The Silkworm
| Company type | Novel |
|---|---|
| Industry | Publishing, Literature |
| Founded | 2014-06-19 |
| Founder | J. K. Rowling (as Robert Galbraith) |
| Products | Crime fiction novel |
The Silkworm is a crime fiction novel authored by British writer J. K. Rowling, released under the alias Robert Galbraith. As the second installment in the Cormoran Strike detective series, it debuted on 19 June 2014. The series continued with subsequent titles: Career of Evil (2015), Lethal White (2018), Troubled Blood (2020), The Ink Black Heart (2022), and The Running Grave (2023).
Plot summary
Several months after resolving the Lula Landry investigation, private detective Cormoran Strike is engaged by Leonora Quine to locate her novelist husband, Owen, who has vanished. Owen's latest manuscript, Bombyx Mori, had stirred controversy due to its disturbing content involving sexual violence, torture, cannibalism, and defamatory depictions of individuals known to him. Prior to his disappearance, the novel had been leaked. Strike conducts interviews with those closely connected to Owen: his lover Kathryn Kent, her ward Phillip "Pippa" Midgley, Leonora’s literary agent Elizabeth Tassel, editor Jerry Waldegrave, publisher Daniel Chard, and Owen’s former associate Michael Fancourt. Among these individuals, accusations of murder and ghostwriting are exchanged.
Tensions rise in Strike's working relationship with his assistant Robin Ellacott as personal issues emerge; Robin struggles with feeling overlooked while managing her duties alongside her engagement to Matthew. The strain lessens when Strike uncovers Owen’s body, mutilated and arranged to reflect the conclusion of the manuscript. The Metropolitan Police detain Leonora for the homicide, prompting Strike to undertake efforts to clear her name. Concurrently, Robin faces challenges stemming from Matthew’s familial problems and addresses her involvement in the case with Strike.
As evidence increasingly implicates Leonora, Strike shifts focus onto Fancourt, whose portrayal in the manuscript contrasts sharply with his history with Owen. Years earlier, after Fancourt’s wife Elspeth died by suicide following severe criticism of her novel and an anonymously published parody, Fancourt held Owen and Tassel responsible. Strike concludes that Bombyx Mori functions as an allegorical work penned by someone impersonating Owen. Employing a strategy that includes his half-brother Alexander, Strike confronts Fancourt and Tassel at a social gathering and reveals Tassel as both the actual author and murderer.
Tassel had been subjected to blackmail by Owen for two decades concerning her role in creating the parody. Upon Owen suggesting Bombyx Mori, she orchestrated a plan: collaborating with him on faking his disappearance, rewriting the manuscript herself, killing Owen, and framing Leonora for the crime. When attempting to flee, Tassel is apprehended through coordinated efforts between Strike, Robin, and Alexander.
Following these developments, Leonora is freed; Fancourt acknowledges the artistic value of the original manuscript and intends to oversee its publication introduction; as a gesture of appreciation, Strike enrolls Robin in investigative training courses as a Christmas present.
Main characters
- Cormoran Strike – A veteran of the Afghanistan war who lost part of his leg due to a bomb explosion. He gained minor fame owing to his rock star father and his success in solving a prominent murder case.
- Robin Ellacott – Strike’s assistant and secretary with a lifelong passion for criminal investigations who is now advancing toward becoming a full-time investigator.
Bombyx Mori personas
- Owen Quine – Initially celebrated as a pioneering writer, he was unable to match the acclaim of his first book, Hobart's Sin. Characterized by vanity and self-doubt, he was tolerated mainly for his unfulfilled promise.
- Quine is portrayed as Bombyx, an ambitious yet unproven prodigy who idolizes others only to become their victim.
- Leonora Quine – Owen’s spouse and the leading suspect in his homicide, responsible for their daughter with intellectual disabilities.
- Leonora takes the form of Succuba, a demon who dominates and mistreats Bombyx.
- Kathryn Kent – Quine’s partner and a writer of "fantasy erotica," largely dismissed by publishers in London.
- Kathryn is depicted as Harpy, an alluring woman marked by a deformity representing breast cancer.
- Pippa Midgley – A young transgender individual preparing for surgery, guided by Quine and linked to Kathryn through literary ambitions.
- Pippa appears as Epicoene, Harpy’s adopted child who seeks liberation and whose voice terrifies Bombyx.
- Elizabeth Tassel – A failed author turned literary agent on the outskirts of London’s publishing world, notorious for intimidating her employees.
- Tassel is represented as The Tick, who parasitically exploits Bombyx’s abilities.
- Jerry Waldegrave – Quine’s long-suffering editor whose professional standing and marriage deteriorate due to Quine’s conduct, resulting in alcoholism.
- Jerry is embodied as The Cutter, a troll-like figure that violently destroys Bombyx’s creations.
- Michael Fancourt – A current bestselling novelist advocating that art should incite social debate but known for misogynistic tendencies.
- Michael is portrayed as Vainglorious, a fraud who abuses his wife under the pretense of artistic inspiration.
- Daniel Chard – Head of Roper Chard, a London-based publisher specializing in contemporary literature; socially awkward with suggestions of being a closeted homosexual.
- Daniel is depicted as Phallus Impudicus, a murderer who steals talent and defiles corpses.
Additional characters
- Matthew Cunliffe – Robin's fiancé who initially disapproved of her detective work alongside Strike but eventually accepted her profession despite lingering doubts.
- Richard Anstis – A detective with the Metropolitan Police involved in the incident that cost Strike his leg; regarded as competent yet unimaginative.
- Orlando Quine – The intellectually disabled daughter of Quine, notably absent from the Bombyx Mori manuscript and seemingly the author's genuine concern.
- Lucy – Strike’s maternal half-sister who consistently offers support and encourages him to find stability.
- Alexander 'Al' Rokeby – Strike’s paternal half-brother and his only connection on that side of the family.
- Nina Lascelles – A junior editor at Roper Chard who assists Strike in acquiring the Bombyx Mori manuscript; harbors unreturned romantic feelings toward him.
- Joe North – An American author and friend to both Quine and Fancourt; deceased from AIDS; his vacant home becomes the murder location.
- Christian Fisher – Editor at a specialized publishing firm responsible for leaking the Bombyx Mori manuscript.
- Dominic Culpepper – A tabloid journalist who employs Strike to investigate elite misconduct, surprised when Strike refuses to engage in phone-hacking tactics.
- Charlotte Campbell Ross – Strike’s former lover, now engaged elsewhere but continues to provoke him.
Reception
Val McDermid, writing for The Guardian, commended the novel but noted that some descriptions of London felt overly detailed, implying that Rowling’s tendency toward elaborate world-building might be excessive when depicting well-known settings. The book received a nomination for the Gold Dagger Award presented by the Crime Writers' Association in 2015.
Television
On 10 December 2014, it was revealed that the novels would be transformed into a television adaptation on BBC One, starting with The Cuckoo's Calling. Rowling served as executive producer through her company, Brontë Film and Television.
By September 2016, Tom Burke had been selected to portray Cormoran Strike, followed by Holliday Grainger joining in November 2016 as Robin Ellacott, Strike's assistant. The cast also includes Kerr Logan, Monica Dolan, Lia Williams, Jeremy Swift, Dorothy Atkinson, Dominic Mafham, Tim McInnerny, Peter Sullivan, Sargon Yelda, Sarah Gordy, and Natasha O'Keeffe.
The two-part adaptation of The Silkworm was broadcast in September 2017.