This presentation will examine the best-selling Cormoran Strike series of detective novels, written by J.K. Rowling, using the pseudonym of Robert Galbraith. These books feature Cormoran Strike, an Afghan war veteran who has become a private detective in London. With the aid of his associate Robin Ellacott, Strike solves murders. The novels in the series, so far, are The Cuckoo’s Calling (2013), The Silkworm (2014), Career of Evil (2015), and Lethal White (2018). A BBC television series, Strike, based on the series, premiered in 2017, and has been broadcast in America as C.B. Strike.
This conference paper will focus upon the depiction of class in contemporary Britain, as shown in the Cormoran Strike series. The personal histories of Cormoran Strike and Robin Ellacott offer a rich starting point for analysis. Other characters, such as their family members, friends, romantic partners, suspects, and murderers, as well as crucial elements of the crimes investigated, also depict the centrality of class in this series. The intersectionality of class privilege and disadvantage with other aspects of social power and identity, such as race, gender, sexuality, age, and ability, will also be considered. Overall, this presentation will show that like some of the classics in hard-boiled detective fiction, as well as in cozy mysteries, both genres from which Rowling draws upon, the Cormoran Strike series describes a society replete with social power dynamics that benefit some, while harming others.
About the presenterDavid C. Wright Jr.
David C. Wright, Jr. is Professor in the Department of History and Government at Misericordia University in Dallas, PA. Trained as an historian of modern France at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, more recently, he has presented conference papers on detective fiction, fantasy and science fiction, and rock music. He is co-editor of, and contributor to, “Space and Time: Essays on Visions of History in Science Fiction and Fantasy Television,” published by McFarland.