Wow, JK Rowling can go dark. Like really, seriously dark. The Silkworm, is Rowling’s follow-up to Cuckoo’s Calling, continuing the story of Cormoran Strike and his now permanent assistant Robin.
When Mrs. Quine comes into the agency and asks Cormoran to looks into the whereabouts of her wandering husband, Cormoran takes the case partially to annoy a self-important client he had been meeting with, and partially because he couldn’t help but feel for the odd yet compelling woman. A novelist and serial adulterer, Mr. Quine has a pattern of leaving his wife and daughter to stay with his mistress, or just disappear in a child-like cry for attention if his ego hasn’t been stroked enough lately. It should be a relatively easy case of locating a man who wants to be found, but when Mr. Quine is found murdered in exactly the macabre and horrific manner as the main character in his latest unpublished and work, things start to get far more interesting. The issue is further complicated when Cormoran discovers that the unpublished manuscript contains reputation and life ruining allegations about the people close to him. With a list of enemies, and a dangerous killer who has a stomach for grisly acts, Mr. Quine’s murder doesn’t lend itself to an easy or safe conclusion.