Career of Evil

Content Warning: This section of the guide includes discussion of graphic violence, emotional abuse, sexual violence, rape, and child abuse.

“He had not managed to scrub off all the blood. A dark line like a parenthesis lay under the middle fingernail of his left hand. He set to digging it out, although he quite liked seeing it there: a memento of the previous day’s pleasures.”

The novel’s opening line establishes the killer’s viewpoint. Readers gain psychological insight into the antagonist’s sadistic psyche as he revels in the memory and physical evidence of his latest murder. The passage establishes the book’s sinister, ominous tone.

“Robin wished that Strike would stop being cheery and flippant. A woman’s leg lay downstairs. Where was the rest of her?”

Galbraith introduces the motif of amputation and dismemberment with the inciting incident: Robin’s receipt of a woman’s severed leg. Robin’s frustration at Strike’s apparent flippancy highlights their differing responses to the grotesque delivery. While Strike’s gallows humor suggests emotional detachment, Robin feels profound empathy for the victim, believing Strike’s stance overlooks the humanity of the dead woman.

“Matthew, who had once been one of her primary sources of comfort and support, had become merely another obstacle to be navigated.”

The novel establishes the theme of The Dynamics of Partnerships under Stress through Robin and Matthew’s increasingly conflictual interactions. The author traces the shifting dynamic of the couple’s relationship as Matthew’s disapproval of Robin’s job directly opposes her dreams and life goals. Matthew’s transformation from a source of “comfort” to an “obstacle to be navigated” signals that Robin is outgrowing him.