Review of The Hallmarked Man by Robert Galbraith

I feel compelled to see this series through to its end. The Robin-Strike tension is finally spoken aloud, although not resolved, and the mystery twists to involve personal histories, secrets, and, ultimately, dark, devastatingly horrifying characters. I was hooked for the 31 hours of the audiobook.

The Hallmarked Man is the newest in the Cormoran Strike mystery series, and in the story, a dismembered body and Freemason symbols are found in a silver vault. Cormoran and Robin's newest client wants them to figure out whether or not the corpse is the father of her newborn baby.

Things are already messy. The silver shop is next to a Freemason's Lodge with a broad reach, law enforcement is trying to keep the agency from succeeding in solving the case, some of their witnesses are tied to Strike's ex-girlfriend Charlotte, and the more suspects they consider, the more nefarious plots they uncover.

A new investigator on the team comes from the police and is a known rabble-rouser with her mischievous romantic eye firmly on Strike. As harmful rumors emerge about Cormoran's past dalliances, he must manage interpersonal troubles within the agency and without. And all of this seems to be pushing Robin farther away.

Robin seems on the cusp of becoming engaged to her boyfriend, handsome police officer Ryan Murphy, and Cormoran still hasn't told her he's in love with her. Ryan's tenuously connected to the police case that the agency is looking into, but his goals are somewhat at odds with Robin and Strike's. Robin's loyalty is to Strike in this case, and this doesn't help her relationship with Ryan, who is hoping to move in with Robin and marry her. (Robin is left wondering if her hesitation is due to a lack of interest in such commitment, a lack of interest in Murphy, or her underlying interest in Strike.)

Cormoran keeps trying to conjure up reasons he and Robin would need to travel somewhere beautiful to investigate, so that he can bare his soul to her. But he is repeatedly thwarted.

Regarding the mystery: The dismembered corpse mystery leads to a whole host of even more dark, disturbing crimes and collective mental illness and abuse. The reveal was truly horrifying.

But back to the forbidden love.

I loved being back in the dysfunctional fold with grumpy Cormoran. Despite his generally unhappy demeanor, frequent painful limp due to not using his cane along with his prosthetic leg, unhealthy eating, nicotine addiction, and love of drinking (he seems to be working on improving some of these), he continues to be a major chick magnet. I don't really understand it, but I'm willing to go along with it.

Meanwhile, golden girl Robin is, as always, wonderfully capable, clever, and perfectly imperfect. She's facing some recent personal and physical challenges. And Ryan Murphy is showing some weak points, and every time he does, Strike gets a bigger chance with making inroads with Robin.

The book teases around this star-crossed attraction (again), but ultimately the issue is brought up head-on (though not resolved).

I listened to this novel as a 31-hour (!) audiobook.

I support transgender rights and therefore am uncomfortable with some of views expressed by J. K. Rowling (Robert Galbraith is the pen name she uses for the Cormoran Strike series).

This and Other Mystery Series

You can click here to check out my reviews of Cormoran Strike books 1 through 4, book 5, book 6, and book 7.

You can also find many other mystery series I've enjoyed here or by searching this site.