The Running Grave Review
A Fan's First Reflection on the Seventh Strike-Ellacott Novel
The Running Grave is another mammoth of a book at well over nine hundred pages in the print edition, and with the audio book over 34 hours, this is the longest book of the series. At this rate we have 3,000 pages left in the Strike-Ellacott saga, which is only 400 short of the whole Harry Potter canon.
Despite it’s size the pace of the book clips along at a fair rate of knots, helped by a good deal nervous energy and excitement. The cast of thousands never seemed oppressive, being neatly compartmentalised between the UHC, the agency, the families and clients. I found myself having to resist the urge read too quickly (as I did with The Ink Black Heart to the detriment of my enjoyment of that book). Straight out of the gate this is my favourite of the series by some margin, and after four days reading the print and digital edition, I am now re-reading via the Robert Glenister narrated audiobook.
Spoilers in the review below!
In broad scale The Running Grave deals with a modern day cult. Only superficially religious, the Universal Humanitarian Church (UHC) worships the cult of personality of their founder Papa J and Mama Mazu, and their declared prophets. The methods of control are not new to the series: Intolerance of dissent, or even the possibility of error in the church; totalitarian control paired with rank hypocrisy; and a total absence of compassion, despite that being their stated aim. Papa J is Voldemort cloaked in a faux mild and engaging orator, Mama J is Nagini complete with venom.
The UHC builds it’s Death Eater army by recruiting the vulnerable, vain and curious and moulding them into true believers after breaking them down by mental and physical exhaustion and starvation. A corruption of Solve et Coagula.
He knew, of course, that alchemical changes of personality were possible under a strong influence, especially in those whose characters weren’t fully formed.
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A very obvious source of Rowling’s own experience is the institutionalised reaction of the UHC children to adults they do not know. The description Robin uses mirrors Rowling’s own experience of institutionalised children in orphanages, where the starvation of familial affection causes a loss of any natural wariness of strangers and creates an opening for exploitation.
Robin found herself still more disturbed by their behaviour. Now that she paid them individual attention, they were unnervingly ready to be affectionate to her, even though she was a complete stranger. One little girl climbed into Robin’s lap unasked; others played with her hair or cuddled her arm. Robin found their craving for the kind of loving closeness that was forbidden by the church pitiful and distressing.
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The charity Lumos, that Jo founded to end the institutionalisation of children can be donated to here. All of the administrative costs of Lumos are covered by J. K. Rowling herself, so you can be sure that all of your donation will be directly helping children.
The sense of Robin/Rowena’s mounting peril within Chapman’s farm and the spy craft she has to deploy are a true feat of story telling. The excitement of Robin’s final break for freedom in chapter 88, had all the feeling of a book finale, and if I wasn’t reading the physical book at that point, I would never believed there were still 400 pages to go.
For those of us wondering what J. K. Rowling could have used as inspiration for Robin’s unusual pseudonym, Noli the vapid celebrity helps us out. Rowena is a foundational character in a hugely popular book by a famous Scottish author: Ivanhoe by Sir Walter Scott. Noli’s description paints her as a rather two dimensional character, so something of a grey lady.
‘Rowena, wow, that’s so funny, I played Rowena in Ivanhoe at drama school,’ said Noli, looking sideways at the way Robin was slicing her onion, and trying to copy her. ‘It was kind of a challenge, actually. I much prefer playing characters with substance, you know? And Rowena’s basically just, you know, beautiful and kind and noble,’ Noli rolled her eyes, ‘and I’m like, “Um, wouldn’t it be easier to use a mannequin or something?” Oh, God, I hope you aren’t named after Lady Rowena!’ Noli added, with a peal of laughter. ‘Were your parents fans, or something?
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More evidence that Harry Potter does not exist in the Strike-Ellacott universe.
The location of Rufus Scrimgeour, sorry, Fernsby’s interview, his place of work, might seem a little strange. The inspiration is likely to come from Sean Harris, the muse for Ronald Weasley, foul weather friend and military advisor for the Strike-Ellacott series. Sean is currently the Director of Membership for the Institute of Civil Engineers.
When she arrived at 1 Great George Street the following day at half past twelve, Robin discovered that she’d been quite wrong in vaguely imagining the Institute of Civil Engineers would be based in a brutalist building where function had been prioritised over elegance. Rufus Fernsby’s place of work was a gigantic Edwardian building of considerable grandeur.
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It is clear that from all we know of Sean, his character appears nowhere in the depiction of Rufus.
Strike gets his own platform 9 3/4 moment in Aylmerton, St John the Baptist Church with Charlotte (of all people) as his Dumbledore.
He did in fact close his eyes, though not to speak to God.
He knew what Charlotte would have said to him now, if she were here.
I’m out of your hair now, Bluey. You should be glad.
I didn’t want you dead, he answered, inside his head.
But you knew you were the only one who could save me. I warned you, Bluey.
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The suicide of Charlotte will come as no surprise to those following the parallels to Cuckoo’s Calling - Lethal White - The Running Grave - Book 10. What would have been a surprise was that after Strike agreed to meet her sister Amelia in chapter 135, she didn’t demand that Strike investigate her murder. We still have 3,000 pages left to correct that.
One of the real strengths of the last three books, is the development of Robin as an investigator. Not just in getting answers but developing and testing theories in her own right.
Robin laughed, thanked Pat again, and wished her a good evening. Having hung up, she found herself in a considerably improved state of mind. She now had both a new theory and a potentially crucial meeting to tell Strike about when he returned.
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The Running Grave is not perfect. There are errors, mainly of copyediting, see this placeholder on the Hogwarts Professor WordPress site. One minor irritant crops up when Strike refers to Delaunay, a Royal Marine as navy.
‘Why did he call you a monkey?’ said Robin, laughing.
‘Slang for military police,’ said Strike. ‘Still better than what we called the navy.
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A little like Strike’s uncle being referred to as a lifeguard when he was a lifeboatman, even though the Royal Marines are part of the naval service, not even a monkey would call a marine, navy. That being said, and given the energy of the book, there was nothing that stopped my reading flow, or spoiled my enjoyment of the book.
This is just my first surface impression of my initial read, there is so much more to come. Easily my favourite of the series so far. Here’s to the next 3,000 pages!
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In HP, Rowena Ravenclaw’s dying wish – the return of her estranged child – goes horribly unfulfilled. Sally Edensor’s dying wish to see her son Will is similarly thwarted, but Robin’s choice of “Rowena” as a pseudonym suggests to me that undercover Robin is an echo of Rowena Ravenclaw and perhaps then, a champion for Sally’s ghost. When “Rowena” succeeds at reconciling child and parent (Will and Collin Edensor), she achieves the unfulfilled goal pursued by both dead mothers, Rowena Ravenclaw and Sally Edensor. I haven’t read Ivanhoe in many years, but I suspect that the connection there is another instance of the theme I’ll call “The error of devaluing feminine strengths.” Both Voldemort and Serius underestimate the magical power of the house elves, an ultimately fatal error. Strike realizes he has been making a similar error when he recognizes Lucy’s heroism in providing her sons with safety and security even when she herself is struggling to keep her bearings. My guess is that Noly is making the same error when she describes “kind and noble” Rowena being a mannequin without substance. Perhaps if Noly were able to appreciate the substantive strength required to remain kind and to do the right thing in difficult circumstances, she herself would be able to recognize and fight evil the way Robin/Rowena does.
All these suppositions suggest to me that Lucy’s victimization by Coates – even though it happened decades ago – is the parallel to Dobby’s death. Lucy is an innocent victim, caught up in a larger war waged by the powerful against the powerless. Her devoted caring without recompense – for older Ted & Joan, for her boys, and for her often ungrateful brother – is house elf behavior that inspires and empowers Strike to become more fully integrated into his own family, including making small domestic sacrifices like accompanying Ted to the doctor and being kind to his asshole nephew. I suspect that ultimately, this new willingness to trade the advantages of independence for the sake of connection will enable Strike to fulfill his destiny as Robin’s “chosen one.”
Of course, Strike himself is another example of an estranged child whose parent is seeking reconciliation. I can’t wait for Book 8, but until then, thank you, Nick, for providing such thought-provoking insight!
Nick, thank you for pointing out the heartbreaking treatment of children in the UHC and how that parallels the starvation of familial affection in children shuttled off into institutions. I love how that was contrasted with Pat's and Dennis' welcoming of both Will and Qing/Sally and ultimately Sir Colin's reconciliation with Will, embracing both Lin and Qing/Sally. I love that Will renames Qing Sally after his mother who loved him unconditionally, a love that proved stronger than fanaticism. Even in death her love reached beyond the grave, not unlike Lily's death-defying love for Harry.