The Silkworm

The Silkworm by Robert Galbraith
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Having started this book (and well before finishing) I took a peek here on Goodreads to see how it fared for reviews. I wasn’t surprised to see how highly it was rated—and deservedly so, in my opinion. No, the surprise was the one review that took Ms Rowling to task for missing the opportunity of making Robin Ellacott the protagonist, and offering her advice on how to improve her writing in future (for which, I am sure, Ms Rowling will be eternally grateful).
Having finished the book, which is steeped in the toxic world of writers, literary agents, and publishers, I began to wonder whether the review in question was not some kind of “knowing” tribute—an in joke, if you will—for the writer sounded uncannily like one of Rowling’s own characters—self-opinionated, overbearing, and hilariously drawn.
Ms Rowling’s pen is scathing, and never more so than when dealing with self-publishing authors. In our defence, let me quote from a poem by one of the more scurrilous of our number. Bear with me; it’s worth it:

Little lamb, who made thee
Dost thou know who made thee,
Gave thee life, and bid thee feed
By the stream and o’er the mead;
Gave thee clothing of delight,
Softest clothing, woolly, bright;
Gave thee such a tender voice,
Making all the vales rejoice?
Little lamb, who made thee?
Dost thou know who made thee?
—from Songs of Innocence and of Experience, by the self-published writer and printer Mr William Blake

Did you clock the missing question mark? Outrageous! And you should see how he constantly misspells the word “tiger”! Oh, how I laughed! But I digress.
I love how Strike and Robin are perfect counterfoils, tag-teaming their way through the narrative. I laughed out loud at the chain-smoking agent and the literary horrors foisted upon us by the indie author. I took the bait—so carefully laid—and put my money on the wrong horse. I prayed for Robin and Matthew’s relationship to break up, but then you don’t always get what you want, do you? I am already lapping up the third book. Long may the series continue!
Having just said that, it occurs to me to wonder how many traditionally published authors would be able to identify the English tense used in “Suffice it to say” or even “God save the Queen” without Googling it? Hmmm.
But that’s just my own humble opinion…what do you think? Do let me know! Enjoyed and reviewed for #MysteryWeek


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