The Silkworm

The Mystery You Need to Solve

Grumpy, lumbering, brilliant, one-legged English detective Cormoran Strike is back this summer in a new mystery by Robert Galbraith (aka J.K. Rowling, author of the Harry Potter series). This time, Strike is tracking down missing Owen Quine—a writer whose latest novel, Bombyx Mori, trashes the entire London literary community. In addition to the various authors, editors and agents who Quine has parodied and enraged, he's managed to upset his lonely wife, his less-than-talented lover and a mysterious, knife-wielding woman in a cloak. When Quine eventually turns up dead—murdered and drenched in acid—Strike must investigate the real story behind each character in Bombyx Mori— a sly commentary by Galbraith (aka Rowling) about truth in a fictional book written inside another fictional book written under a fictional name. And yet...it's the surprise-laden quest to find the murderer (forget it, you'll never guess) and the romantic pining of Strike (both for his whip-smart, generous assistant and his beautiful, narcissistic ex-girlfriend) that makes this book too compelling to put to down—even as a 464-page hardback. Lug it to the beach, the country, the backyard—and beyond.

— Leigh Newman