Muggle Monday: Career of Evil (Cormoran Strike #3) Review

It's time for Muggle Monday, in which I highlight something from the Harry Potter world. This is somewhat inspired by the Mundane Monday posts by The Mundie Moms.

But let's be real as to why I made up this feature: I just want the opportunity to post something about Harry Potter.

This week, I'm reviewing Career of Evil, the third book in J.K. Rowling's adult mystery series, written under her pseudonym Robert Galbraith:

Publisher: Little, Brown Book Group
Published: October 20, 2015
Pages: 497
Source: Gifted
Rating: 5 Stars

When a mysterious package is delivered to Robin Ellacott, she is horrified to discover that it contains a woman’s severed leg.
Her boss, private detective Cormoran Strike, is less surprised but no less alarmed. There are four people from his past who he thinks could be responsible – and Strike knows that any one of them is capable of sustained and unspeakable brutality.
With the police focusing on the one suspect Strike is increasingly sure is not the perpetrator, he and Robin take matters into their own hands, and delve into the dark and twisted worlds of the other three men. But as more horrendous acts occur, time is running out for the two of them…

In short: Career of Evil by Robert Galbraith (J.K. Rowling) is yet another expertly plotted and impressive mystery to add to the superb Cormoran Strike Series.

Even during the crazy busyness of teaching a university course and preparing for my thesis defense, I still made a point to pick up Career of Evil, the third in the Cormoran Strike mystery series by Robert Galbraith (J.K. Rowling) last October when it was released. And all these months later, I still remember the details of the story. This illustrates both the enthusiasm I have for this series as well as how talented J.K. Rowling is at crafting intricately plotted mysteries that stick with you long after the tale has ended.

In this third instalment, the mystery is brought closer to home and made personal, raising the stakes significantly. Whereas in the previous two instalments, the whodunit murderer could have been any number of people, in Career of Evil Cormoran Strike is able to narrow down the list of suspects to three people from his past. At which point you might be thinking (as I was) that you could certainly easily figure out the identity of the murderer with only three possibilities. Wrong! J.K. Rowling keeps you guessing the entirety of the novel, throwing out red herrings left and right to easily fool readers into accusing each suspect in turn, always second guessing yourself.

But as impressive as these mysteries are, my favourite part still remains the lead characters, Cormoran Strike and Robin Ellacott. These two play off each other so well and make the perfect investigative team. In a book that features some truly despicable and vile people, Cormoran and Robin's genuine compassion and earnestness shine through all the brighter. I really cannot wait to see where their story takes us next. And thankfully J.K. Rowling is showing no signs of slowing down with this series - so here's to many more superb Cormoran Strike mysteries to come!

Previously, my review of The Cuckoo's Calling and The Silkworm.

Other Reviews:
The Broke and the Bookish
Shooting Stars Mag

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