“Career of Evil”

Definitely not for the faint of heart, “Career of Evil” is the third in Robert Galbraith’s (aka J.K. Rowling) series featuring Cormoran Strike.

Strike is a decorated, ex-British war hero who lost his leg in Afghanistan.  Using the skills he developed as an investigator in the army, Strike has started his own detective agency.  His client list grew based on success in solving two murders featured in the previous two books.  With the assistance of his secretary, now unofficial partner, Robin Ellacott, “Career of Evil” deals with the dismemberment and murders of several women in the London area.  This time, the crimes are personal because they seem to directly involve Strike and Ellacott.

  Strike is positive that the killer has to be one of three men.  All three are connected to Strike.  Two were men who Strike investigated and were eventually accused and prosecuted for sexual crimes against women and children.  The third is Strike’s former stepfather, who Strike believes is responsible for his mother’s death due to a drug overdose.

The plot is filled with twists and turns, severed body parts, brutal murders and colorful characters.  But it is the characters of Robin Ellacott and Cormoran Strike that move the well-paced plot quickly along.  Hopefully, Robert Galbraith has more cases for these two characters in his pipeline.