After 23 months of anticipation, an announcement from J.K. Rowling (aka Robert Galbraith) came early December that she finished the sixth book in her Cormoran Strike detective series. There was strong anticipation as the Strike series is perhaps the most exciting active detective series on bookshelves. The last installment — Troubled Blood — sold 64,000 copies within the U.K. in the first week of its release in September of 2020. It was the top-selling book in the U.K., the most amount of copies the series has sold in one week in the country and double that of the first-week sales of its predecessor, book four, Lethal White. Those numbers showed that over the two-year gap between releases, the fan base behind the series has grown dramatically.
The series features a strong lead character in Cormoran Strike. In Strike, Galbraith has crafted a rich, detailed and meaningful backstory for his lead. It is the depth of his story, the depth of the supporting cast: including Strike’s partner Robin Ellacott, his family mother Leda, father Jonny Rokeby and half-sister Lucy (among others), his friends including Shanker, Nick, Ilsa, Dave and Richard, as well as the growing detective agency that generates the kind of strong interest that this one generates from its readers.
Soon after the statement that the writing of book six is finished, came notes from the publisher of a release date and title. Book six is titled The Ink Black Heart and will be released on August 30, 2022.
Now, a second wait commences: The wait we fans must endure as the book goes through its editorial process, marketing and then publication. That wait can be even more anxious than waiting for news on the writing process if you don’t have anything to distract you because you have a date to look forward to.
Yet, wait we will. As the devoted Strike fans wait, here is what you should expect to see from The Ink Black Heart, a book I firmly expect to be the best yet for a handful of reasons I will get to at the end:
– Strike and Robin moving closer to intimacy. I think this has to be the most awaited plot point by readers of the series. There’s no doubt Galbraith has teased readers with moving her two main characters in the direction of becoming more than just business partners and best friends. Each has been constantly thinking about the other since the last couple of months of book three’s (Career of Evil) events in 2011. Book four Lethal White takes place in the summer of 2012 spanning May to mid August with the pair continually thinking about each other, then book five Troubled Blood enters the fray covering 2013 through to early October of 2014 with the partners continually wondering about the other’s love life until, finally, in the final scene of the book, Strike takes Robin out to a romantic celebratory birthday dinner.
That said I wouldn’t be shocked to see more friendly moments in The Ink Black Heart rather than overt sexual advances and dating. Depending on how many more books Galbraith has planned, it could be that the author is waiting until nearer the end of the series to unite the pair in a romantic coupling so as not to side track the detective agency. Though, again, that is purely speculation on my part. Maybe book six is the time. It sure seems that way given neither being romantically engaged with anyone else and the constant foreshadowing of their respective interest.
– The Agency growing. The end of Troubled Blood saw a replacement hire of Michelle Greenstreet for Saul Morris who Strike sacked for his sexual harassment of Robin. Her addition restores Strike’s number of contractors to three in Andy Hutchins, Sam Barclay and now Greenstreet. Don’t be surprised to see a fourth contractor introduced along with Greenstreet (who we never met in book five) to handle what should be an ever expanding case load for the Agency.
– More family/personal drama. In each of the novels of the Strike series, family dynamics have played a major part and I wouldn’t expect things to change in the 1,000+ page behemoth that The Ink Black Heart is listed at. Some elements to keep an eye on are Strike’s friends Nick and Ilsa, Strike’s former flame Charlotte Ross, and Robin’s ex-husband Matthew with what will be his new wife Sarah Shadlock.
– Watch out for the added dynamic of Michelle Greenstreet. The fact that Strike hired another female detective to the agency’s ranks is important. It should take some pressure of Robin and even the office dynamics a bit. All of the moments in Troubled Blood when Robin felt she wasn’t being respected as a partner should die. And I see the possibility that she becomes a strong character in her own right, maybe helping to foster a strong team unity at the agency which Strike wishes to create ever since his discussion with Dr. Gupta.
– A multitude of cases. With the agency growing, more contractors joining the team and Strike’s ambitions to build a major enterprise, look for Galbraith to top the eight cases the agency works on over the course of the full year which Troubled Blood covered in addition to the major investigation. It will certainly test the author’s creativity, but look for somewhere around 12-15 if The Ink Black Heart covers a similar 12-month time frame and adds another contractor as I expect.
– More new locations around the UK, perhaps Europe. The Strike series is also known for traveling to the many various towns and villages around Great Britain and even into Scotland. Galbraith has taken us into dozens of UK’s towns, expect to see some new spots in The Ink Black Heart. I’m curious if the author will finally have our favorites detectives travel abroad.
– More historical mentions, music and quotations. Though a work of fiction, the Strike series is told as if going through the real world 2010’s timeline of the United Kingdom on planet Earth. We know that Troubled Blood concluded with Robin’s 30th birthday, October 8, 2014. Given previous author statements regarding The Ink Black Heart’s story, we know the timeline for events enters well into 2015. The author also loves to work in current music, literary and music quotes as well as mythology.
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