(The prosthesis, removed for the – thankfully infrequent – sex scenes, is a big part of his character.) The prosthesis-averse are definitely not the target market for this book, which is all about acrotomophilia: “A paraphilia in which sexual gratification is derived from fantasies or acts involving an amputee.” Strike lost part of his right leg in an explosion while on active service in Afghanistan. One online review of The Silkworm complains of “excessive references to Strike’s prosthesis”. On the other hand, the Cormoran Strike novels have been described by even hardened crime fans as “macabre”.
And it’s not exactly as if the storytelling skills of “my friend” are in doubt. Can “Robert” (whom JK Rowling calls “my friend” on Twitter) do it again? And yet in another sense could there be any less pressure on the author? The first two books were universally well received. Two years later and The Cuckoo’s Calling and The Silkworm have sold over 1.5m copies and the series is being developed for BBC1. But Rowling’s cover was blown within weeks. Published in 2013, The Cuckoo’s Calling by “Robert Galbraith, a former plainclothes Royal Military police investigator who had left in 2003 to work in the civilian security industry”, was suspiciously accomplished for a debut novel and sold an estimated 1,500 copies. It’s a pretty good story in itself: bestselling writer attempts to reinvent herself under the radar and is outed almost instantly. Welcome to part three of the story of JK Rowling as crime writer. That is a lot of people to know who would send you a severed limb.
But Strike can immediately think of four people in his past who could be responsible. You’d think it would be difficult to work out who on earth would want to send you this kind of gift. It is delivered in a package to Robin Ellacott, an amiable and efficient young woman who is the new-ish assistant of private detective Cormoran Strike. Career of Evil kicks off (sorry) with a woman’s severed leg.
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