Robin Ellacott
Robin Ellacott has wanted to be an investigator since she was a child, even while in the ancient church of in Masham she would wonder about the carved crab clinging to the wall, and when her mother told her it was the emblem of the ancient Scrope family, she was disappointed – she liked being the only person who wanted to know the truth.
‘Where’s Robin?’ Orlando demanded. ‘I wanted Robin to be here. I drew her a picture.’
The Silkworm, Robert Galbraith
She was mocked by her brothers for her ambition, and so when she follows her boyfriend, Matthew, to London and finds her temp agency has sent her to work for a private detective for a week, it feels like a wink from God. Especially given Matthew proposed to her the night before under the statue of Eros in Piccadilly Circus.
When Robin arrives at the offices of Cormoran Strike’s detective agency, she is looking for a permanent job in HR, but being sent to Strike’s door feels like a second chance at the profession she really wants. Though her temporary boss almost knocks her downstairs and calls her Sandra in front of a new client, Robin quickly discovers she is fascinated by his work, and Strike finds his new assistant is a cut above the temps he’s been sent before. Robin offers to work directly for Strike till she gets a proper job and is of crucial help to Strike as he investigates the alleged suicide of super-model, Lula Landry. Her quick-wittedness, and ability to improvise a cover story at an upmarket boutique brings vital new intelligence and Strike is impressed, even if he feels she is a luxury he cannot afford. Robin decides not to take the HR job she’d been offered, and to the irritation of her boyfriend, starts to work with Strike fulltime for a much lower wage.
Strike, appeared to have been sent a temp with more initiative, and better punctuation, than any he had ever met.
The Cuckoo’s Calling, Robert Galbraith
Matthew quickly becomes jealous of Strike, and resentful about her long hours and lower wage. Robin insists on her right to pursue the career she wants, but is torn. Matthew is the only boyfriend she’s ever had, and he was kind, supportive and sensitive after Robin was assaulted while studying Psychology at Leeds University. Robin gave evidence against her rapist, and her testimony won a guilty verdict, but the attack left her with severe agoraphobia which meant she had to leave her course and was confined to her room in her parents’ house in Masham, North Yorkshire, for weeks. Advanced driving courses were part of her recovery process, and the skills she learned save her and Strike’s lives when they nearly get caught in a snowy pileup on the way to question publisher Daniel Chard during the investigation into the death of writer Owen Quine (The Silkworm).
Robin’s marriage to Matthew is delayed by the death of Matthew’s mother, and the tension between the couple increases. Strike warns her how impossible the job can be, especially with a partner who doesn’t understand it is a vocation, not just a job. Robin insists she can work the hours, and makes her commitment clear to Matthew. However, when she disobeys Strike in order to protect a child, he sacks her, and she is heartbroken. Strike regrets his decision and tries to call her, but Matthew deletes the messages. Strike comes to the wedding having caught the Shacklewell Ripper, knocking over the flowers in the church when he arrives, and various members of the congregation notice the beautiful, if solemn bride is now suddenly beaming.
Over and again, her thoughts returned to the wedding day, when she had discovered that Matthew had deleted Strike’s messages. With her whole heart, she regretted not leaving then, before he could scratch himself on coral, before she could be trapped, as she now saw it, by cowardice disguised as compassion.
Lethal White, Robert Galbraith
Robin’s wedding, when she learns what Matthew has done, is a disaster, and she only agrees to go on the honeymoon to escape the press attention swirling after the capture of the Shacklewell Ripper. Then Matthew becomes ill, and torn by his vulnerability and his desire to give their marriage another try, she does not immediately apply for an annulment at she had planned. The fact that when she calls Strike, a woman answers his phone perhaps has something to do with her decision too.
‘I’d say you’re bloody good at it, are you? Getting people to trust you?’
Lethal White, Robert Galbraith
‘That’s the job,’ said Robin.
Robin continues to excel at undercover work, and the agency is growing, but she makes the effort to keep her marriage alive. She and Matthew move to Deptford and book an expensive weekend break for their first anniversary, but the fact she forgets her wedding ring leads to more resentment from Matthew. It is not until she finds the earring of his university friend, Sarah Shadlock, in her bed however that she decides to leave.
‘If I hadn’t been raped, we’d have split up years ago!’
Lethal White, Robert Galbraith
Robin finds a home away from Matthew first with actor Max and his sausage dog, Wolfgang, then in a flat of her own in Blackhorse Road, Walthamstow. Strike helps her move in and brings a pot plant. She savours the pleasures of living alone at last, enjoying the independence and peace, but is becoming aware that, as her cousin puts it, she’s travelling in a different direction to most of her peers.
As Robin leaned in, the girl’s restraint suddenly dissolved in the face of kindness and sugar.
Career of Evil, Robert Galbraith
Robin is not just clever and good at her job, her natural empathy and kindness means she is often able to get information and answers that Strike, with his gruff manner and bear-like appearance, cannot. Sensitive as she is, she’s able to stand up for herself too. After Strike turns up drunk for a dinner party with her flatmate Max, she tears into him for his selfish behaviour and Strike, humbled, not only resolves to do better, but calls and sincerely apologises. She is also, as Shanker, Strike’s criminal friend, points out, kind and her actions have proved her physical bravery again and again.
The attack that ended her university career, and encounter with the Shacklewell Ripper which leaves her with a severe scar on her arm, result in anxiety attacks, but, with Strike’s support, she controls them with therapy and CBT exercises.
‘No biting,’ said Robin.
Career of Evil, Robert Galbraith
Apparently deciding that a woman brave enough to pick it up was worthy of respect, the dog allowed her to take a firmer grip, twisted in mid-air and attempted to lick her hand.
Unlike the other women in Strike’s life, Robin only offers advice when asked for it, and is considerate in her gift giving, noticing Strike’s likes, dislikes and needs. When Strike steps up, as he does with his thoughtful gifts and behaviour on her thirtieth birthday, on the 9th of October 2014, she is touched and happy.
By the time the investigation into the murder of Edie Ledwell is over (The Ink Black Heart), Robin’s name is on the office door and business cards, and she finds a new boyfriend too, Ryan Murphy, yet unaware that Strike has begun to realise how much he feels for her. She has been attempting to suppress her romantic feelings for Strike for some time. Though there is a certain guardedness in her relationship with Ryan, she is enjoying having a love-life again. She hopes that, as a policeman, he’ll understand her own dedication to her work and its demands, but as she prepares to go undercover in the pursuit of the Universal Humanitarian Church (The Running Grave), she begins to wonder if he may be pray to the same jealousies and resentments which undermined her marriage.