New Twitter Header from London’s Chinatown: #3 Rupert Court

 Originally posted: April 20, 2023 by Louise Freeman 5 Comments

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A new and presumably The Running Grave header popped up yesterday.  As usual, our friends at Strikefans.com were quick to identify it as from London’s Rupert Court in the Soho area, near China Town. For fans of the TV series, it is the place where Robin laid flowers for Kara Wolfson.

What could it mean?  Possibilities abound.

1. A hat-tip to Ron Weasley actor Rupert Grint?
2. A connection to the mystery of the series, and particularly to the I Ching connection, given the location?
3. As other Strike Fans on twitter have noted, the round sign on the right has the initials, “C & R” at the top.  The business itself is apparently a Malaysian restaurant.  Could one or both of our favorite detective duo take note of the suggestive letters if they pass by, or, better yet, stop for a bite to eat?
4. Or, perhaps our heroes tail a suspect to the historic The Blue Posts pub?
5. The business on the left is a reflexology establishment, a traditional Asian healing practice. Could we get an echo of Career of Evil’s visit to the Thai massage parlor, in search of a clue?  Although, with her two feet, Robin might be a more convincing client than Strike for this one.
6. Though apparently upscale and respectable now, the area has a seedy history, with sex clubs and illegal gambling establishments predominating in the 1960’s.  Could some of these less-than savory establishments lingered into the 1970’s and have been part of Leda’s, as well as Kara’s, checkered past, perhaps even connecting somehow to the Norfolk commune?
7. Or, if the TV clip was a preview/hint,  maybe this heralds a return of Kara Wolfson’s presumptive killers, the Ricci’s?

I’m going out on a limb and guessing reflexology, but any of those would be fun.  Or maybe we’ll just enjoy a few more helpings of takeaway Singapore noodles. In any case, here’s another potential stop on the Serious Strikers London tour.

Misattribution of Arousal: More Evidence of Robin’s Psychology Training

 Originally Published: March 7, 2019 by Louise Freeman 3 Comments

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As most Hogpro readers know, I am a psychology professor/ neuroscientist/ behavior analyst, and therefore love looking for psychological themes in fiction. Most of my commentary has involved depictions of mental illness, though the Hunger Games and  Divergent provided a mountain of other themes, from personality theory to fear conditioning to neuroscience. Naturally, I was delighted to learned that Robin Ellacott had planned to major in psychology, prior to dropping out of uni, and I take special note of any use of her psychology training on the job.

This segment of Lethal White, where Robin tries to sort out her feelings for Cormoran, really jumped out at me.

Wasn’t it possible, she asked herself, when she was cried out at last, that she was confusing gratitude and friendship with something deeper? That she had mistaken her love of detection for love of the man who had given her the job? She admired Strike, of course, and was immensely fond of him. They had passed through many intense experiences together, so that it was natural to feel close to him, but was that love?

Whether she consciously remembers her coursework or not, Robin is demonstrating knowledge of a well-known psychological phenomenon, misattribution of arousal. More after the jump.

Louise’s First Look at Troubled Blood Cover and Synopsis.

 Originally published: July 11, 2020 by Louise Freeman 29 Comments

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It’s been a banner week. Not only does The Ickabog wrap up in characteristic JKR style, but Robert Galbraith releases the cover and summary blurb for the next in the Cormoran Strike series, Troubled Blood. We can already see the predicted echoes to Career of Evil. I think we can count on a more gruesome story. I’ll also take a look back at my earlier predictions and see how this new information requires adjusting them.

First the cover:  dark, befitting the book pegged as the nigredo of the series, with the title in blood-red letters.  The dial (which does not seem to have the Roman numeral XX on it, unlike the teaser video on Twitter) presumably refers to the astrological/tarot element promised in the book.  Some have theorized that this represents the Hampton Court Clock Tower.  I love the lamppost, but am a bit disappointed to see figures that look more like the TV Robin and Cormoran than the book.  Where’s Strike’s pube hair? 

Onto the blurb:  

Lethal White TV Production: Louise’s Review of the Bronte Strike 4 Adaptation

 Originally published:  October 11, 2020 by Louise Freeman 2 Comments

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We interrupt the fascinating discussion of Troubled Blood for a brief review of another recent Cormoran Strike release:  the Bronte Film and Television production of Lethal White for the BBC. It premiered on August 30 in the UK, and, at four episodes, was the longest Strike season to date. The most notable bit of casting was Robert Glenister, brilliant narrator of all five Strike audiobooks, as Jasper Chiswell. We Yanks haven’t had official access to the production yet, though it, like the other Strike series, will presumably turn up on Cinemax.

But, a YouTuber calling himself Nikolas Ravenclaw has posted all four episodes (with Greek subtitles) as well as the two Career of Evil episodes. US Strike fans might be well-advised to seek it out before the copyright police step in.

I have watched the series a couple of times and have written out my impressions here after the jump.  Many spoilers ahead!

Leda Strike’s Death: Murder by Action… or Inaction?

 Originally Published: January 24, 2021 by Louise Freeman 2 Comments

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Multiple Hogpro regulars have been speculating on the identity of Leda Strike’s killer recently, and cases have been made for pretty much every one of Strike’s family members, close friends and lovers (except Shanker–  I don’t think he’s been pegged yet…) The focus of this post will not be so much on the who, but on the how.

So far, Leda’s death as been speculated to be

• suicide
• murder
• murder faked as suicide
• suicide faked as murder, and even
• suicide faked as murder faked as suicide.*

I am going to propose it is none of the above, but an accident. But, an accident that Leda could have survived, except that someone deliberately declined to summon help, and let her die.

Headmaster John and Beatrice Groves have already written, at length, about the influence of P.D. James on Rowling/Galbraith’s work. Robin’s origin story, for instance, was clearly inspired by James’ creation, Cordelia Gray, who comes to work for a private detective as a secretary, and winds up as a sleuth herself. In another one of James’ novels, Devices and Desires, a character is haunted by the death of her father. The father was working in a garden when he accidentally cuts himself badly in the thigh. His two teenage children witness the accident, but, after years of abuse, including the implied sexual abuse of the daughter, the son refuses to let his sister summon help, and allows Daddy Dearest to bleed out, even though some basic first aid and rapid medical attention could have saved him. The daughter lives in fear that her brother will one day be found out as a murderer, albeit a passive rather than active one.

Could something similar have happened to Leda? We know the squat was a communal living situation, with other residents besides Leda, Whittaker, baby Switch and occasionally Shanker. Yet, conveniently there were no witnesses to see who gave Leda the fatal dose of heroin, even though it sounds like a roomful of the “raggle-taggle,” most of which would eventually testify against Whittaker at his trial, arrived shortly thereafter.

While Shanker had been negotiating a good price on a kilo of premium Bolivian cocaine in Kentish Town, Leda Strike had been slowly stiffening on a filthy mattress. The finding of the port-mortem had been that she had ceased to breathe a full six hours before any of the squat-dwellers tried to rouse her from what they thought was a profound slumber.

But suppose there was someone who witnessed the injection and discerned that Leda’s life was in imminent danger, but chose to walk away and let the drug run its course?

More on this hypothesis after the jump.

JKR Tweets Strike News: “Ink Black Heart” as Title for Strike 6 Confirmed.

 Originally Published: December 3, 2021 by Louise Freeman 11 Comments

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JKR dropped a fascinating tweet today regarding the sixth Strike book. The graphic makes it almost certain that The Ink Black Heart, as Strike Sleuths here had already guessed in April, is the title.

Update:  Another tweet confirmed that The Ink Black Heart is it!

Let the eager anticipation and predictions begin!

Is Ryan Murphy Part of the Strike Pantheon…. As Poseidon?

 Originally published: October 11, 2022 by Louise Freeman 2 Comments

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I haven’t dived into the mythic elements of Cormoran Strike as much as my fellow faculty here, mainly because it is out of my area of expertise.  However,  a couple of my comments on one of John’s lengthy posts on the topic, I speculated that:

1. If Strike and Robin are stand-ins for Cupid and Psyche, their eventual child should be a girl with a name meaning “Pleasure.” and
2. Charlotte could be an anti-Psyche in the same way Morris was an anti-Eros.  That thought let to the idea that her daughter with Ross might have a name meaning “Pain” or “Sorrow”– a moniker fitting for Jago’s fourth unwanted not-the-heir-child. I suggested Lolita, both short for Dolores and a nod to Nabokov’s most famous female protagonist.

As usual, I wasn’t exactly right, but the child’s name is “Mary,” for which one meaning is “bitter.”  More importantly, this makes Charlotte’s daughter a namesake to the original “Our Lady of Sorrows.”  (Aside:  her brother’s name, James, derives from Jacob and means “supplanter”–  fitting for one who is destined to receive the full inheritance at the expense of his siblings).

With the small amount of confidence that half-guess gave me, I’m going to plunge into a raging ocean of speculation:  that Robin’s new beau, DCI Ryan Murphy, will also play a mythic role in the series. Furthermore, he will play the role of that ill-tempered deity of oceans and horses, and father of Percy Jackson, Poseidon (Neptune to Romans).

Find out why after the jump.