Episode 4 opens quite literally with a bang… Sarah, not knowing what was coming, was literally shocked. “You can’t go in there. Half the ceiling has come down” said Strike. A further crash. “There goes the rest of it” says the stalwart, but shaken Pat.

The Jago Ross subplot is progressed this time by Robin rather than Midge rushing to his daughter rescue and judo throwing the ghastly Ross to get away.

Adaptations necessarily leave out much of our best loved dialogue. When my favourite line from the book was used, I had to fight the urge to rewind and play it again. Robin and Cormoran are having their final interview with Vernon Dursley… sorry.. Grant Ledwell. “Might need a bit of good cop / bad cop.” said Strike. “How bad do you want me to be?” Robin replied.

From a book reader’s point of view, this season delivered in spades with the pacing and character introductions improving as the series progressed. This must have been the most challenging of the series so far, and could easily have descended into a confusing mess. The story climax was tense and exciting, but the clue progression did not make Sarah feel cheated that the villain was only briefly seen in episode 1. We both agree that the acting, particularly from Tom and Holliday was first rate, with the closing scenes moving both of us very much.

The HBO series is due to air January 23rd, in the mean time merry Christmas one and all!

Episode 3 opens with Barclay alive, hooray! and ambushing the ambusher. The vile Phillip Ormond is in custody geting his just deserts meanwhile Anomie is inviting all to Comic-Con. When asked to look for costumes Pat, who plays brilliantly asks – “Are we doing Kids parties now?”

Vernon Dursley… sorry… Grant Ledwell is interviewed in Denmark Street and makes the key mistake, moving from singular to plural when talking of the letters buried with Edie. Sarah, who has not read the books, picked up on this immediately, proving her far better at solving detective fiction than I will ever be!

Tom Burke is satisfyingly comic in his Darth Vader outfit, and fandom leader Yasmin Weatherhead is very recognisable both from the book and heady days of Potter-mania. Episode three ends with the death of Vikas. A lot has happened in less than an hour, but with clever pacing, this never seems confusing and there is a definite feeling that progress is being made. Join me tomorrow for the conclusion!

With the announcement that the manuscript for The Hallmarked Man is now (finally!) complete, speculation will inevitably begin as to when the title will finally arrive on the bookshelves. Below I have a table where I’ve been keeping track of the title reveal, manuscript completion, cover reveal and publication day for each Strike title after The Silkworm. I’ve checked the dates against this handy page over at StrikeFans.com. 

The later, and longer books take between 221 to 270 days from draft completion to book shelf. The Ink Black Heart is perhaps an outlier with lots of text chat to format, so my guess is the earliest we will see the finished product is 25th July 2025. This is assuming the publishers want to release then. Strike is not an obvious beach read, particularly in its colossal hard-back format. The publishers may want a later publication to appear fresher for the Christmas market.

This episode kicks off with Robin, in her Jessica Robins persona, visiting Highgate Cemetery and meeting up with Pez. This is a visual treat for those of us who haven’t yet been able to visit and remains my visual cue for the book.

The characters we love to hate! A reintroduction of Charlotte and her messy divorce from Jago, and the deliciously awful Inigo Upcott. It is clear at this point (when Charlotte tipped Robin to Madeline’s existence, and similarity to Robin) that Madeline will not be making an appearance outside of voice calls and text messages.

To create a thrilling episode 2 cliffhanger, we have Barclay tailing Phillip Ormond and discovering his disposal of Edie Ledwell’s phone. Somehow Ormond discovers his tail, and the episode ends with Barclay being run off the road! I couldn’t help but grumble to Sarah “well that didn’t happen in the books…”, but it definitely added sufficient tension to make sure she wanted to see the next episode.

 Adapting any of the the Strike-Ellacott series for the screen comes with its own challenges. None more so that the sixth in the series The Ink Black Heart. I found the text logs, particularly the moderator channels a difficult read in book form, and practically impossible in audio book. With the simultaneity of messages providing vital clues in the original text. I was very interested  how the most ‘on line’ of the series would adapt to the small screen. To help get a non-book readers perspective I will be watching the series with my wife, Sarah, who long ago fell in love with the television series, but has never read the books.

We both agree that Strike on the box is perfect viewing for cold and dark winter evenings, and The Ink Black Heart didn’t disappoint. Muted lighting, chunky sweaters and delightfully retro seventies furnishing in Denmark Street made for a seasonal and comforting watch. Adapting novels of this length will always be a challenge, but Tom Edge (who is also adapting The Christmas Pig for animation) seems to have managed this magnificently. Of course a lot of my favourite lines didn’t make it to the script, from the arcade to leaving the Ritz lasted only three minutes, but there is at least one clear hat tip to the book readers. Robin’s open in the Rivoli bar is to ask Strike: “how did you learn about sheep diseases?”. An unlikely line to use at an intimate tête-à-tête, but the following ribald tale of the flashing knight of the realm, superbly acted by both the leads lent the necessary intimacy, and produced in Sarah, a genuine distress at the rebuffed ‘almost kiss’ by the taxi stand.

We are yet to see Highgate Cemetery, but High Grove commune is just as I imagined it, complete with the Bohemian residents. There is a large cast to introduce, and it is yet more justified praise to Tom Edge that this didn’t feel forced, and the hour long episode kept it’s pacing. Toward the end we learn how the in game chat is likely to be shown, both visually and with a crude, computer generated, voice. We are left with Anomie confessing to the murder, now we just need to find out who that is!