Georgia Kostopoulou
This is the second time I’m reading this book. The first was six years ago and it was the Greek translation. This time, in anticipation of the fifth book in the series this August, I am participating in a readalong organized by Tandem Collective UK for Little Brown UK and I am so excited! This is going to be a thrilling summer with the company of a detective I very much appreciate!
One very famous super model falls to her death from the balcony of her own luxurious apartment in Mayfair in the early hours of a January night. The press has only left their stands outside her place only minutes ago so they don’t have any photos of her suicidal jump. Because what else could it be? Lula Landry was a troubled young woman with loads of money and problems with her family. The police has concluded and prooved that this was nothing more than a suicide. Only her brother, John, doesn’t believe it was. Therefore he makes everything he can to find the truth.
Believing his sister’s death was a murder, he reaches out to private detective Cormoran Strike. Strike is a war veteran of the military police, he was part of Special Investigation Branch (SIB), wounded both physically and psychologically and John knows he is the right man to search for his sister’s killer. But Strike has his own problems right now. One of them being his current financial state, which hives him the motive to accept the job offer, even though in the begining he really thinks this is a suicide. Between his personal life drama and some threats on his life by an displeased customer, Strike finds the time and energy to investigate this case the way he used to when he was in SIB. His experience and the help of a temporary secretary is what helps him get a grip on what is written between the lines and find the end of the tunnel.
Cormoran Strike is a private detective in modern London. His pockets are not full of cash but he himself is not full of shit. He knows what he is doing and he is not playing any games. He takes his job seriously having justice in mind and not only his own profit. He is a person with a clear moral standard and he wants everything to be done methodically and in a way so as no one get;s hurt, and nothing is left unjustified. He still acts as if he was in SIB, which is very important for a man of his occupation to not be taken as a charlatan but as a respectable professional. The fact that he is still doing what he always wanted to “assisting police”, investigating cases and circumstances gives him credit.
Apart from Cormoran Strike, Robin, his temporary secretary is a character that we see a lot in the book and one that adds to the whole plot. Detective job was a dream that never came true for Robin and working for Strike, even as a temporary solution, has reminded her how much all of this excited her in a younger age. Now she has a chance to actually act in that role and have a first hand experience and she finds herself amazed with how much she likes it and how well she could fit. The two of them, make a very interesting duo, one you would like to see more of.
Besides the interesting characters I also really liked the story. It comes with a number of suspects and a list that the reader makes and has to revise every time a new lead comes up. Not all the clues are handed out in the open for the reader to use and try to find out who the killer was. Some of them are well hidden and one should be really careful going through the pages not to miss one. Thankfully, Strike makes a really good job holding his thoughts until the very last moment when he actually describes the events of the day and night of Lula Landry’s death.
I really enjoyed reading this book once more, and since it has been six years from the first time I read it, I was glad not to remember the actual killer. I remembered several key points of the investigation and the whole atmosphere of the book, the things I loved about detective Strike and what had me hooked in the first place. This time around, I enjoyed it even more!
Don’t wait up, go get yourselves a copy of the book and dive right into it! You can also read along with the rest of us, a book a month!
