Book Review: The Silkworm

It's been over two years since I read Robert Galbraith (better known as J.K. Rowling) first foray into a mystery with The Cuckoo's Calling. It was a good solid mystery that had some interesting characters but nothing that was so memorable that I was dying to get back in. I did purchase the second installment (The Silkworm) when it came out but haven't gotten around to reading it until now. My feelings on the book are extremely similar to what they were for The Cuckoo's Calling. 

I think the best part of this franchise has two be its leads. Both Cormoran Strike and Robin are extremely interesting characters with unique backgrounds. I think J.K. Rowling might have spent a little too much time with Robin's marriage. It's a weird addition in this otherwise nicely paced mystery. It felt like every time The Silkworm picked up some pace it would be dragged down by Robin and her less then fantastic fiancé. The other big problem I had with The Silkworm is that it starts off dreadfully slow. The build up to what is the main mystery in the book is dreadful. I got close to giving up on the book in the opening chapters. It felt as though we were just treading water and seeing how Cormoran and Robin were getting along and not necessarily honing in on what turns out to be a rather interesting mystery. 

In a lot of ways The Silkworm is just too long for its own good. The actual mystery is really well conceived and is going to be a tough one to guess before some later details are revealed. And for that I absolutely enjoyed my time with it. But it takes far too long to get going and when it does I'm not sure it was nearly as satisfying. There is no denying that J.K. Rowling is an amazing writer with some of the best writing in a mystery I've ever read but this book like the first could have used some additional editing. It's too bad to because behind some of the fluff is a pretty great mystery. 

“The whole world’s writing novels, but nobody’s reading them.”