Ink Black Heart – the Dedications

August 15, 2022 by 1 Comment

Sunday morning the super fans at The Tottenham posted on their Instagram account a clip of Robert Glenister reading the dedication page from The Ink Black Heart.

It is a short clip, but allows us to begin our investigations.

To Steve and Lorna, my family, my friends, and to [two]  bulwarks against Anomie, with love.

Steve and Lorna are almost certainly the same as Steve and Lorna Barnes from the acknowledgements in Silkworm.

Lorna and Steve Barnes, who enabled me to drink in The Bay Horse, examine the tomb of Sir Marmaduke Wyvill and find out that Robin’s hometown is pronounced ‘Mass-um’ not ‘Mash-em’, saving me much future embarrassment.

The Bay Horse and the tomb of Sir Marmaduke are all located in Mashem, so it’s reasonable to assume the Barnes’s are local to this area. It’s also reasonable to assume this Lorna is the sister to Neil Murray, who acted as bridesmaid at the Rowling-Murray wedding and teased her about meeting Morrisey.

There to more than one way read the dedication:

To Lorna and Steve, [they are] my family, [and they are also] my friends, and [they are also] two bulwarks against anomie.

To Lorna and Steve, [and to:] my family, [and also to:] my friends, and [also] to[:] bulwarks against Anomie.

The first credits Lorna and Steve as being more than family and friends, it credits them with being her moral centre, despite the opportunities that money and influence might present. See Prof Freeman’s excellent primer to anomie. The second gives a broader dedication to all who help against anonymous trolls and internet ne’er-do-wells. Which it is will finally be revealed on publication.

Speaking of internet ne’er-do-wells the twitter account for Anomie has found this dedication, and thanked the author for the mention:

Filed Under: Cormoran Strike, Nick Jeffery

Strike on Twitter – Sixteen Characters in Search of a Story

August 10, 2022 by 16 Comments

Last week, while idly scrolling through Twitter, I came upon a fun bunch of accounts created after characters from the Strike novels. Two in particular caught my eye: Anomie was apparently created very quickly after the new plot synopsis was released, and Roddy Fforbes, who we never meet and is mentioned only twice in Troubled Blood. 

I have collected below the new accounts, while we are waiting for The Ink Black Heart why not follow? They are all acted in good humour, and not above poking fun at the ‘official’ accounts. I predict lots of shenanigans, as these accounts discover how their new story unfolds.

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Filed Under: Cormoran Strike, Nick Jeffery, Twitter

P Wayne Stauffer – Starting Harry Potter

July 31, 2022 by 4 Comments

P Wayne Stauffer, English Instructor at Southeast Houston Community College has written a Guest Post – his review of the new Wizarding World initiative to engage first time young readers in the stories. Today is the birthday of both Harry Potter and his creator, so what better time to refresh our memories on the series publishing history, and what this new initiative can bring for the young.

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Filed Under: Guest Posts, Potter Fandom

Beatrice Groves – The Ink Black Heart – Uncovering the synopsis clues

June 30, 2022 by 13 Comments

This morning we finally have the cover for The Ink Black Heart, complete with a plot teaser from the publisher. A few hours earlier than expected, the details were released by Apple Books before 9:30 am BST, before the expected 2:00 pm BST reveal from the Robert Galbraith twitter account. Thank you SEFiles podcast for the tip! The wait was too much for @RGalbraith who released the cover at 11:30 am.

Beatrice Groves, Research Lecturer and tutor at Trinity College, Oxford, and author of  Literary Allusion in Harry Potter, has written a Hogwarts Professor Guest Post: The Ink Black Heart – Uncovering the synopsis clues. Join me after the jump for Prof. Groves’ look at what the cover and publisher’s blurb can mean for The Ink Black Heart.

Publisher Description:

The Latest instalment in the highly acclaimed, internationally bestselling Strike series finds Cormoran and Robin ensnared in another winding, wicked case.

When frantic, dishevelled Edie Ledwell appears in the office begging to speak to her, private detective Robin Ellacott doesn’t know quite what to make of the situation. The co-creator of a popular cartoon, The Ink Black Heart, Edie is being persecuted by a mysterious online figure who goes by the pseudonym of Anomie. Edie is desperate to uncover Anomie’s true identity.

Robin decides that the agency can’t help with this – and thinks nothing more of it until a few days later, when she reads the shocking news that Edie has been tasered and then murdered in Highgate Cemetery, the location of The Ink Black Heart.

Robin and her business partner, Cormoran Strike, become drawn into the quest to uncover Anomie’s true identity. But with a complex web of online aliases, business interests and family conflicts to navigate, Strike and Robin find themselves embroiled in a case that stretches their powers of deduction to the limits – and which threatens them in new and horrifying ways…

A gripping, fiendishly clever mystery, The Ink Black Heart is a true tour-de-force.

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Filed Under: Beatrice Groves, Cormoran Strike, Ring Composition

Beatrice Groves – Highgate Cemetery and The Ink Black Heart

June 18, 2022 by 8 Comments

Beatrice Groves, Research Lecturer and tutor at Trinity College, Oxford, and author of  Literary Allusion in Harry Potter, has written a Hogwarts Professor Guest Post: Highgate Cemetery and The Ink Black Heart. Join me after the jump for Prof. Groves’ quick look at what J. K. Rowling’s new Twitter Header can mean for The Ink Black Heart.

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Filed Under: Beatrice Groves, Cormoran Strike, Twitter