their wedding reception and didn't come back and found them embroiled in a bitter row about Matthew deleting Robin's messages from Strike, and Martin was drunk so obviously tried to punch Matthew.

BernardBlacksMolluscs · 02/10/2023 08:23

I don’t think we did know about Leda’s third child before this book. It was certainly news to me

EmpressaurusOfCats · 02/10/2023 08:30

I’m pretty sure he got mentioned in Career of Evil.

the80sweregreat · 02/10/2023 08:44

Of course, teach them to be brainwashed by his book ' the answer' :(

the80sweregreat · 02/10/2023 08:46

I remember Switch being mentioned, but nothing much is known about him

BernardBlacksMolluscs · 02/10/2023 08:47

Oh dear, clearly I haven’t been paying enough attention!

Lancelottie · 02/10/2023 08:54

I pretty sure Switch was mentioned, as my first thought was 'Oh yes, I'd forgotten all about the baby!' (though I don't know if his name was mentioned).

Lancelottie · 02/10/2023 08:57

Wonder if Ted and Joan ever tried to swoop in and save that nephew too?

MargotBamborough · 02/10/2023 09:09

He was mentioned briefly in Career of Evil I think.

There's a part where the unknown killer blames Strike for the loss of his son, so I think all three suspects had to have somehow lost a son and associate that with Strike. And I think Whittaker's son with Leda is mentioned at some point.

MargotBamborough · 02/10/2023 09:14

This is supposed to be an extract from Leda's Wikipedia page.

*Spoilers spoilers spoilers* the running grave spoilers thread.. (Content warning - mentions suicide)
the80sweregreat · 02/10/2023 10:21

I don't think Ted and Joan had much to do with Switch probs because Whittaker was so nasty
and seems his grandparents brought him up
Strike was used to not seeing much of his half siblings and probably had too many other worries to look out for him ( plus a big age gap )

SirSamVimesCityWatch · 02/10/2023 11:35

I'd forgotten about the baby but I checked back and it does say in Career of Evil that he was adopted by Whitaker's grandparents (so the baby's great grandparents?).

*Spoilers spoilers spoilers* the running grave spoilers thread.. (Content warning - mentions suicide)
tribpot · 02/10/2023 12:08

That's very confusing, isn't it? I assumed in the Wiki article the Whittaker being referred to was the baby so 'his grandparents' were actually Whittaker Senior's parents, but no, the baby was adopted by his great-grandparents (this feels somewhat unlikely, doesn't it? They can't have been much less than 60 at the time).

That said, I do like JKR's propensity for Mad Names for Posh People - Charlotte's family was full of insane names: "Viscount Jago Ross, Charlotte's ex-husband, looking as ever like a dissolute arctic fox; her floppy-haired stepbrother, Valentine Longcaster; Sacha Legard, her handsome half-brother, who was an actor". You feel like there's a whole series of bonkbusters JKR could write if she wanted to.

the80sweregreat · 02/10/2023 12:24

I'm surprised that a person like Whittaker has family willing to take a child on. Maybe money changed hands or they just felt sorry for Switch and didn't want him in care ?
Both strike and Charlotte have such fractured family trees

the80sweregreat · 02/10/2023 12:26

Many of the family seem to be like ones in a Jilly Cooper novel ! Especially anyone ' posh '

SirSamVimesCityWatch · 02/10/2023 12:26

I'm sure Whitaker was from a pretty good family - monied, I think - Whitaker was the black sheep.