This May we are continuing the Strike Readalong with The Silkworm, book two in the Cormoran Strike series.
When novelist Owen Quine goes missing, his wife calls in private detective Cormoran Strike. At first, she just thinks he has gone off by himself for a few days – as he has done before – and she wants Strike to find him and bring him home.
But as Strike investigates, it becomes clear that there is more to Quine’s disappearance than his wife realises. The novelist has just completed a manuscript featuring poisonous pen-portraits of almost everyone he knows. If the novel were published it would ruin lives – so there are a lot of people who might want to silence him.
And when Quine is found brutally murdered in bizarre circumstances, it becomes a race against time to understand the motivation of a ruthless killer, a killer unlike any he has encountered before . . .
READLONG
Reading Group Questions
1. Were you surprised when the killer was revealed? Did you suspect them, or were you convinced it was someone else?
2. The characters in the case are a colourful lot. Which character did you sympathise with the most?
3. What did you think about Michael Fancourt? What are your thoughts on his unconventional opinions during his televised interview? Did you suspect him at any point?
4. Which was the most suspenseful part of the story for you?
5. How does Strike and Robin’s relationship change throughout the novel? How did it affect your opinion of Matthew?
6. Do you think Robin’s skills as an investigator complement Strike’s? Where do you think Robin’s career will go now?
7. What did you think about the way Strike handles his interactions with the police and journalists in the novel?
8. What did you think of the ending? How else do you think the case could concluded?
