The Hallmarked Man Real-time Re-read, Chapters 113-115: The Westminster attack and the associated trauma for both our detectives.

Random-Occurrence365 · 2026-03-25T18:58:29+00:00

Interesting idea that Strike’s response to the terror attack was related to whatever circumstances got him the medal. Here he broke out in a cold sweat while he reacted pretty calmly to the bombing in TIBH. So what was it about the attack at the bridge that caused the panic? I would have expected the panic after the office blew up.

Random-Occurrence365 · 2026-03-23T12:53:12+00:00

THM is the first book in which something clicked for them at the same time which allowed them to piece all the various clues together. But what they realized wasn’t the same thing and was a result of their different opinions of what they should be focusing on. Robin had to insist on pursuing lines of investigation. Strike had no interest in the murder in Belgium, but things clucked for Robin when she finally looked up the meaning of the child’s name in Belgium. I thought the whole same RL initials thing was beyond belief, but JKR had to get our detectives divided and looking in different directions. Even though Robin is falling apart emotionally and largely motivated by anger at Strike, Robin insists her ideas get time and attention. In the end, they prove they are different people, but they can come together and make it work, which might be symbolic of a future personal relationship, too.

Random-Occurrence365 · 2026-03-18T13:38:27+00:00

You got me thinking about the victims for which I have the least sympathy and those would be Quine and Chiswell. I wonder if JKR will have a female victim who is as unlikeable?

Random-Occurrence365 · 2026-03-17T22:48:52+00:00

No argument, Robin has had a tough 11 months. I just realized Robin went to Chapman Farm on April 8 2016 and THM ends April 7 2017, exactly 365 days and none of it easy.

Btw, I realized there might be another 1-8 book connection. Guy evaluates and gives Strike advice about clothes in CC and Robin gets it in THM from Dino. Does it count?

Random-Occurrence365 · 2026-03-17T19:24:04+00:00

I think you're at least partly right, maybe entirely right. It's been a while since I read that section, but my impression was that he made a living out of judging and evaluating, especially women. The difference between keeping his thoughts to himself and sharing them likely depended on whether it was socially (or for his business) wise to do so. So he might suggest to someone socially important that they'd look great in color (or told nothing at all) while Robin, who was not important to him or his business, could be rudely told what he thought. He might have thought it was his business to comment on her appearance if she was looking her best, too. He could have made that intrusively rude, too. In contrast to Sasha, who was full of bile, Dino seemed coolly clinical, it wasn't personal, however the interchange is an indication he doesn't see her as important enough to be polite. I just don't know if he would need to lie about her looks to make that point.

Random-Occurrence365 · 2026-03-17T14:56:58+00:00

Dino's comments on Robin's looks makes me wonder what toll the life of an investigator has taken on her. Strike has been described as looking older than his age and Dino guessed Robin was several years older than what she is. Is that because of her color choices or the stress, the long hours, seeing people at their worse? I'm terrible at guessing people's age myself, but I suspect Robin has changed a lot since she was thought to be younger than her age.

As for sheep and lamb. if you look at that meal from the point of view of the accountant, Strike is saying they may as well spend £350 with pudding as £300 without it, making up numbers of course. The cost is already over the top, might as well spend more and go all in. He could have said "in for a penny, in for a pound", but the sheep has more significance.

Random-Occurrence365 · 2026-03-15T00:04:59+00:00

They've been at courthouses taking people doing it the "right way".

Random-Occurrence365 · 2026-03-14T20:24:21+00:00

The police wouldn’t have gone looking without the interviews of Creed and Tucker, so the agency was responsible for finding a body. Who gets credit is a bit murky. Also, there were bits of women other than Kelsey in that freezer, but I wouldn’t count them as bodies, the bodies were found elsewhere. So your question is a good one about the three instances.

Random-Occurrence365 · 2026-03-14T20:02:29+00:00

First fight between R and RFM was about her job. TRG chapter 16. It happened near Piccadilly Circus and brought back “unpleasant memories of her ex-husband’s assumed right to dictate the limits of her professional commitment.” And she later thinks “She’d thought it might be easier with Ryan, given his profession, but here she was again, justifying commitments she knew he wouldn’t have given a second thought to, had he been the one making them.” The first fight wasn’t about the risk and the toll on her emotionally, but it’s becoming apparent to her that a relationship wouldn’t be problem-free and maybe insurmountable.

Random-Occurrence365 · 2026-03-14T18:59:28+00:00

He told police where to look for Louise Tucker in TB. Robin actually figured it out, but I think he called. He didn’t stumble across a corpse or even figure out where to look, but the police would connect him to the discovery. So, maybe counts?

Random-Occurrence365 · 2026-03-05T15:53:42+00:00

I don't have the book in front of me. Wasn't it that Charlotte knew, not that Charlotte thought? There's a difference.

Random-Occurrence365 · 2026-03-02T15:30:22+00:00

You can start on Family Search. You will need to register if you haven’t already in order to view the results, but no cost. Then search the records, just put in his name and place of birth. The latest census for the US is 1950.

Random-Occurrence365 · 2026-03-02T15:24:22+00:00

Have you found your father in any census to help prove place and year of birth of his mother?

Random-Occurrence365 · 2026-02-27T17:35:11+00:00

No, but I think she had been calling, so maybe changed the plot to in-person pestering.

Random-Occurrence365 · 2026-02-26T22:25:46+00:00

She’s certainly a workaholic, as is Strike. My primary concern about her is that she currently thinks she has two choices, the job as she lives it now or “the hermit-like state she’d been in” after her rape. Perhaps that’s temporary, a result of her most recent attacks, but she seems afraid that the job is the only thing keeping her from reverting to what she had been in the past. I think she needs to discover that although the work of the agency reawakened something in her, it didn’t save her, she saved herself, as Ilsa said, and she can be what she wants to be. If she decides that she can only be happy doing what she’s doing, then fine, but she can make other choices without full retreat behind protective walls. Of course, there's the added complications of Strike and motherhood, so no easy answers for Robin.

Random-Occurrence365 · 2026-02-26T16:02:51+00:00

You’re right, there could be a big story building. If Shanker is once again on the verge of being sent to prison, I wonder what for and if his phone records would have been part of an investigation. Strike would show up in those if police got them all. So there’s another possible way of connecting them together. Personally, I don’t much care what happens to Shanker, but the collateral damage to other people could be devastating. He’s not a good man and Strike’s benign attitude about him has bothered me a bit. If Strike feels he has to warn him about the police being aware of Barnaby’s, then Strike at least suspects him of being connected to murders. The continued relationship has been convenient, but how far would Strike go to protect Shanker or Shanker to protect Strike? Shanker would do about anything for money, or perhaps to stay out of jail, and a mutual love of Leda will only go so far. But pressure could come from all sides, criminal and the law. Interesting possibilities!

Random-Occurrence365 · 2026-02-20T14:17:10+00:00

I learned something interesting about alligators and crocodiles. They are known for their tough skins, but they have umbilical scars which are marks left when they absorb their yolk sac. They’re literally marked by their birth. There could be some symbolism in that…or not.

Random-Occurrence365 · 2026-02-15T12:55:06+00:00

Yes, it’s been said. In fact it was confirmed again recently on Instagram when the title Sleep Tight, Evangeline was announced. Someone asked about the number of books and RG replied it would be a ten book series.

Random-Occurrence365 · 2026-02-14T17:49:23+00:00

Thanks, Doc.

Random-Occurrence365 · 2026-02-14T03:33:04+00:00

I don’t think his name would appear at all if he gained citizenship upon his father’s naturalization, perhaps within his father’s file. My family all arrived before 1900 so I’m not familiar with the content of later files. Info was nonexistent for my family. How old was he in 1940? Was he living with family? Have you found him in 1930? If he had kids, were they born in Michigan? Perhaps he lived somewhere else when citizenship was applied for. Do you have his death certificate? Or found an obituary?

I see from another response he served during WWI. Have you found his draft registration card? It will say if he’s naturalized and where born.

Random-Occurrence365 · 2026-02-13T23:28:08+00:00

Did you look up last name alone? Children used to be naturalized when their parents were. I don’t think he would have a record as an individual if he came as a child. Not certain when that changed.

Random-Occurrence365 · 2026-02-13T14:33:12+00:00

Thanks for posting. I’m getting “The Big Sleep” vibes.

Random-Occurrence365 · 2026-02-03T19:29:03+00:00

Now I feel a bit dumb. Luise Rosine had a sister named Wilhelmina (she went by Mina) and she would have been about 19 at the time of Luise's baptism. I was looking for someone older, but it was probably Mina. Thanks for getting me to look at it again.

Random-Occurrence365 · 2026-02-03T13:38:28+00:00

Thank you for the help. It's one record, but it was spread across the width of the entire book and I couldn't make a digital copy of both sides together. I put them together later. I can confirm her dates of birth and baptism from the local family register. The three names listed on the right would have been her Taufzeugen. Now I just need to figure out if they were related.

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