SPOILER ALERT Hallmarked Man (Cormoran Strike and Robin Ellacott)

[Civilservant]

Spoiler thread for posters who have read or listened to The Hallmarked Man by Robert Galbraith (J K Rowling) and would like to discuss it!

Oh sorry didn't mean to be ambiguous, I just hadn't twigged the point of the goldfish in the story is to be metaphorical, and when strike is swearing at it at the very end he means himself. It is rather gorgeous writing to end the book after all that drama with a poorly fish being fed peas.

Agree @Civilservant I'm not fond of Strike smacking people around, especially if he's already got them restrained. It's different if the suspect has started the violence though - it's okay to wallop someone if they're trying to hurt you, not if you've got them cuffed to a chair.

And yes @thirdfiddle I loved Cormoran the stupid fish and Strike's frustration at both it and himself. Perfect ending.

Ooh I don’t know, if I’d found that poor traumatised girl in the basement and then had the men who’d been raping her tied up in front of me. Honestly? I’d kick them to pieces. I think Wardle was absolutely right to tell him to stop for legal reasons and to secure the case, but I’d have smashed them to bits too. Also, hadn’t one stabbed him? I don’t agree with general disagreements being settled with violence, but these lot were the worst of the worst so it felt less gratuitous.

Nope. Smacking people about in cold blood is the thin end of the wedge. Torture and capital punishment are at the other end. It's not okay.

Stayed away from this thread until I finished at stupid o’clock last night (this morning) so I’m still catching up and thinking things through.

Anyway here is a little silver ship brooch I saw today. Not quite a Nef but in the spirit should anyone want a memento (failing the silver bracelet).

Also does anyone have any view on the fact that Robin is wearing the pink dress that she bought to cover up her bruises and that she wore when working and spending the evening with Strike for the big birthday dinner with Murphy?
I wonder if he knows she wore it before with Strike or if he might think she should have bought something new for the Ritz?
I’m hoping he won’t be able to resist making some passive aggressive snarky remark about it over dinner - maybe it will trigger a row….

Didn't she buy it because it hid the bruises on her neck?

Ok, so, in the absence of any more new Galbraith for at least a year, I've gone back, like the loser I am, to the beginning, and am re-reading Cuckoo's Calling. Three things so far.

1. Is anyone else extremely relieved that Charlotte is now gone (albeit she kept haunting The Hallmarked Man through the medium of awful posh people)?
2. Did anyone else find it completely impossible not to think of Bluey the endearing animated canine 5 year old girl every single time Charlotte called Strike Bluey?
3. Most importantly, there is something I don't understand at all and I think maybe I'm being very stupid. Somebody help me to get the joke?! In chapter 5 of Cuckoo's Calling, when Strike finds out Robin's name for the first time, this happens:

'What's your real name?'
'Robin.'
'Robin,' he repeated. 'That'll be easy to remember.'
He had some notion of making a jocular allusion to Batman and his dependable sidekick, but the feeble jest died on his lips as her face turned brilliantly pink. Too late, he realised that the most unfortunate construction could be put on his innocent words. Robin swung the swivel chair back towards the computer monitor, so that all Strike could see was an edge of flaming cheek. In one frozen moment of metal mortification, the room seemed to have shrunk to the size of a telephone kiosk.

	Does anyone have any idea what the 'unfortunate construction' could be?! I have read it aloud, I've asked my husband, I just can't get it!

Also woah I have no idea how I made that mental bar at the bottom of the page. It's meant to say 'Does anyone have any idea what the 'unfortunate construction' could be?'

Oh, I hope someone responds to this. It bugged me too.

edit: In relation to your first post, I quoted the wrong one!

I don't remember that bit, but maybe it sounds like "robbing"?

No I think it’s Robin red breast ? Especially as he had go grab her I. That area to stop her falling

D’you know, I also wondered what that passage meant!

OH! YES! This makes sense! THANK YOU.

Judging by the lopsided way she was hunched, with one hand buried deep under the lapel of her coat, Strike deduced that he had saved her by grabbing a substantial part of her left breast. A thick, wavy curtain of bright blonde hair hid most of the girl’s blushing face, but Strike could see tears of pain leaking out of one uncovered eye.

Oh! Robin is clearly much cleverer than I am, if she immediately got the allusion 😳

I'm listening back to older books too, and just realised that the secretary they are following in the b plot is the first of their Two Times cases.

Yeah, fair to say I would not make a good detective.

Aha! I guess I might have got it if I had recently been similarly rescued from certain death!

Adding to my thoughts above about the stairs. My shippy heart really hopes for a scene where Strike tells Robin that she’s the only other person who has been in his attic flat (apart from Pat briefly dropping things off). The attic flat is at the top of the stairs. It represents his inner sanctum. He went there to hide after the break up with Charlotte and he never takes women there - until Robin.

1. "Is anyone else extremely relieved that Charlotte is now gone (albeit she kept haunting The Hallmarked Man through the medium of awful posh people)?"

God yes, I had totally forgotten she had died as I'd raced through the last book and have an awful memory, as soon as it was brought up in THM I was like thank God that chapter is over. Hoping for less mentions in the next couple of books

I can't help thinking that the regular procession of bad subcontractors is just like the Defence Against the Dark Arts teachers at Hogwarts!

But I really enjoyed this book and can't wait for the next one.

Will Wardle break the curse or will he turn out to be Patterson disguised as Wardle with the real one locked box?

As a side case it would be a little more interesting than the usual adultery.

Oh my god 😂 love this parallel 😂

Gotta say I have no qualms at all about Strike releasing a bit of his angst and stress in the form of some violence against murdering rapists. Good to see his brute strength and anger directed towards low life scum. I cheered.

Its exactly how toxic masculinity should be deployed and I hope it hurt. A lot.