The Running Grave Initial Read-through: Conclusion! Spoilers for Full Book: Analysis of Part 9 and Epilogue.

 Finally finishing this puppy, and looking forward to it so I can read/listen to other commentaries. Spoilers below.

I was set up to think Barclay was schmoozing Nicholas Delauney, but obviously he turned out to be a red herring. Hearing about the raids is exciting, as well as hearing that Emily was rescued from the box. It makes you wonder what she had done, there at the end, or if she had been continually under threat since Robin's escape. 

"Blimey, You don' want to let 'er go in an 'urry."

"I don't intend to." said Strike. 

This exchange takes on new meaning, given the book's ending. 

Interestingly, mother of pearl, while being associated with mysticism, psychic awareness and motherly protection, also has some specific Christian symbolism:

Mother of pearl is globally known as a very distinguished material. It is brought from the inside layer of some shells and it is a beautiful hard silvery substance. Mother of Pearl was introduced in Bethlehem by the Franciscan monks, and since then it has been involved in the artisans work as a symbol of good luck and prosperity. Mother of pearl has maintained its authenticity since the 15^th century and the artisans in the holy land try to mix the mother of pearl with local products as a way of expressing its high value for Bethlehem and the holy land.

Robin confronting Mazu (named after a sea goddess who is supposed to protect people from drowning!) about her poor mothering, specifically her inability to protect her first "Black Jade" baby, while her second, "Happy Soul" baby screams in the background. See here for more significance of Mazu and Daiyu's names. The fish brooch breaking indicates the loss of her power as a "mama," the end of her prosperity as a wealth-accumulating cult leader, and shows that her luck as run out. 

It is satisfying to see both Strike and Robin confronting their own suspects at the end. The putting together of the full story and explanation takes even longer than usual. 

Do you think we'll ever hear the full story of Pat's teenage pregnancy? Though, I'm not sure the remark about being close to Lin's age when she had her first is exactly accurate. There is a big difference between having a baby at 14 versus 17. And, as others have pointed out. having the children play with a bubble machine now that Qing/Sally has rejoined the "bubble" world is gratifying. I also like that here is a colorful paddling pool present, in contrast to the dark baptismal pool. 

Amelia and her wisdom in burning Charlotte's note was a surprise. I think RG was deliberately ambiguous when it came to letting us know if Amelia took Charlotte's kids or her own to the country for a month after Charlotte's suicide.  Chapter 136 opens with Pat using her customary he for Strike, then "her sister," meaning Charlotte, though Robin has to ask. Then, later Strike says, talking about Amelia:

She wanted to meet me right after Charlotte died, but I couldn't. Then she closed up shop and went off to the country with her kids for a month.

Followed by

Feel sorry for Amelia and her kids, not me. I was done. There's nothing deader than dead love. 

The second her kids clearly refers to James and Mary Ross. We have never heard that Amelia has children, and even if she did, given that Charlotte was an unfit mother, I doubt Charlotte was the type of auntie whose demise would be especially mourned by her sister's offspring.  The question is, does the first her kids mean Amelia's, as it would appear to the casual listener, or Charlotte's?

If Amelia was permitted to take the 4YO twins away for a full month after their mother's death, it is potentially a very good sign. Given what we have just seen, Amelia may be the first decent Campbell we have met. She is almost certainly more fit to raise the twins than the Ross's-- certainly better than Jago, and possibly even his mother, given Grandma (Dowager?) Viscountess's belief that it was the older daughters' responsibility to apologize to their dad after he beat them. More on this below. 

We see, once again, that Charlotte is devoid of any genuine love, even for her children, given that she remembered him in her dying moments only long enough to pass her vitriol onto them "when they are old enough" through her suicide note. It appears we will never know whether either her pregnancy or her breast cancer was real.  My inclination is that they were both made up to manipulate Strike. 

Very interesting that Strike, who refuses to "admit the possibility" in Wace's temple, does so here, when he says, "if there is anything beyond, she'll know she shouldn't have written what she did."

Pat's awesme, but she clearly does not understand what Robin wants from relationships. since she advises Robin to fake some emotions over Ryan being late to finagle some flowers from him. She doesn't want f*cking flowers, and is especially not appreciative of them as an apology (cough, 50 roses, cough).  If Murphy ever tries to apologize that way, I bet that will end the relationship for good.  Side note:  I forgot to mention earlier, that he couldn't keep her plants alaive, and that he also couldn't kill the philodendron Strike gave her.  The man is toast in the next book. 

It was great to see Strike and Lucy cooperating in trying to find the right place for Ted. After Mucky Ricci, though, I can imagine Strike asking Shanker to check the place out. to make sure there are no elderly gangster residents. 

Names

Darryl: "from Arielle," or "open"

Amelia: "striving, industrious, work" Given Strike's Aeschylus quotation: "Happiness is a choice that requires effort at times," maybe this is an indicator that Amelia will find the happiness Charlotte never could. Hopefully, that will mean creating a secure and stable life for Charlotte's twins. 

Ruairidh: "red king"  An alchemical name!  See below!

Harry Potter Echoes

The three Divine Secrets, which seem to shift the focus and pace of the case rapidly, like the relatively rapid discovery and destruction of Horcruxes in Deathly Hallows. Their revelation was by Flora, who was discovered via the original polaroid of Deidre, which was obtained in the presence of the barking Basil. 

Voldemort made the false announcement that Harry had been killed trying to sneak out of the battle of Hogwarts. We learn in Chapter 130 that Papa J has fled to the LA center, and he will eventually be arrested trying to sneak into Mexico. Wace is what Voldemort wants the wizarding world to believe Harry is. 

The changing of Will's child's name from Qing to Sally is a beautiful touch, and matches Harry's daughter being named after the dead grandmother she never knew in the epilogue of Deathly Hallows. And, we see the adults watching the child so that they don't drown, a nice contrast to Chapman Farm (and to the end of A Casual Vacancy, for that matter). 

The former church members who are now coming forward are comparable to "the Imperiused up and down the country coming back to themselves" at the end of Deathly Hallows. 

Ring Structure

The assembly of the police, with Flora and Will over burgers, made me think of the dinner Strike crashed at the end of The Silkworm. Wardle, the most helpful cop in CC, and Ekwensi, the most helpful in TB (she not only put them in touch with Bargate for the forensics information, but provided Robin a couch to sleep on) take the most notes. 

"He's in!" in regard to Barclay echoes "I'm in" in regard to CORE in LW. And, as in LW, a cop friend of Strike's arrives to arrest the killer. 

Strike going to see Abigail is very similar to his confrontation with Janice at the end of TB.  Although, it is broken up into separate chapters, and, unlike with Janice, we don't know Strike is confronting the killer until later. There is also a connection between Papa J trying to make Abigail "melt" through the us of the childhood pet name, "Popsicle" and Paul Satchwell expecting Margot to "melt" over the Valkyrie figure. 

Abigail Wace appears to have planned a more elaborate murder than Raphael Chiswell, and had three coerced accomplices she was exploiting sexually, not just one. Just like Raff and Kinvara initially hoped to push Jasper into killing himself, Abigail did that to two of her flunkies, one successfully.  And, of course, John Bristow literally "pushed" two women into what the police thought was suicide. 

Speaking of A Cuckoo's Calling, we have a link  with Rochelle and Daiyu: one a supposed suicidal drowning that was actually a murder. one a supposed accidental drowning that was actually a murder. 

As in CC and LW, we have a murder motivated by jealousy of half-, step- or adopted siblings that the parent prefers. And, as I predicted, we have someone coming into wealth that he has mixed feelings about, as Jonah Agyeman and Izzy Chiswell did at the ends of CC and LW respectively. That person is Will Edensor, who, like the Biblical Prodigal Son, is being welcomed back into the family fold, to the delight of the father and with the resentment of the older brother. Will clearly still feels unworthy of the wealth and comfort this reunion will bring him. It may not be the millions Jonah got from Lula or Izzy got from the Stubbs (if it was real) but compared to Chapman Farm, it will seem like a billionaire's life. 

Sir Colin echoes Izzy's words about Raff at the end of LW, when speaking about Abigail, saying she must be mentally disturbed and pointing out her terrible childhood, and Strike gives an almost identical response. 

It is also gratifying to see Lucy get justice after all these years, and to see she and Strike coming still closer, and Lucy, for once, smiling instead of crying. Lucy's unknowingly echoes Joan's dying words, when she tells Strike he helps people. A bit ironic that she as finally "accepted" that Strike is not the settling-down type, when Strike apparently has decided he could be. 

Strike's words to Amelia ("You've got a duty to the living") echo Dumbledore's to Harry:"Do not pity the dead, pity the living."

With Strike's final words and his vow to "make the effort" re happiness with Robin, we are left with the biggest cliff-hanger since LW. 

Literary Alchemy

We have another pair of fraternal, opposite-sexed twins, Rufus (hot-headed and a bit reminiscent of Percy Weasley) and Rosaling ("Rosie") Fernsby, who shares a name with Ron and Hermione's daughter. 

Robin contemplates the red and gold Chinese Zodiac animals on the temple and looks at the red and gold Chinese lanterns while waiting for Becca, then enters the temple, with its scarlet carpet and gold walls.

Strike's confrontation with Abigail takes place in a firehouse, and, as a woman in a traditionally male profession, who has disguised herself as a man for attemped break-ins and shootings. She's hardly pure, but she could be the alchemical Rebis, or hermaphrodite figure we would expect in rubedo. 

The rubedo stage is supposed to include the marriage of a red king and white queen, and a philosophical orphan. Amelia's husband's name means "red king" and, given that she may well have gotten to take Charlotte's twins to the country for a month after their mother's death, maybe she can successfully challenge the Ross's for company. I am sure Strike would share the tapes he has. This would make Charlotte's twins the philosophical orphans of the series. Better them than young Benjy Herbert.