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!

The sixth instalment of Robert Galbraith Cormoran Strike (C. B. Strike in the US) television series will be with us in time for Christmas. Episodes 1 and 2 of The Ink Black Heart will be released on 16th/17th December 2024 and episodes 3 and 4 will follow on 23rd/24th December 2024 on BBC One in the UK. No dates yet for international release, but I will be posting reviews here on Hogwarts Professor as they are released in the UK.

One reason for the for the success of the show is the wonderful chemistry between the leads: Holliday Grainger and Tom Burke. Radio Times magazine released an article today with some lovely comments detailing his commitment to continuing with the series.

Burke told Radio Times: “She (Rowling) comes on set sometimes and will occasionally spill something like ‘There’ll be another scene in this place that’s quite important’, which is always intriguing.

“It’s a really precious job for me, it’s woven itself into my life in a very particular way.”

“Holliday and I have talked about it a lot, and we feel like the currency of it has so much to do with the slow burn arc of it, not the individual stories, and that’s why it feels so worthwhile playing it through to the end.”

Yesterday the BBC released the first official trailer for the new series. Let me know what you think in the comments.