Maybe it started with the pandemic, but the detectives JK Rowling (Robert Galbraith) created in her Cormoran Strike books have become like friends. In particular, I’ve noticed in her fifth book in the series, Troubled Blood, she has painted an even more vivid view into the lives of Robin Ellacott and Strike. While Rowling’s plots are imaginative and intriguing, albeit complex and often difficult to track, the two main characters hold it all together, drawing readers into their growing friendship, hoping that their attempt to veil a longing for each other will ultimately be shed.
Without being able
to visit with friends in person, Robin and Strike filled the void as I brought them into my home daily. Checking in with
them as I turn each page is like hearing from long-time friends, our
relationship spanning more than seven years, since A Cuckoos
Calling was published and the duo first met. In one of the latest entries,
Robin is suffering through a nasty divorce from the easy-to-hate
Matthew, while Strike is showing a side rarely seen when his Aunt
Joan dies from cancer: emotional grief.
Others I know, who have been caught up in their story, have shared equal interest in
these two and we discuss them as if, indeed, we know them well. Which we do!
As I develop the protagonists in my own novels, I try to generate the same
level of interest and intimacy as Rowling has so that my lead characters,
Hannah Hart and Mike Gavin, become as real to my readers as they are
to me. Gratefully, Robin and Cormoran continue their frequent
visits as I devour subsequent additions to the series.
There’s one more
thing I must admit. I’ve been watching the C.B. Strike series on TV
and have been enthralled by the actors’ depictions of these beloved
characters. This is the first time I have found the visual
experience as rewarding as the written word. This is a tribute to Tom
Burke and Holliday Grainger for having so successfully brought the two
detectives to life.
