The Hallmarked Man Real-Time Re-read, Chapters 65-67: Cracking the mandala code?

In Chapter 65, Robin and Strike finally converge on the same place physically (Ironbridge) though, as we shall see, they remain far apart emotionally.  This will lead to the harshest test of their relationship certainly since 2014, when they had a two-week fight over Mucky Ricci and Robin nearly smashed the office door. This might even be the worst things have been between them since 2011, when he sacked her.

The Hallmarked Man Real-Time Re-Read, Chapters 60-64: Why Robin is a pit pony and Valentine Longcaster is Bellatrix Lestrange.

Greetings from snowy (actually, mostly sleety) Virginia, where roads are practically impassible!  Playing catch-up on the re-read. 

Strike and Robin continue their physical and emotional distance from each other in this next section. Strike has only one brief chapter (61) ,so I'll start with that, then address Robin's visit to God's Own Junkyard and its aftermath. 

Two and a half hours after leaving Crieff, Strike broke his journey south in the small Scottish town of Moffat, where a café in the market square supplied him with a coffee and a burger and a welcome chance to rest his right knee.

The Hallmarked Man Real-time Re-read: Chapters 57-59: Did the train conversation with Fergus Robertson give us a hint about Book 9?

Running a bit late with this installment thanks to some work obligations.  A huge snowfall, perhaps the heaviest in 10 years, is bearing down on us this weekend, so I expect to have some downtime to catch up. 

We're still in the Strike-Robin alternating chapters, with Strike's solo train journey to Scotland being covered in Chapter 57,  Robin's interview with Tia Thompson* in Chapter 58 and Strike's painful drive and still more painful walk with Jade Semple in Chapter 59.  I'll start with Robin's, then look at Strike's back-to-back. 

The Hallmarked Man Real-time Re-read, Chapters 52-56: Barclay's prawn allergy and Robin's bad day.

Chapters 51-62 follow an alternating pattern between our detectives, with odd-numbered chapters focused on Strike and the even-numbered on Robin. This reflects their physical and emotional separation that occurs in this part of the book. The pattern only gets broken in Chapters 62, 63, and 64, which all focus on Robin, then the pair reunites physically in Ironbridge, though, as we will see, their emotional reconnection will not truly happen until Valentine's Day.  Rather than work through these chapters chronologically, I'm going to go first through the two fairly short Strike chapters, then the three much longer Robin ones.

The Hallmarked Man Real-Time Re-Read, Part 4, Chapters 48-51: Ilsa's past warning, White Lion and a likely reason for Robin's loss of faith in Strike

Chapter 48 starts with another annoying exchange between Robin and the Kimphomaniac, while Strike makes his mysterious phone call.

Robin withdrew again. To her displeasure, Kim was taking her time about leaving the office, standing beside the door and fiddling with the contents of her shoulder bag.

KFC is being both passive-aggressive and smug about the news she had to tell Strike that she "probably shouldn't say" to Robin. I'm sure Robin was pleased when she left. 

White Lion's "Little Fighter" : Does Rupert's "Theme Song" work better for Tyler?

There is a lot to talk about in the next Real-Time Re-Read post, so I decided to collect the video and lyrics to White Lion's "Little Fighter" in its own post.  

The band was a favorite of Peter Fleetwood, the supposed father of Rupert, who died in an avalanche when Rupert was only two. Rupert had a video of his father singing "Little Fighter" to him as a baby, so, according to Decima, he adopted the tune as a kind of "personal theme song."  Onc of his prized possessions was a vintage band t-shirt, which Rupert considered "lucky" but which, according to his roommate Zacharias, he destroyed shortly before his disappeared. 

The Hallmarked Man Real-Time Re-Read, Part 4, Chapters 45-47: Robin recalls her high school German, and gets more reasons to hate Kim.

Today, January 10th,  is National Houseplant Appreciation Day, so I'm sharing a picture of my Phyllis. Does anyone else have one?  

Robin was relieved to have one project to focus on at the moment, a place to concentrate her energies, where she couldn’t keep fretting about personal matters: trying to persuade Gretchen Schiff, the former flatmate of Sofia Medina, to meet her in person.

Chapter 45 is mainly Robin's interview with Gretchen and her not-so-helpful boyfriend Max. This interview is a huge breakthrough, as is shows that Sofia was seeing, and was likely killed by, the impersonator of Calvin Osgood and drastically increases the likelihood of it being Sofia and Osgood who robbed William Wright's flat.  This scene emphasizes how many of the breakthroughs needed to crack the case of the sex trafficking ring were made by Robin. Strike's contributions were largely related to the alternate Wright suspects: tracking down Danny DeLeon on Sark, deducing the location of Semple's body, etc.: important but lesser aspects of the case.