Book: The Running Grave
Author: Robert Galbraith
Pages: 966
Read on: Kindle
Read in: ~7-8 hours
Plot Summary: Private Detective Cormoran Strike is contacted by a worried father whose son, Will, has gone to join a religious cult in the depths of the Norfolk countryside.
The Universal Humanitarian Church is, on the surface, a peaceable organisation that campaigns for a better world. Yet Strike discovers that beneath the surface there are deeply sinister undertones, and unexplained deaths.
In order to try to rescue Will, Strike's business partner Robin Ellacott decides to infiltrate the cult and she travels to Norfolk to live incognito amongst them. But in doing so, she is unprepared for the dangers that await her there or for the toll it will take on her.
General Thoughts: This is the seventh book in the Cormoran Strike series and we have read and reviewed all six of the previous books on this blog. Click HERE to go find them. This is a good series of books to read if you enjoy slightly long-form, semi-literary-ish crime fiction with a lot of character development and focus on the process of detective work.
Also, there are several readers who have boycotted JKR over her stand towards trans community. I do want to preface this review by saying that I am a trans rights ally and this is a safe space for all my trans brothers and sisters. I am willing to separate the art from the artist in this case with the hope that JKR will practice the kindness and inclusivity that she talked about so much in the Potter books.
Things I Liked:
1. Did you not read the word 'cult' in the plot summary?! Are cults not the single most fascinating thing about group dynamics and the power of individual charisma?! So, suffice to say, the focus of this book on a cult made it extremely interesting and I had to skip over other books in my TBR to get this this one stat!
2. All the Strike books are really great at getting into the detailed, painstaking effort that real detective work involves. It is not magic, it doesn't happen in a snap and in this book also the past and older details about the cult are found out with great difficulty and tremendous effort.
I really liked how the team used census records to find ex-cult members and reached out to them about a key incident that happened 15 years ago, which has become something of a magical myth within the cult.
3. The author does a terrific job of breaking down how cults recruit, control and break down a human being. We often wonder how some people get taken in by cult leaders and believe their ludicrous philosophies, but in this book, JKR does a great job of showing how this kind of control and absolute loyalty is created by the cult. Also, how this level of control is maintained even when someone leaves the cult.
4. Robin's time inside the cult's compound is truly terrifying and enlightening. She sees for herself, and we through her, how the cult controls and scares its members into total submission. The information that she uncovers and the people and behaviours that she observes become critical for cracking this case.
5. At the centre of this book is not one single murder mystery or a series of murders but a drowning. 15 years ago, the cult leader's seven year old daughter mysteriously drowned in the sea at 5 am and her body was never found. She was immediately elevated to the status of a Prophet, unimaginatively called The Drowned Prophet, and the cult held these ceremonies where once a year, the little girl would manifest in a physical form and call out unbelievers and ask them to be punished.
It is the punishment by The Drowned Prophet that has kept ex-cult members from speaking out or going to the cops about the massively illegal activities of the cult. So, in order to fully discredit the cult, especially to its current and ex members, Strike figures it is necessary to prove that the Drowned Prophet didn't actually drowned and to explain the spirit manifestations, which were a key control mechanism for the cult.
The whole investigation and piecing together of what happened to Daiyu- the seven year old girl- that morning 15 years ago is very interesting and nicely done.
6. Also, minor spoiler, but we are finally rid of the supremely annoying Charlotte- Strike's toxic and deranged ex-girlfriend! Good riddance! I was sick of ~200-odd pages being dedicated to her shenanigans in each book.
7. Furthermore, we have some progress on the Strike and Robin will-they-won't-they romance/ chemistry thing! Do not want to give anything away but there has been some progress!
8. The ending is quite satisfactory and nicely done. All the little mysteries connected to the cult and the case are resolved in a satisfactory manner.
Rating: 4/5
Comments