Career of Evil

I liked the first book, but thought the second was a significant step up so I was quite excited to read the third book. Even if it wasn't better than the second book, if it was just in that ballpark I would have a great time. Upon reading this one though, I can't help but think it's an absolute disaster as a mystery.

The series has always applied a form of fuzzy logic in catching the criminal. Strike tends to work heavily off intuition, but I tend to overlook this to some extent because he's not actually in law enforcement even if that's his background. In this novel however you can't overlook it because that's all the case is. At one point he literally says that there's no logic in the suspects he's been investigating for months at that point. Instead he says that “he feels it in his gut” that one of them is guilty. It's incredibly circular. He believes it to be true because he believes it to be. Him not being objective is of course intentional, but I find it incredibly frustrating when mysteries rely on “intuition” rather than deduction.

Then you have the conveniences. These have always existed in some way in the previous books, but never to this extent. Read the synopsis, Strike knows 4 people are suspects, though he dismisses one immediately with fairly flimsy reasoning. So 3 people left, who all happen to be similar builds, all happen to have the same haircut, all have/had sons that they are estranged to, all happen to be in London though it's not where they hail from. How do we know the killers characteristics? Cause for the first time we get their perspective intermixed in the novel, but even though Strike doesn't know that he still picked out 3 people immediately just from the crime (no actual evidence etc),  who fit the perspective given by the killer.  And many, many more instances across the story that would involve spoilers.

The good? Strike and Robin's working relationship is still the highlight of the book. The way they feed off one another is fun to read and you really get the sense of how integral she has turned out to be when it comes to investigating. Too bad that so much of the book is dedicated to the melodrama that is her relationship with Matthew. 

I'll still read #4 cause the first two were good enough to give Rowling the benefit of the doubt, but what a let down this was.