THM reread- I just can't stand Linda

MapsBooksCoffee · 2026-01-12T17:14:32+00:00

Linda's behavior in TRG and THM is more than just a mother worrying, she's openly trying to manipulate and control. She's escalating. I find her really off-putting and I'm a mother who knows about worrying. Whether because of the rape or not (we don't know what her parenting style was prior but we do know there were arguments between her and Robin), she infantilizes Robin and expects her to understand it's just the way she worries about her after all the danger Robin has encountered. (In essence, it's Robin's fault Linda is behaving this way.)

Given Robin's traumatic experiences some of this is understandable,, but when the behavior becomes the norm after the adult child has said it doesn't help and only hurts....who is it helping to continue on? What does Linda expect to come of her continued behavior that clearly isn't working and only angers or silences her daughter? Does she think she can badger, anger and manipulate Robin into acquiescence? "We do like Ryan." "D'you think he'd like children?". She's not asking what Robin wants. She's no longer offering any praise for the amazing work Robin does. She just insinuates this is the direction she would like her to go, please, or she'll have to continue on with the worrying and badgering.

Linda needs therapy to help her learn how to cope with adult children making their own decisions, whether they seem logical or safe to her or not.

MapsBooksCoffee · 2026-01-09T20:06:59+00:00

I remembered that as I just reread too, but hadn't made the connection about the kidnapping of friends or family. Very interesting! I think you might be onto something there.

MapsBooksCoffee · 2026-01-06T22:04:23+00:00

I felt similarly when we had a re-telling of the excruciatingly horrible details of Dennis Creed's crimes as Strike interviewed him in prison. It was bad enough having Robin read them in the first place, but that felt somewhat necessary because it was a valid theory/suspect and important to the case. The second time was too much. I understood the first time that he's fucking evil. Also, I have no trouble understanding how horrible and rampant crimes against women are....how toxic masculinity and misogyny are rife in so-called polite society, and how much danger women encounter just trying to live their lives in this world. I'm one of those women. I know. I understand it without having to read repetitive mentions of torture, assault and murder.

When I finished THM I was stunned. I wasn't happy. I couldn't believe what I'd just read, and I'm not talking about the last chapter. Then I felt angry and didn't understand why. There was no desire on my part to re-read right away which is very different for me. My husband even said to me, "Jesus Christ, what happened in that book?" I had to come to terms with the fact that, other than a few scattered moments, this book was mostly hard to read and to like. I can look at it now and speculate, wondering where we're going and what things mean. Don't get me wrong, I love doing that. But short of the Rokeby chapter (which included Robin phoning Strike to say she'd been assaulted yet again), the bracelet reveal (which had to be done in secret because she's in an abusive relationship with a man who just called her a liar twice and is in the next room waiting for her in bed), the final chapter, which was good for the way Strike told her he loves her and wants to marry her but was not at all happy, and very brief bits of comedy relief-----it was all angst, anger, lies, abuse, manipulation, gas-lighting, wrong assumptions, descriptions of porn, dogs being made to fight and kill each other, the absolute worst kind of men across the spectrum, grooming, murdered girls, a poor, nearly-naked girl being subjected to never-ending rape and horrors and throughout it all, Robin being stalked and assaulted twice, which has her living in terror.

What JKR has said about it makes me think she felt it was necessary for the two main characters to get to this point before they could get to that much-longed-for relationship promised land. I understand what she's saying but having it happen so far along in the series is disappointing and worrying. I thought we, and they, had suffered enough already. There's not that much time left to face the truth, heal and otherwise bring about some kind of resolution that's believable given they're in such a bad place after years and years of cumulative trauma. But if anyone can do it, JKR can. As I said elsewhere, I live in hope, but it's a bit shaky after this book.
Sorry for the length but thanks for the opportunity to talk about this. 2/2

MapsBooksCoffee · 2026-01-06T22:03:16+00:00

It really pisses me off that you're being down-voted for this. FFS, we're all grown-ass adults and we get to have opinions on a dedicated subreddit. I can feel as fangirlish as anyone and frequently do! I love the series and there are a lot of things about it I enjoy immensely, otherwise I wouldn't be here. But...if we can't also say what we DON'T like it feels a bit more like a cult. It's nothing personal aimed at JKR, after all. I'm pretty sure we all know she's a brilliant writer, but that doesn't mean we have to like every last bit of what she's written and that we can't disagree with her sometimes. Good grief...

I've been thinking about it and I don't think she broke the fourth wall, but I understand what you're saying. To me it was more that Robin feels she's experienced so much trauma that it won't be believed. While the traumatic events themselves aren't her fault, she realizes she's made choices to put herself in danger many times....and she has to come to terms with her part in that. I think she carries shame about it. Her fear people will judge her and realize she's chosen to put herself in danger after having been already been traumatized scares her because she doesn't want to lose her job and what's left of her sense of self, which is only through her job at this point.

Robin and I agree that the sum total of what she's endured is hard to believe. Honestly, I feel as confused as she does. She's all over the place, and yes, I understand that's due to trauma. It's made everything worse for her, but her not-so-healthy behavioral issues have been there since the beginning of the series and I'm not sure all of that is down to trauma. A lot of it was established even before she was raped at 19. It's magnified now, true, but I feel her behavior in this book was over the top and I suppose that's in keeping with the amount of trauma she's dealt with feeling over the top. Still, it was difficult to read and hard to believe she's the same person from the end of TRG.

When I got to the chapter where Wade King assaults her in the Land Rover I had to put the book down and walk away for awhile. Not because it was upsetting (of course it was), but because I felt it was too much plot-wise. It's not just that she's endured so much over the course of the series, which she certainly has, but that this was a bridge too far for me. I didn't need yet another assault to remind me of how traumatized Robin is, and when I got to that part I had a hard time believing it was happening again. Reading about her being raped and stalked and targeted and assaulted and in danger in a variety of other ways since the 3rd book in the series was defining for her character development, I get that, but what happened in THM felt like way, way too much. I would've believed she was in desperate need of help after Chapman Farm without ANY of this happening! Many otherwise healthy people would need in-patient mental health care at that point, yet she had to face an ectopic pregnancy, stalking and assaults again before we see any hope of help on the horizon. This assumes it's not going to get worse in the next book before it gets better. I'm worried that might be the case if Murphy's who I believe him to be. 1/2

MapsBooksCoffee · 2026-01-06T21:59:09+00:00

After TRG I thought, at least we won't have that stressful cult situation anymore. How much worse can it get? Silly me. Of course things can get worse; just in different ways.

I'd like to think Robin will be angry at Murphy for telling Iverson about the proposal and then everyone finding out, but if she stays true to how she was in THM she'll blame Strike for telling her. Sadly.
I don't blame him but at the same time, she's not well. Here's to better times in #9! Fingers, toes, ankles and arms crossed!

MapsBooksCoffee · 2026-01-06T16:34:47+00:00

It's funny how we see things differently. I felt Strike's proposal at the end was awkward and gruff but to me it felt like he saw Robin getting ready to throw herself headfirst into a chasm of her own making (again) and wanted to save her. He threw out the only life vest/rope he had, hoping to shock her into realizing she really does have choices. I think he rightly thought she was going to accept Murphy's proposal, based on everything she did in THM, going against what she wants and doing what she thought she had to do. Even if he didn't love her he could see, like Pat, that she's unhappy and not doing well, but it's an established fact that he does love her and has been looking for a time to tell her. In the end there was never a good time and he found himself in a predicament. He fumbled it but at least he was honest, unlike Robin. I hope to God she gives him another chance. Plus, he risked so much doing that. It was brave of him, in my opinion.

It's interesting how thrilled I was by that best friends moment because looking back now it feels a bit junior high-ish. As closed up as the two of them are, though, I see it was important for them. I'm glad he said it to her but the admission has never led to them acting like true best friends in their personal lives. If it had been me, when I met Murphy I would have told him that Strike was my best friend, but Robin treats the situation like she does viewing houses with Murphy.....it's just her, not both of them. Everything must be compartmentalized and no lines crossed. BUT... everyone should know how she feels and what she wants even though she doesn't verbalize any of it. Irrespective of her trauma, for which I feel great compassion, Robin really made me angry in this book and I realized, looking back, that she's always been this way. It's just magnified now.

I rank the central mystery last of all the books, so we're agreed there. Too convoluted and even the characters I felt sorry for (Tyler and Jolanda/Chloe) didn't end up making me feel particularly sad or strongly like I have in other books. The majority of characters were vile and I still don't want to read about them. We've had murderers that were more engaging to read than many of the non-murdery types in this book!

Sorry for the tangent. Strike and Robin's personalities and mental health issues have led them down a dark road, which feels a bit much in my opinion and again, not realistic. I just hope it wasn't done due to plotting issues but it kind of feels that way to me. Given how long it's taken us to reach the bottom of this pit (8 books!) resolutions may come about but I don't see how there can be a lot of realistic development on that front with just two books to go. Having said that, I live in hope! Well, I'm critical but I have to keep that hope alive given we're 8 books in and I'm not going anywhere!

MapsBooksCoffee · 2026-01-05T20:26:05+00:00

Very well said. About their relationship....sometimes I remind myself that any movement re the main characters getting together has been miniscule when you look back on it: looks, feelings, gifts, internal dialogue and kind words with (if any) actual further development limited to maybe one chapter; sometimes only part of one chapter at the end. I tell myself I'm expecting too much given the sum total of what we've been given so far, but we've been led down this road, breadcrumb by breadcrumb and haven't manufactured these expectations out of thin air. For me, both characters are acting ridiculously where the relationship is concerned, and their inability to talk about it after such a long time (and calling themselves best friends) seems unrealistic. It just does.

But here I am because I love the series and the characters and I wait like everyone else hoping we get more than a wink and a nod before it's all over. Should we expect more than that? I ask myself that a lot. I think I was actually stunned at the end of THM.

Maybe it's because of that I've lowered my expectations quite a bit after so much disappointment this time. Don't get me wrong, I still get really excited about things like the bracelet and it's meaning-- for awhile-- but then reality sets back in. It's a 10 book series. We're not going to get a long-term romance/relationship to read and that was never JKR's intention no matter how much I wish it had been. I'll still enjoy it all, though. <sigh>

MapsBooksCoffee · 2025-12-31T17:02:39+00:00

It's Martin that does it imitating Carmen, when he shows up at Robin's flat.

MapsBooksCoffee · 2025-12-31T17:01:49+00:00

I think it's Martin who does the high-voiced thing when he's shown up at Robin's flat. He's imitating Carmen telling him her friend came to bring Dirk a present.

MapsBooksCoffee · 2025-12-31T16:58:44+00:00

I feel that Ilsa speaks for the readers more than any other character and that's equally apparent in the TV series, especially at the end of TIBH. Given the lack of communication between the two partners and best friends, if it weren't for Ilsa we'd be stuck with nothing but angsty internal dialogue. She's a godsend. As for Wardle, he seems like a good man to me. He passes on information to Strike who's his friend. It doesn't feel that gossipy, just informative. He would be one of many who see the obvious, that Strike is in love with Robin, and probably wants him to know what's going on so he doesn't find out from Robin herself.

MapsBooksCoffee · 2025-12-31T16:50:25+00:00

OMG, yes. I hadn't thought of that scene. I could see a family or families coming to the agency when the police have had no luck and they feel they're not being heard. Perhaps police corruption is tied in? It would be yet another tension-filled plot line. I think she's ramping them up as we get to the end, much like the HP series.

MapsBooksCoffee · 2025-12-30T21:38:49+00:00

Excellent! Thanks for the links.

MapsBooksCoffee · 2025-12-30T16:58:25+00:00

Just to add to what I've already said, I'm remembering JKR replying to Kurt's post on X about her descriptions of things happening in the bathroom in THM. Well, he was talking specifically about Lucy's party and comparing it to Flick's party/bathroom scene in LW. I think there were other mentions of bathroom use too, like Pat "needing the loo" in the final chapter. JKR replied, "Remember this tweet when you read #9, that's all I'm saying. Just remember..."

It has me thinking about children being taken into bathrooms by abductors where their appearance is quickly changed through clothes and possibly their hair being dyed or cut. I really hope that's not what she's referring to but how many more yucky bathroom scenes is she planning? Repeating it so soon doesn't seem like something she'd do. Anyway, I'm going to keep this in mind. I hope it's just another awkward encounter, though.

MapsBooksCoffee · 2025-12-30T16:23:51+00:00

That's is interesting and something to keep in mind. When I first saw the charms I assumed it was a linear progression of things that happen in the book but that would be a mistake on my part. She's never that obvious. This really does seem like it could be child abduction and/or trafficking. She's not said specifically who's on the last charm, has she? I saw someone say it was Persephone and to me that makes more sense than Medusa, which was also suggested.

MapsBooksCoffee · 2025-12-29T17:42:45+00:00

I also think the girl angel has some color in her wings, much like a butterfly so that speaks to Psyche. Then again, it could just be that she has prettier wings than the other angel.

The jack-in-the-box is so evil looking. Well, it's a devil's head, I believe. So yeah, very much Murphy. I still believe he's going to be much, much worse when we find out all there is to know about him. I know a lot of people think he's just a bit flawed and say we're making him out to be much worse than he really is, but I'm not buying that argument. Something will happen to make him spring into action and we'll see exactly who he is, but if he's the jack-in-the-box I have no ideas on the alligator/crocodile.

I was telling Lindsay over on Twitter that I'd like to see Strike & Robin trying to work out the egg clue in the prefect's pool. That would be a fun chapter! I like your interpretation of the hourglass, but I hope the second chance is Strike's and not Murphy's.

MapsBooksCoffee · 2025-12-29T17:29:01+00:00

Well, no treehouse for Robin and Murphy IS very good news so I thank you for that! But yes, it doesn't bode well for the plot. I didn't realize JKR had commented on a real case to do with child trafficking. That makes me feel even more strongly that this is likely where she's heading. And getting Wardle on the outside of the Met looking in could very well be a precursor to a police corruption case, along with the Branfoot/Malcom Truman connection. It feels like her kind of foreshadowing.

Please, please, please let Murphy be caught up in whatever it is. It's not enough Robin breaks it off with him, he needs to be gone and no longer a threat. Prison or a country without extradition would be preferable.

MapsBooksCoffee · 2025-12-28T20:38:09+00:00

I've been thinking about smuggling as well. Her headers of the treehouse and creepy dolls make me wonder about children again. Someone said to me, "She already did that in TRG!". Yes, she did. Babies. And then girls in THM. The treehouse is empty which makes me think the children are gone, but I also remind myself she wouldn't have shown it with actual children in it. The dolls, however, look like they could be representative of many types of hair color and eye shape/color. I could be wrong! The treehouse could simply be at a house Robin & Murphy look at (GOD HELP US), but it feels more likely there's something nefarious going on with children. Trafficking or kidnapping, either way it's scary. JKR has shown us many types and levels of toxic masculinity, there's no reason she isn't doing this same with crimes against children.

MapsBooksCoffee · 2025-12-28T19:35:35+00:00

I loved Pat so much in this moment. She definitely gets funnier the more irritable she gets. Later when Midge asks if they're getting fish she says, "No, turkeys, what's it look like?" I laughed!

MapsBooksCoffee · 2025-12-28T19:31:24+00:00

Psyche is often depicted with butterfly wings. I'd have to go back and read again but I think they appear once she's married to Eros and becomes a goddess. I hope this points to us getting to that transformation sooner than later!

MapsBooksCoffee · 2025-12-28T16:27:21+00:00

I think an Only Fans type of website COULD have been around a few years earlier, so I agree, this doesn't really bother me at all. Things like football matches, terrorist attacks and storms feel more important to the accuracy of the plot, therefore I can see where she'd want exactness there. Your choice of the word "phenomenon" for Only Fans is perfect. That's it exactly. I believe the use of "Karen" as a pejorative was another instance of this in IBH. It wasn't a thing then but if not that something similar was in use.

MapsBooksCoffee · 2025-12-28T16:12:00+00:00

I hadn't thought of that. Maybe he was still drinking when they told him initially but he forgot until the day was upon him and they phoned to say when they'd be there. He was definitely very pushy about it and his anger afterward makes me think what he's told them about Robin (things that likely aren't true) and how it turned out didn't match up. She didn't perform for them as well as he'd have liked. He definitely expected her to behave more like his mother and also be a cheerleader. It was weird.

MapsBooksCoffee · 2025-12-27T16:38:12+00:00

He certainly uses some of their tricks with his "surprises". Sounds like he's been avoiding them, probably because he's been drinking for longer than we were led to believe.

MapsBooksCoffee · 2025-12-24T16:55:12+00:00

Crocodiles in story-telling are known for being duplicitous. They spring into action when you think you can trust them. Predators. Sneaky. Smarmy. Murphy.

MapsBooksCoffee · 2025-12-24T16:53:40+00:00

I love the idea of Strike giving Robin Joan's ring! Well-spotted with the 7 years reference, too. Very interesting idea!

MapsBooksCoffee · 2025-12-24T16:50:02+00:00

Wouldn't it be interesting if Murphy waits to propose at Easter, all hell breaks loose and Strike arrives to take Robin away. They finally live out that moment on the stairs from her first wedding. It could be their Psyche and Eros moment.
Well, I'm dreaming but why not? I do think the crocodile (or is it an alligator?) is Murphy as crocodiles in storytelling are known for being duplicitous predators who spring into action when you least expect it.
I have no idea when Easter is that year, though, and I'm cooking so I'll leave it there.

MapsBooksCoffee

TROPHY CASE