Bombyx Mori is the Latin moniker for the domesticated silkmoth, which in its larvae stage is boiled to extract silk. Galbraith/Rowling is playing cryptic mindgames with her readers. Quine’s last sighting was at a famous London restaurant having a very public stoush with his agent who has declared the book unpublishable. The dowdy Leonora is concerned that Owen’s disappearance has something to do with the manuscript of his latest roman à clef featuring a cast of literary enemies in a scandalous allegory with the unappealing title Bombyx Mori. Having published two difficult and obscene allegorical novels, troublesome author Owen Quine has gone AWOL and his wife Leonora and daughter Orlando would like Strike to bring him home. Judging by the bestseller lists, this is a joy squillions of readers are already sharing – begging the questions why and how? What’s the appeal of an undeniably retro crime series featuring a surly-looking, ex-army private detective with the unlikely name of Cormoran Strike? While The Cuckoo’s Calling saw the one-legged Strike (he lost the other one serving his country) navigating the perils of celebrity culture and high fashion, in The Silkworm, Strike is confronted with the petty rivalries and grand egos of a ‘‘fictional’’ London literary scene. Rowling has suggested of her recent venture into crime fiction, has been a ‘‘pure joy’’. ‘‘Writing as Robert Galbraith,’’ Harry Potter creator J.K.
The Silkworm ROBERT GALBRAITH Sphere, $32.99
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