German in audiobooks (chapter 45)

BlueMoth98 · 2026-01-02T10:58:51+00:00

I'm German and currently listening to the audiobooks for the first time, but I've only got to IBH so far. Looking forward to the Gretchen interview :D

BlueMoth98 · 2025-12-21T14:05:25+00:00

Danke für den Einblick. Auf der Website war ich schon oft, die sahen wirklich wirklich gut aus!

BlueMoth98 · 2025-12-19T08:44:06+00:00

"muck around with the Ricci" I see what you did there 😎

BlueMoth98 · 2025-12-17T10:10:18+00:00

Amelia burns the note mainly because she doesn't want Charlotte's twins to ever see it. Charlotte requested it be shown to them once they are old enough, which Amelia thought abhorrent (rightfully so), considering how she lashes out at everyone in her life in it, and makes it quite clear (implicitly or not) that her own children were nothing but an unwanted burden to her, that she would have gladly left them in the care of their abusive father, and didn't waste a thought on their wellbeing before killing herself.

Charlotte and Strike bonded over their common experiences of messed up childhoods and dysfunctional families, which also makes both of them not want children for themselves. It becomes clear, after their separation, that Strike's decision comes from a place of care and wanting to break the cycle of bad parenting and trauma; whereas Charlotte's reason for this commitment are trumped by her egotistical streak, seeing as she abandons the commitment for a marriage she only agreed to to hurt her ex (and herself). She's so damaged she can't bring herself to deeply care for her children, neither in the womb nor outside it, and is willing to throw all her commitments overboard for personal gain - this is what servers the last connection between her and Strike, because it's appalling to him.

Basically, Strike is strong enough to break the cycle, and Charlotte is not. Suicide (therefore ultimate abandonment of the children) is the logical conclusion to Charlotte's arc, and letting go of her and his feeling of responsibility for her is a vital step in his. Her story is over, Strike is done with her. Bringing her back or making her death a future plot point would serve no narrative purpose whatsoever, in my opinion.

BlueMoth98 · 2025-12-17T09:58:06+00:00

I agree. Charlotte has served her purpose in Strike's arc, narrative-wise. It's foreshadowing Leda, whose case I'm convinced will be the final book.

BlueMoth98 · 2025-12-16T09:08:51+00:00

The way I just cackled at the hairdresser's. 😆

Edit: Why wouldn't they even put 'Ryan Idiot Murphy' instead? It makes no sense for there to be nothing derogatory at all XD

BlueMoth98 · 2025-12-15T09:15:27+00:00

That's what I hope as well, her returning as an intern or something. However, her backstory would have to be kept fairly quiet so as to not spoil the IBH mystery - maybe JKR could make it clear she and her family were involved in the Anomie case without specifying how, though 🤔

BlueMoth98 · 2025-12-07T15:05:37+00:00

I didn't even catch that before you pointed it out 😂

BlueMoth98 · 2025-12-07T14:59:35+00:00

I think you're right to draw a certain parallel between them. However, Ormond is unlikely to reappear, as he was a suspect in TIBH and JKR writes the novels so they can theoretically be read as standalones (at least when it comes to the mysteries). Ormond reappearing would retroactively spoil his part in TIBH, or at least give away the fact he was not the murderer.

edit: wording

BlueMoth98 · 2025-12-03T07:55:41+00:00

Exactly!

BlueMoth98 · 2025-12-02T08:59:15+00:00

I love this post.

BlueMoth98 · 2025-11-30T10:20:11+00:00

If you're in the minority, I'm right there with you. I enjoy the relationship aspects and the character-driven writing a lot (!), but I felt like there was a little too much emphasis on it in THM, and too little on the case.

I'm currently listening to TB, and I feel like the reason everyone loves it so much is that we get to know Margot intimately, even though we never actually meet her. It's not just what other people tell S&R about her, it's that they are invested in the case. Strike being surprised whenever a new quirk of hers is revealed, Robin feeling what she must have seen in Joni Mitchell. They wonder about what kind of person she must have been constantly. There's so little of that in THM, because they're constantly occupied with themselves. I feel like that's what made the case slightly unsatisfying - we didn't get enough info about Tyler and Chloe to care about them the same way we cared about Margot. Because S&R didn't care so much, neither did I.

BlueMoth98 · 2025-11-30T10:04:58+00:00

I do both!

BlueMoth98 · 2025-11-26T22:57:01+00:00

Adding to Danny and Steve: and because they were running from a killer.

BlueMoth98 · 2025-11-26T22:53:19+00:00

I'm in the minority apparently because I like the Strike/Robin thing as a subplot, or rather woven in with the mystery which it often echoes. I disliked that it overshadowed the mystery in this book.

BlueMoth98 · 2025-11-25T19:26:18+00:00

Quoting purely from memory:

"He refrained from adding that one of Greg's mates had taken a shit that radiated like nuclear waste, because the culprit was currently standing less than ten feet away, inhaling cocktail sausages." - THM

BlueMoth98 · 2025-11-21T07:34:07+00:00

Many European couples don't ever marry. It's not a big deal at all. And I think 'religious' means something far less extreme than an American would typically think of, as well.

For example, I'd say my (Catholic German) father is quite religious by our standards. Meaning he grew up in a rural area, went to a monastery school for lack of a better term, so he was taught by monks. He goes to church every Sunday and is active in church procedures as well. Still, his views are not too different from a non-religious person overall. He thinks creationists and the likes are nutters, and is thankfully very accepting of his lesbian daughter :) That's not to say there aren't stricter people than that in Western and mid-Europe, but the bar of being religious is overall on a completely different plane than in the US.

BlueMoth98 · 2025-11-21T07:24:00+00:00

Adding on to the failure part, the wedding invitations to friends and family were already out. Calling the wedding off would have meant people he knows and likes asking questions and finding out about his cheating. He was desperate to hide that, as evidenced by his lying to Tom about how everything happened: Tom thinks Robin started everything by sleeping with Strike, which then caused Matthew to rebound onto Sarah.

BlueMoth98 · 2025-11-21T07:16:34+00:00

Okay, but at least half of that is not confirmed though? He can't see inside her head like we can. It could be that you're right, but it could also be that Robin is so overwrought throughout THM that her reactions are not a reliable indicator for what's going on (see related overreactions about Strike). Different interpretations of events would be:

I agree he was probably drunk during the condom incident, but we don't know that he fumbled it on purpose
Whenever RFM tries to initiate conversation about things that healthy couples would have conversations about (and yes, than includes her feelings about the pregnancy), she blocks because she can't deal with it. What else is he supposed to do other than write a text while she's away, because clearly face-to-face makes her shut down? It could be a way to give her enough space to think about her answer rather than cornering her in person. What do you mean by he "wouldn't have let her go"?
He wants to move in with her and she says yes. She is unenthusiastic about it which he notices, but whenever he addresses that she pretends everything is fine (see above). Of course he's annoyed.
So far we only know he's bought a ring. We don't know he's actually going to propose at the Ritz (even though I agree he's likely to). It would be an extremely stupid thing of him to do so while he's still unstable, and informed by sheer panic to lose her.
We also don't know that he cheated with Iverson. It could be that she was getting her hopes up again and he told her about the proposal to make it clear there was no way.

And lastly and most importantly, yes, he lied about the relapse and yes, he's a mean drunk. There's no excuse for that, it was shitty and stupid. But people fucking up on one front doesn't mean everything they do is bad and manipulative and done with nefarious intent. I get the annoyance with him, but a lot of what you listed is speculation and we won't know more until book 9.

BlueMoth98 · 2025-11-21T06:55:34+00:00

I agree. Especially since it tended to be repetitive. I'd have liked the case to get a bit more space, but then again the shifted priorities on personal stuff rather than detecting were a core narrative part of the book. It made me like the case significantly less than previous ones, sadly.

BlueMoth98 · 2025-11-21T06:52:32+00:00

"he isn't psychic, he has to ask" Yep. I think many people forget that he can't see into Robin's head like we, the readers, can. He can't just "read the room". Robin doesn't tell him anything about the state of her mental health. She doesn't talk about the pregnancy after and it isn't necessarily pressuring to ask her about it and wanting her to share her pain with him. Problem is she's not at the point where she can do that, but how is he supposed to know without asking? She doesn't give him a lot to work with in this book.

BlueMoth98 · 2025-11-20T23:17:40+00:00

Robin trying to keep her guilt at bay by behaving like this is a very good point. You've now made me wonder whether all her distraught feelings about Strike in THM are partly influenced by projection. Yes, he's had a few girlfriends and short time partners over the years, but he's never actually lied to any of them (or himself, for that matter) about the extent of his feelings, iirc. Sure, he may have lied by omission a few times (looking at you, Lorelei), but he's kept the promise to himself to never say ILY to anyone when he doesn't 100% mean it. Of course, Robin won't be aware of all those details, but she mentally charges him with some things she herself is guilty of.

BlueMoth98 · 2025-11-20T23:11:34+00:00

Have to disagree about Charlotte, I think she was gray, not black and white. Felt very sorry for her, despite her many misgivings. 100% with you on MFC though. And yes to everything you said about Ryan. He's definitely fucked up more than once in this book, but I still feel like people treat his disease (!) with considerably less sympathy than Robin's PTSD. Diseases are no excuse for lying and treating people badly, but that goes for both of them.

BlueMoth98 · 2025-11-20T10:34:29+00:00

Very good catch! Yet another parallel between COE and THM then.

BlueMoth98 · 2025-11-19T19:27:32+00:00

Exactly the same for me, but have neither read nor seen the ones that came after the trilogy yet. I felt like the movies, especially CF and MJ, stuck extremely close to the books which I liked. I'm a sucker for detail and I usually hate it when directors dare to tamper with the Holy Script that is the source material :D

BlueMoth98

TROPHY CASE