*SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS INK BLACK HEART *SPOILERS*

[TheInkBlackHeart]

Right I hope the title gives it away. Spoilers ahoy after / during reading Galbraith's The Ink Black Heart.

I swear if someone complains about spoilers now I'll lose it

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.

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.

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!

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).

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.

No, I guess having too people together in similar long hour jobs won't be a recipe for much fun unless they book time off together as annual leave!
I hated Ron and Hermonie ( sp?) together too
That should never have happened !
But is what it is.

I really want a Strike and Robin themed name change now!

Love the idea of Matthew being kicked to the kerbs ! Maybe she could ' string him along ' a bit , then bam ! Off you trot ( after filming him with his pants down then ready to send off the video to Sarah )
Robin is way too nice to do this though!

Harry Potter is a children's book though. I know they have much broader appeal now but the fact they were written for children explains the Ron / Hermione pairing for me.

I think the tables are turning and it's Strike's turn to be single and longing for Robin in the way she has watched his relationships for a long time. Feels as though he's headed for a tough time in the next book.... bit ominous they didn't get to the bottom of the muscle spasms.

I don't think Robin would have Matthew back under any circumstances.

It'll be interesting to see if he tries though.

I hope poor old Tom Turvey found someone nicer after the appalling Sarah.

@the80sweregreat I at least want her to know he isn't happy given how she worked out Sarah had got pregnant on purpose etc.

Your plan is better though! I always remember a question from the publisher on Facebook 'who is the worst villain in the Strike series so far' and everyone said Matthew.

Totally agree re it being Robins turn to have Strike pining for her; he's at his sexiest best when he is brooding and sulky!!

One of the things I liked was seeing Robin move on with her life and buy her own flat, and the fact that the agency is going from strength to strength, giving them a bit more financial freedom.

But I think The Ink Black Heart and Troubled Blood both had too many suspects, and I wonder whether the agency being bigger and having more staff gave Rowling more scope to make the investigations more complex and have more red herrings, knowing that there were more people to follow different suspects and so on.

When the agency was just Strike and Robin, or Strike, Robin and Barclay, the number of suspects had to be smaller and so I felt more invested in finding out who the killer was because we'd had more time with each one.

Although I like the new characters, I'd like to see Rowling resist this temptation a bit more in the next book and have a more pared down main plot, whilst keeping characters like Barclay and Midge in the picture but mainly working on other cases.

I agree with you @babyjellyfish, as much as I like the complexity and red herrings I like the side plots with the other investigations too. I wanted to know more about what Fingers's stepdad did next etc.

Postcard and Shifty in TB were great complimenting story lines.

Dennis Creed in TB who was in prison was the worst villain. Nasty vile manipulative serial killer that he was. Strike getting one over on him was gold.

... Then Mathew ! 😂

Oh yes. Tom Turvey
He was sweet.
A nice partner for him , maybe Robin will run into him again one day.

Donald Laing for me.... poor Matthew, coming out top with such stiff competition.

I always thought Ron and heroine in the potter books was a good pairing! But she could have built up the romantic tension with them better in the run up to them getting together, as it was it felt like she kind of just stuck them together without much romantic build up. Think we needed to see more of why they were a good fit for each other beforehand.

With the strike books, if they got together and then had blazing rows resulting in a temporary break up of their business partnership and agency would be a great read. You can see it happening, they work well together until they rub each other up the wrong way.

Strike might start digging at her a bit over Ryan Murphy.
Jealousy is a nasty streak to have and he could make it awkward for her if she wants a bit of leave for a romantic weekend away ( to a spa )
Although , as a partner, she might not have to ask ( Ive no idea how that works )
It's not going to be easy for her.

I've just finished - loved every bit of it. She is so good at capturing the way people talk on the internet, particularly the trolls and the people who sanctimoniously judge others for supposed offences of racism, ableism etc.

I love the way she can maintain a huge cast of characters and a complicated plot over 1200 pages - I don't know how she does it. Just the sheer complexity of holding all those in her head and keeping the whole thing moving along. Most crime novels don't do that.

And once again I didn't get who did it. I was fairly confident it was going to be Katya (the references to being a carer for someone who was disabled, the fact it had to be someone who had access to all that information about Edie, the fact it was someone who was old enough to use Beatles references, the fact that Rachel thought Anomie was a woman). I suppose I didn't take into account the virulent misogyny.

I did work out that Anomie and Paperwhite was the same person before Strike and Robin did, though, so there was that.

Katya was a very good red herring.

It would be a great plot twist if Sarah thinks Mathew is cheating on her and hires the agency to follow him!

Would also like to see more of Shanker again

Shankar's text ! 😂
Really made me lol

I wonder how good Worm28 was as a mod? It’s hard to imagine her banning people or dealing with disputes, for instance.

I knew it was an Upcott but I kept changing my mind which of them it was.

re casting - Linda Bassett is in Troubled Blood but I don’t know if she’s Pat or not.