The Silkworm
On sale
19th June 2014
Price: £10.99
IMPAC Dublin Literary Award, 2016
Select a format
Selected:
ebook / ISBN-13: 9781405514972
***The 7th novel in the Strike series, THE RUNNING GRAVE, is coming in September 2023. Pre-order now and be the first to read it***
‘Teems with sly humour, witty asides and intelligence … A pleasure to read’ TIMES
—–
Now a major BBC drama: The Strike series
When novelist Owen Quine goes missing, his wife calls in private detective Cormoran Strike. At first, she just thinks he has gone off by himself for a few days – as he has done before – and she wants Strike to find him and bring him home.
But as Strike investigates, it becomes clear that there is more to Quine’s disappearance than his wife realises. The novelist has just completed a manuscript featuring poisonous pen-portraits of almost everyone he knows. If the novel were published it would ruin lives – so there are a lot of people who might want to silence him.
And when Quine is found brutally murdered in bizarre circumstances, it becomes a race against time to understand the motivation of a ruthless killer, a killer unlike any he has encountered before . . .
A compulsively readable crime novel with twists at every turn, The Silkworm is the second in the highly acclaimed series featuring Cormoran Strike and his determined young assistant Robin Ellacott.
*** The latest book in the thrilling Strike series, TROUBLED BLOOD, is out now! ***
—–
PRAISE FOR THE STRIKE SERIES:
‘One of the most unique and compelling detectives I’ve come across in years‘ MARK BILLINGHAM
‘The work of a master storyteller’ DAILY TELEGRAPH
‘Unputdownable. . . Irresistible’ SUNDAY TIMES
‘Will keep you up all night’ OBSERVER
‘A thoroughly enjoyable classic’ PETER JAMES, SUNDAY EXPRESS
‘Teems with sly humour, witty asides and intelligence … A pleasure to read’ TIMES
—–
Now a major BBC drama: The Strike series
When novelist Owen Quine goes missing, his wife calls in private detective Cormoran Strike. At first, she just thinks he has gone off by himself for a few days – as he has done before – and she wants Strike to find him and bring him home.
But as Strike investigates, it becomes clear that there is more to Quine’s disappearance than his wife realises. The novelist has just completed a manuscript featuring poisonous pen-portraits of almost everyone he knows. If the novel were published it would ruin lives – so there are a lot of people who might want to silence him.
And when Quine is found brutally murdered in bizarre circumstances, it becomes a race against time to understand the motivation of a ruthless killer, a killer unlike any he has encountered before . . .
A compulsively readable crime novel with twists at every turn, The Silkworm is the second in the highly acclaimed series featuring Cormoran Strike and his determined young assistant Robin Ellacott.
*** The latest book in the thrilling Strike series, TROUBLED BLOOD, is out now! ***
—–
PRAISE FOR THE STRIKE SERIES:
‘One of the most unique and compelling detectives I’ve come across in years‘ MARK BILLINGHAM
‘The work of a master storyteller’ DAILY TELEGRAPH
‘Unputdownable. . . Irresistible’ SUNDAY TIMES
‘Will keep you up all night’ OBSERVER
‘A thoroughly enjoyable classic’ PETER JAMES, SUNDAY EXPRESS
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Reviews
A great detective novel: sharp, immensely readable, warm-hearted but cool-headed ... populated with dozens of memorable characters
Galbraith brings flair and wit to [his] reflections on the state of contemporary publishing ... [He] takes the existing strengths of the genre and uses them as the building blocks for [his] own considerable storytelling gift, crafting books crammed with memorable characters that make irresistible reading ... There are aspects of the traditional English crime novel reaching right back to the golden age of Christie, Sayers, Allingham and Marsh ... The Cuckoo's Calling was a calling card for a series that has legs
The Silkworm is a deeply satisfying work of crime fiction, more complex and darker than its predecessor
A superb and polished thriller . . . an ingenious whodunit
Fast-paced and entertaining . . . Strike has all kinds of potential. It'd be a crime not to keep up with him
An enticingly macabre whodunit . . . taut and believable
A properly addictive whodunit. And in the unlikely pairing of ungainly Strike and his clever young assistant, Galbraith has created an investigative duo with spark and empathy
Enthralling, not only for its twists and turns, but for the fun of the teamwork
Bring on the next one, please ... [Galbraith] writes with wit and affection for detective-novel tradition ... and races us through a twisty plot so smoothly that you won't notice as the hours tick by
An absorbing puzzle with vivid characters . . . Robert Galbraith deserves the inevitable bestseller
A pacy detective story . . . moreish
An intelligent and captivating drama driven by fascinatingly real characters. This is storytelling at its very best
Pacy, unputdownable . . . I can't wait for the next one
Teems with sly humour, witty asides and intelligence ... A pleasure to read
If [Galbraith] had as much fun writing The Silkworm as I did reading it, [he] had a blast
A damn good read ... It's a book to gulp down
A gimlet eye for detail and beautifully crafted plot make it a delight from start to finish, and a perfect summer read
An unputdownable tale of malice and murder in a toxic literary world . . . this almost preposterously compulsive page-turner is irresistible summer reading
An atmospheric, propulsive narrative
You are absolutely carried along ... Well written, exciting
Huge credit is due to Galbraith in portraying [Strike] so vividly . . . Galbraith has pulled off a thoroughly enjoyable classic and I'm already looking forward to Strike's next outing
An entertaining novel in which the most compelling characters are not the killer or the victim, but the detectives charged with solving the crime
