Career of Evil is the third book in the Cormoran Strike series by Robert Galbraith, the pen-name for JK Rowling.      We read the first two books and enjoyed them so we will continue to work our way through the series.    This book was the best yet with some clever and skillful storytelling to keep us interested and intrigued.     The two main characters Cormoran Strike and Robin Ellicott are well-developed and interesting, the central thread of the books.

The story starts with Robin  opening a parcel with a severed leg and a threatening note.    Strike decides it must have come from one of three men from his past and follows various possible leads throughout the story.    The villain is a serial killer and the police follow other leads and resent Strike’s interference.    Robin and Strike eventually narrow down the probably suspect as the story rises to a thriller ending.

Galbraith/Rowling researched the lives of known serial killers and she chooses to include chapters from within the killer’s mind, chilling, but she expressly tries to avoid “violence porn.”    There are many twists and turns, but she makes them believable and rewarding.    All three suspects seem plausible and all lived lives of a “career of evil.”      In spite of some “grisly bits” the story is excellent and recommended.