I am unashamedly guilty of being in awe of J.K. Rowling. This respectful admiration of being a long-standing fangirl is not only limited to her impressive lineup featuring Potter World but also her ventures into the mystery genre as Rober Galbraith. So, it’s only natural that I have followed the troublesome but triumphant journey of the detective duo-Cormoran Strike and Robin Ellacot from their first adventure till this latest instalment called The Ink Black Heart.
This mammoth 1000+ page novel revolves around the eponymous animation series called The Ink Black Heart. Although our detective duo has never heard about this famous and controversial animated series before, they have to get themselves acquainted with it due to the unexpected and brutal murder of its co-creator, Edie Ledwell. As it turns out, Edie had been facing toxic and continuous online harassment instigated by a game co-founder on social media for a few years. This barrage of abuse had taken a toll on Edie’s mental health, and she was paranoid about getting seriously hurt as a result of it.
Unfortunately, her worst fears come true when she is tragically murdered and her partner- Josh, is gravely injured with life-altering injuries, leading him to emergency care for months altogether. The prime suspect, as mentioned by Edie before her untimely death, is named Anomie, who happens to be the co-creator of Drek’s Game, an online game based on The Ink Black Heart.
Two creators built Drek’s game and ran it with the help of moderators. Two of these moderators claim to have a dossier containing proof that Anomie and Edie are the same person; therefore, Edie was running this hateful campaign of online abuse to garner sympathy and popularity for their upcoming movie based on their famous cartoons.
Although not all moderators share this opinion, the two in question could convince another moderator who happened to be an acquaintance of Eddie and Josh. That led them to draw out for a meeting at the Highgate Cemetery, a secluded spot famous among series and game lovers as the original inspiration for their cartoons. As this meeting turns to fatal events, there is little that Cormoran Strike and Robin Ellacott can do as they have already referred Edie to cyber crime specialists and need to be made aware of the background of all this ill-fated incident.
Eventually, our dynamic detective duo is hired by the studio responsible for producing the movie adaptation of The Ink Black Heart. Edie’s uncle also backs this decision as her only surviving family, alongside her agent, to see through all the mystery surrounding Drek’s Game, which has perpetuated such a vicious online hate campaign for years.
The more Strike and Robin try to dig deeper into the world of online gaming, animation series, toxic polarising fandom and social media campaigns, the more they face challenges like false identities, the dual nature of real vs real personas, online abuse cases and mental stress. It certainly takes a toll on Robin’s health as she actively becomes part of the Drek’s Game under a false identity.
Simultaneously, Strike and Robin’s relationship becomes awkward when she doesn’t respond to his kissing on her birthday evening in an encouraging way. Eventually, he drifts to another woman called Madeline, who belongs to the same high society set as his ex-fiancé Charlotte. By not coming out clean about his ongoing affair with Madeline, Strike complicates his relationship with Robin. Thus, they are distancing themselves away on a personal level to become platonic friends once again. Each of them expects more than that from the other but cannot express it due to its complexities.
All this drama is played out throughout this book, where Strike and Ellacott agency’s backstory provides the humane nuances required for such a complicated plotline. And yes, the storyline becomes so tangled that you have to go back and get yourself familiar with a few key characters more than once. Such familiarity is crucial in such a tightly wound but complex storyline where each character is thoroughly fleshed out and presented with their backgrounds, personalities and quirks.
Like I said before, I highly recommend you knock on the doors of the Cormoran Strike and Robin Ellacott Detective Agency as soon as possible. So, let’s head to Denmark Street now.