Hello frens 🤠

Today I’m bringing you something a little different from my usual near-religious posts about The Wheel of Time. I’d been benching this book for almost two months, but the last two Wheel of Time volumes were so addictive I could barely put them down. Once I finally recovered from finishing those, I dove into “The Hallmarked Man.”

Now, I’m no brainiac or anything, but even with all the twists, names, and places, it wasn’t too hard to follow because I was hooked. Still, hindsight tells me this book is 100% worth having a pencil and piece of paper to write down a few things.

Because as invested as I was, there were definitely times when I thought note-taking would’ve helped.

After how intense the last book was (I even wrote about that one here), I kept wondering how Robert Galbraith aka J.K. Rowling could possibly top it. But she did.

🫆The mystery swallowed me whole. I couldn’t stop reading, and even after finishing late at night, my brain refused to turn off. I was there replaying every clue, every line Strike, Robin, and the others said, realizing how masterfully everything fit together.

The whole case was chef’s kiss. I don’t know how Rowling does it, but she wove the suspects and threads so tightly that waiting for this book was absolutely worth it.

To sum it up: one dead guy in a masonic jewelry vault… but five missing people suspected to be that dead guy! My head was spinning the entire time and I loved every minute. Some chapters made me gasp out loud.

It’s a brilliant mystery that hit all the right notes for me. I was reading it while also writing and illustrating my Samhain and Halloween post, which felt oddly fitting, both spooky, both obsessive hehe. Choosing between the two was a real challenge!

Have you read this one already, or is it on your radar? I’d love to chat about it, I’m just too excited!

See you later, alligator 🐊