DubaiReader

I have never read any Harry Potter and would probably not have read this if I hadn't been given the unabridged audio CDs by a friend. Happily it turned out to be an unexpected combination of good narration and mystery and kept my attention to the end.

Private investigator, Cormoran Strike, is visited by Eleanor Quine when her author husband can't be found. Owen Quine is known for his dramatic disappearances, so the alarm bells are slow to ring, but when Owen is found dead, Strike is the only person who believes that Eleanor is not guilty.

The character of Strike, a veteran of Afghanistan (where he lost half of one leg), is brought to life by the narration of Robert Glenister, as he attempts to make sense of the disappearance of the author. Just before he vanished, Quine released the manuscript of his new novel, full of insults and innuendos about the publishing community. Many people are angry and insulted and a whole host of possible murder suspects is produced.

Whilst I enjoyed the interaction between Strike and his assistant Robin, I was less convinced by Matthew, Robin's fiance, who objects to Robin's irregular hours and resents her devotion to her job. I hope the two of them make a go of it in subsequent books, because it seems just too obvious that they are heading for a split.

I was also not keen on the quotes at the beginning of every chapter. If you're reading, it's easy to skip these, but if you're listening they can become quite irritating. I've never understood why some authors feel that they are necessary at all.

I hadn't realised that I had started with book 2 of the series, not sure now, whether to go back to book 1 or move on to book 3.