The Running Grave Initial Read-Through: Part 3, Spoilers for Chapters 1-31.

Spoilers in BLUE, as always. 

Taio seems to assume leadership of Robin's Fire group unexpectedly. which we should remember. I'm getting the idea he is eyeing Robin as a possible bonding partner. 

The mottos on the walls of the crafting room are presumably the slogans of the five prophets. 

It is scary to see how quickly Robin seems to be getting caught up emotionally in the church. The mantra she learns. Lokah Samastah Sukhino Bhavantu is Sanskrit and means: 

“May all beings everywhere be happy and free, and may the thoughts, words, and actions of my own life contribute in some way to that happiness and to that freedom for all.”

Abigail is convinced her father Jonathan was not responsible for his mother Jennifer's death, but she considers her father a grifter who stepped into the Aylmerton Community power vacuum. She claims Mazu is Malcolm Crowther's daughter, and learned magic acts from her uncle. Gerald Crowther. She also claimed Daiyu was the daughter of Mazu and Alexander Graves, not Jonathan Wace, and that Mazu claimed Wace was the father to keep the Graves from taking custody after Alex's suicide in 1993. She also revealed that Jordan should have been on the truck on the morning Daiyu drowned, and that the "punishment" given to the people Mazu blamed for her daughter's death was to be made to wear a pig mask and live as a pig for three days. 

Blink and you'll miss it, but Amanda also says that her father had Graves' sister eating out of his hand. 

There is a very Gothic element is Strike, alone in his office, sitting at the desk he usually shares with Robin, finding the creepy drawings of Daiyu on "Torment Town's" Pinterest page, and having the raven hit his window just as he is looking. A bird striking the window is traditionally an omen of death or misfortune, and of course. the imagery evokes Poe's classic poem "The Raven." 

And then, in the most sinister picture, an eyeless Daiyu hovers above the water, but the image of Daiyu's reflection is not hers, but Deidre Doherty's.

The Latin motto on the floor of the farmhouse, Stet fortuna domus, means "May the fortune of the house stand." 

Dr. Zhou is apparently treating Noli Seymour for something. It is pretty ominous to see Robin drinking the "potion" he prepared without questioning it. Robin's collection of pebbles, a la Hansel and Gretel, to track the days, is a good idea, but what good will that do her if she is knocked out for an extended period? 

Names

Jiang: "River"  Could there be a relationship to Jordan, to whom his presumed father, Jonathan, always sang a Jordan River song? Could this even be a son of Jordan? He "doesn't resemble the church leader in the slightest." Jordan was apparently a teenager when Kevin was a small child, so in theory could have a young adult son of van-driving age. 

Amandeep: "The lamp of peace" Glasses-wearing young man who Robin recognizes from the temple. 

Walter: "Commander of the Army"  

Fernsby: "Dwelling near the ferns."

Penelope: "Weaver"

Brown:  "Brown-haired," although, of course, Penny's is dyed green. 

Marion: "Star of the Sea." This seems appropriate for a woman who seems so enthralled with the Waces, whose name means "Sea giant" or "land surrounded by sea. 

Huxley: "Inhospitable place"  This does not bode well for her time at Chapman. 

Wan: "Gracious, gentle."

Danny:  From Daniel " God is my judge." He certainly seems to rejoice at Papa J's judgment of him.

Brockles: "Badger" 

Patrick: "Nobleman."

Gerald: "Rule of the spear"

Vivienne:  "Lively"

Andy: From Andrew, "Manly" 

Zhou: "Surrounding" or "Whole"

Timeline 

Dev Shah's report that Littlejohn waa a Patterson employee just prior to joining Strike was interesting. The timing seems wrong for him to have been part of the Edensor investigation, which seems to have been longer ago than that. 

Abigail says she was seven when her mother drowned in 1988, giving her a birthdate of 1981. She would have been about 14 when Daiyu drowned. Cherie was 17. 

Ring Structure

Becca is described as looking like the "idealize notion of a Girl Guide." Raphael called "Venetia" "Girl-Guidey" in Lethal White. 

The Latin motto on the floor of the farmhouse, Stet fortuna domus, means "May the fortune of the house stand." I was reminded of the motto on Freddie Chiswell's money clip:  Nec aspera terrent  "Difficulties be damned." 

Dr. Zhou wonders if Robin's scar was a suicide attempt, just like her wedding photographer did in Lethal White. 

Daiyu's face is described as "rabbity" just as John Bristow's is in CC.