The Silkworm cover art

The Silkworm

Cormoran Strike, Book 2

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The Silkworm

By: Robert Galbraith
Narrated by: Robert Glenister
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About this listen

Now a major BBC drama: The 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....

A compulsively readable crime novel with twists at every turn, The Silkworm is the second in the highly acclaimed series featuring Cormoran Strike and his determined young assistant Robin Ellacott.

Please note: This audiobook contains explicit language

2015, CWA Goldsboro Gold Dagger, Short-listed

2015, US Audie Awards, Winner

2015, Audible Sounds of Crime Award at Crimefest, Winner

2016, IMPAC Dublin Literary Award, Long-listed

©2014 Robert Galbraith Limited (P)2014 Hachette Audio
Crime Thrillers Movie, TV & Video Game Tie-Ins Private Investigators Psychological Romance Fiction Exciting Suspense Mystery

Editorial reviews

A work of crime fiction from a master writer, The Silkworm is Book 2 of the Cormoran Strike series, written by Robert Galbraith and with a captivating narration by English actor Robert Glenister. The literary genius of its author comes through in this suspenseful thriller audiobook with a plot weaved with unexpected turns and characters the listener will truly empathise with. Detective Cormoran Strike is hired to solve a mystery but it’s not the clean work of a hired assassin as first suspected, it’s of a cold-blooded, vicious killer. This book keeps you captive until the final word. Available now from Audible.

What listeners say about The Silkworm

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Loved it

loved it, very well developed characters and story line. I'm looking forward to book 3.

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Great read.

Excellent. Loved every minute . I look forward to the next books in the series.

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This Is A Great Series!

This is the second book of the series (I have read four of the books in this series to date) & it’s a great read! JK Rowling (under the pseudonym Robert Galbraith) has created fabulous characters, good plots & interesting twists & turns in this wonderful detective story which has a delightful under undertow of the blossoming love story between the protagonist (Strike) & the deuteragonist (Robin). I can’t wait for the fifth edition where I hope they finally fall into each other’s arms! 😊

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Fantastic series

loved this series couldn't wait to finish to start the next. You must read them all.

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    4 out of 5 stars
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The Sliding Scale of Plot VS Character

Where does The Silkworm rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

Well it's the only audio-book I've listened to thus far, but it had good audio quality although it was very long

What other book might you compare The Silkworm to, and why?

I don't have a comparison just yet, but I'll compare it to The Cuckoo's Calling, the character development was better and I felt that the ending was less rushed and better planned out. Robert Galbraith is a writer that values character over plot, however, it is important in a long term series for characters to know and understand how they think and feel about their situation.

What does Robert Glenister bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you had only read the book?

I suppose, as he's British, he makes it easier to visualize the different accents, like when Robyn's Yorkshire accent becomes thicker

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Yes, I wanted to be able to listen to it all the way through

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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Fabulous, twisting tale.

Gripping whodunit with a delicious undercurrent of the building friendship between the two main characters. Loved this book even more than the first.

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Fantastic!

I was spellbound from the opening. I had no idea what the outcome would be until it was finally revealed. Beautifully written characters and descriptions. This will not be my last Robert Galbraith.

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Great book.

Really enjoyed this one. I will be getting the 3rd Strike book ASAP. I highly recommend it.

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Couldn't turn it off.

lived it. easy to listen too and intriguing too. could follow and characters where well written.

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    3 out of 5 stars

Another corker from Robert Galbraith

I didn’t like this second Strike novel as much as the first — it’s gruesome, but it’s still an excellent detective story. Robin and Strike really carry the reader along, and their case is saved from being overly grotesque by the fact that it’s clearly about why people behave the way they do, whether it’s the murdered man with his eccentricities, or his widow who doesn’t care what people think, or the cast of ancillary characters who each have an axe to grind. I found myself pondering this story more than the previous one, because it asks why people turn out the way they do...

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