The Hallmarked Man Real-time Re-Read., Chapters 101-104; An Eventful Monday.

As is typical during the last 10-15% of a Strike book, the action starts to pick up considerably. Case in point is this Monday, March 7th. We've already had Strike heading out early to avoid Robin, Strike and Robin snapping at each other on the phone and the restoration of Cormoranda to the main fish tank. Before the day is over, Strike will have traveled to Hereford, Yeovil and back to London, spoken to three different people about the case, heard from Fergus Robertson about Culpepper's latest screed and been forced to have his first meeting with Jonny Rokeby in 24 years. Robin, for her part, will watch Plug, drive to interview Faber Whitehead, fight off an attacker in the car and have a lengthy visit to the police station. This is a very full day. 

The Hallmarked Man Real-time Re-read, Chapters 99-100: Potential in-laws and a tiny, sparkling shackle.

Dammit, it's just not fair. Ted and Joan would have made delightful boyfriend's parents/potential in-laws, but they died before Robin could even meet them. Instead, she's gotten stuck with first the Cunliffes and now the Murphys: a persnickety mother and a loud-mouthed lush of a father. Plus, most likely horrible aunts, too. We all remember Auntie Sue from the wedding; if Strike and Robin are going to solve a Yorkshire murder next book, I continue to nominate her for the victim. Although we haven't met Mrs. Murphy's sister, she presumably knew were coming to stay with her and didn't warn RFM, so I don't think much of her, either. 

But, I must say, I like the opening sentence of Chapter 99:

Several things happened in quick succession the following morning to thoroughly destabilise Robin.

This could be the epigraph for the entire book. 

Which Came First, the Title or the Song? Could the Cocteau Twins hit have inspired Sleep Tight Evangeline?

An anonymous reader on an earlier post (who is welcome to message me if they want me to credit them!) pointed out another "Evangeline" song, this one by the Scottish group the Cocteau Twins, that was a big hit in Portugal in 1993, when JKR lived there.  At the risk of being unpatriotic, the song is much more to my taste than The Whiskey Shambles' "Sleep Tight, Evangeline"

The Hallmarked Man Real-time Re-read, Chapters 96-98: Terrible Dino, lying Robin and a possible justification for taking on Mrs. Two-times as a client.

Chapter 96 picks up the next day (Tuesday, Feb 28th) with the news of the murders.

News of the murders of Jim Todd and his mother hit the London Evening Standard the following day. To Strike’s relief, his presence at the scene wasn’t mentioned.

 RFM and Robin finally meet again on this same day; she (ugh!) agrees not to leave him but the house-hunting is on hold pending the "rebuilding of trust." Interestingly, RFM may well be lying even in the midst of this reconciliation talk.

The Hallmarked Man Real-Time Re-Read, Chapters 93-95: Sleepless in London and a full English breakfast.

I love the Strike-messing-with-the-Met chapters (see also Books 2, 4 and 6) and the Chapter 93 interrogation is no exception. 

Strike’s professional life had more often seen him as interrogator rather than interrogated, but in recent years he’d found himself on the uncomfortable end of a police interview far more often than he’d have liked. 

"Oo's grassed?" said Shanker furiously: Are seeds for a Sleep Tight, Evangeline plotline being planted at Barnaby's ?

One of the relatively successful guesses I made prior to The Hallmarked Man was that the Arsehole Cricketer case would really enrage Dominic Culpepper, which would result in retaliatory journalism that would necessitate Strike making contact with his father. True, I thought the scandalous story would involve Leda, not Bijou, (perhaps trying to implicate Rokeby, Strike or both in her death) and that Rokeby and Strike would have to team up because they both had a reason to block publication, but I was still close.  During this most recent re-read, I am seeing what could be hints for a future plotline, one that I think could bring disaster, or even tragedy, to everyone's favorite career-criminal-with-a-heart-of-gold, Shanker. 

The Hallmarked Man Real-time Re-read: Chapters 89-92: Vodka-soaked gym clothes, crushed cars and two dead bodies.

Chapter 89 takes us back to Robin and Murphy, who make up over the weekend. 

Robin felt as though she’d been away from London for a fortnight, instead of the forty-eight hours that had actually passed. 

She meets RFM at an Italian* place for dinner Saturday night, and spends the night at his flat. On Sunday evening, as Robin is preparing for her Facetime with Wynn Jones, he decides to "do an hour at the gym" and leaves with his bag and infamous water bottle.  He has barely exited when Strike calls.