A Book Review: Career of Evil by Robert Galbraith (Cormoran Strike #3)

In Career of Evil, Cormoran Strike and Robin Ellacott return to the streets of London to catch a serial killer. Written by Robert Galbraith (J.K Rowling), Career of Evil is the 3^rd installment in a series of detective novels. This book, as well as its two predecessors, have attracted a massive readership, and they are being adapted by the BBC into a TV series. On Goodreads, Career of Evil has the highest rating out of all 3 books, but is it really that good? Personally, I prefer its predecessor to this book. But let me start this review with a synopsis for the book.

Synopsis:

It was a summer day and Robin was making her way to work. The courier stopped her at the door and handed her a parcel. A while later, a woman's scream broke the silence in the office. Cormoran came running to Robin's desk, only to find her, now pale-faced, staring at a parcel. Inside the parcel sat a grisly artifact – a freshly servered human leg!

Whose leg was it and who would do such a thing? The incident was most likely the precursor to a revenge plot, and Cormoran knew of four people from his past who were capable of such sadism. Now, Cormoran and Robin must solve this mystery before it ruins their professional and private lives.

My thoughts on this book:

The notable strength of this book is its characterizations. The author excelled at depicting the characters' emotions, thoughts, and how their pasts made the way they are today. This book also has plentiful of character developments. The story in this book was not just about catching a serial killer, but it was also about Strike and Robin's personal lives. Where the previous books focused on Cormoran, Career of Evil splitted the focus equally between Robin and Cormoran instead. Furthermore, the hidden romantic tension between Robin and Strike began to surface in this book. Personally, I like reading about Robin. However, I thought the romantic tension was cliched and formulaic; it is almost as if genre fictions just can't have a man and a woman working together without them developing romantic feelings for each other.

The plot in Career of Evil was quite good, but I didn't feel the mystery and suspense with this book as I did with The Silkworm. The story had twists and turns, but the case was easy to solve. This also means, I thought this book was convoluted. It felt like the book was going round after round for 500 pages to solve the puzzle while Cormoran really could have catch the killer at page 200. Having said this, I liked the parts of the book that explored Cormoran and Robin's personal lives; about how, being in demanding jobs such as private investigators placed tensions in their personal relationships. I have read a fair amount of detective novels, and I think Robert Galbraith is one of the best authors at writing characters.

Did I like this book? Yes I did. Aside from a few weaknesses I discussed above (i.e. a convoluted story, the cliched romance sub-plot, and the book felt too long), I thought Career of Evil was an enjoyable read. It took me a while to read this book because so many details in the story required my careful attentions. But it was worth it. Another note, this book also ended at a cliffhanger to make us wonder what will happen to Strike and Robin's business partnership (or, possible romantic relationship?). I heard Robert Galbraith is currently writing the 4^th book in the series which is due for some time in this year, I look forward to reading it.