The Ink Black Heart is the sixth detective novel in the Strike series (a seventh, The Running Grave, followed in September 2023) and formed part of the ongoing controversy surrounding Rowling following public statements the author has made on gender, biological essentialism, and the transgender community, as outlined here. Parallels have been drawn between criticisms levelled at the book’s animator character and those levelled at Rowling, leading some to characterise the novel as a fictionalised apologia.

In less fraught and more frivolous territory, fans of the Strike TV series continue to hope for leads Cormoran and Robin (who divorced her new husband Matt when he was found to have been cheating on her with an ex) to act on their obvious sexual chemistry.

Robin came into Strike’s life as an office temp who caught the gumshoe bug, and her engagement plus his various doomed dalliances have always kept them apart romantically. After years of pining, will the timing finally be right for their eyes to meet over a fresh corpse? Time (and well, anyone who’s already read the book) will tell.

The new episodes are expected to air on the BBC in December 2024 in the UK, and on HBO and Max in the US.

Danofgeek