Career of Evil

Career of Evil by Robert Galbraith, 497 pages

In Career of Evil, the third novel focusing on private investigator Cormoran Strike, the murder mystery gets more grisly, and infinitely more personal, when a severed leg is delivered to Strike's office, addressed to Robin, his assistant (business partner? Even she's not sure of their exact relationship). Given that Strike himself has a leg missing, he knows it's personal, immediately thinks of three men that may have sent the leg, and sets about investigating each of them himself, as he's fairly sure that the police will bungle the official investigation.

J.K. Rowling has created yet another excellent hard-boiled mystery through her pseudonym. I particularly enjoyed the short scenes told from the point of view of the killer, which dropped hints at his psyche without giving anything away. One thing I did find weird was the killer's obsession with Blue Oyster Cult (which is where the book gets its title), which didn't really have much of an explanation beyond "he just really likes them." But to each psychopath his own obsession.