Marguerite, the Corpse, Mrs. Cunliffe, Helly, and Timothy Cormoran: Reading along through The Silkworm (Part Two of Four)

Hmmm...  we meet a lot of pretty unappealing characters in this section, don't we?  But we also see some cool flashes of humor.

I love the humor in Harry Potter, which is the subject of my book chapter here, my talk here and my podcast here and here.  The Strike and Ellacott world, for a lot of reasons, is not as prone to humor as is the wizarding world. It is interesting that a lot of the funniest lines are either straight narration or internal dialogue: my all-time favorite is Robin thinking "You turning up" when Saul Morris asks her what it would take to make her walk out on a blind date. The rather awkward birthday dinner with Marguerite was chock full of moments like that. 

• "regarding Strike sullenly from the other end of the table, as though he were a tasty morsel placed remorselessly out of reach."
• "He wished Marguerite a thousand miles away and that Lucy understood him better."
• Strike’s irritation that she had dragged him here tonight, and nagged him about his life choices, and married Greg.
•  "compensation for not taking Strike home and getting to marry him and live two streets away with a shiny new coffee maker from Lucy-and-Greg"

I should also point out that this is the first appearance of Russian novelist discussion at a birthday celebration. The second will be Polworth's in Troubled Blood. 

One reader of Monday's post commented that the Matthew-Strike drinks heralded the "the beginning of the beginning of the end to Robin and Matthew."  In this section, Robin and Matt were in the middle of probably their worst row ever when Mrs. Cunliffe died and it all was brushed aside. Do you think their animosity could have escalated, and perhaps led to other revelations like his infidelity and the fact that Robin was falling out of love with him if it hadn't been for that sudden death?

Here's an early clue as to who the killer is:  Liz Tassel showed up at Leonora's early Monday morning, after Strike found the body mid-day Sunday. The death did not seem to hit the news until late Monday evening, when Strike sees it. There is no mention, for instance, of Robin reading about it on her way to work. How did Liz know Quine had died? She had to get there before the police if she was going to plant the typewriter ribbons. It seems unlikely that Leonora would have called her, unless she was seeking money. Did she have the Talgarth Row house staked out, on the lookout for police cars?

One of the few intersections of Harry Potter into Strike and Robin's world is the mention of Emma Watson on the cover of Vogue when Strike buys his Tatler. Interestingly, the third magazine, Marie Claire, features Rihanna, whose music was featured in Rowling's first adult novel, A Casual Vacancy. 

Chapter 25th closes with an agitated Strike, having been determined to get out and walk to get his mind off Charlotte, knackering his knee again and forced to take a taxi.  Join us in Chapter 26 on Monday to see him, contrary to what we are told later, buy his own collapsible stick.   I pointed this out in J.K. Rowling's recent Twitter challenge for The Running Grave predictions, and actually got a like from her!