Review of THE INK BLACK HEART by Robert Galbraith

3 Stars 

This is the sixth book in the Strike Cormoran/Robin Ellacott series.

A troubled young woman, Edie Ledwell, comes to the agency, but Robin sends her elsewhere because they have too many cases and don’t specialize in cybercrime.  Shortly afterwards Edie, the co-creator of a highly successful YouTube animation series, is found murdered.  The main suspect is Anomie, the co-creator of a computer game based on the animation, who has been spewing online hate directed at Edie after her dismissal of the fan-generated game and the sale of the series to Netflix.  Cormoran and Robin are hired to discover Anomie’s identity and determine if he/she is the murderer.

The book is over 1,000 pages so it is not a quick read.  Entire chapters are devoted to gamer online chats, usually more than one occurring simultaneously.  Many characters have both real-world names and online names so it becomes difficult to keep track and remember who is who.  There’s often a case of information overload:  too much information about too many people.  There is not a lot of action or suspense.  Suspects are put under surveillance and interviews are conducted.  Robin spends a lot of time online playing the game as a means of getting information. 

My problems with the novel are the same I had with the previous two books in the series:  “This is a lengthy book with lots of twists and turns and red herrings.  The plot is so complex with so many details that the reader will be at a loss to tie together all the information into a coherent whole” and “There are some predictable elements.  . . .  the women with whom Strike has liaisons cause problems for Strike and confusion for Robin.  And there are the inevitable conversations where Strike and Robin talk at cross purposes and fail to understand each other.”

The see-saw trajectory of the relationship between the protagonists is becoming repetitive and tiresome.  Strike becomes involved with yet another woman who is obviously a stand-in for Robin, the woman he really wants.  Robin, not understanding the situation, then thinks about connecting with another man.  This book does not really advance the romance.

The novel does touch on some serious issues:  toxic fandom, misogyny in gaming, and right-wing extremism.  But it’s much too long.  Some judicious editing would have been helpful.