The Hallmarked Man

The Epigraph is an excerpt from Robert Browning’s poem, “The Worst of It.” The speaker reflects on finding “the swan” who saved him. He fears that, in doing so, the swan “ruined” itself.

Private detective Cormoran Strike drives to Kent to see a new client, Decima Mullins. His below-the-knee prosthesis makes driving uncomfortable, and he misses his business partner, Robin Ellacott. Robin’s boyfriend, CID officer Ryan Murphy, called that morning to say that Robin was ill. Strike is in love with Robin and jealous of Murphy.

Strike has just returned from Cornwall after attending the funeral of his beloved Uncle Ted. He and his sister Lucy have inherited Ted’s house. Strike keeps a few of Ted’s possessions as a reminder of his uncle, including his “priest” (a fishing bludgeon).

Decima Mullins is a “pale, dumpy woman” (6) around 40 years old. Decima explains that the case involves individuals Strike knows: Valentine Longcaster and Sacha Legard—the half-brothers of Strike’s recently deceased ex-fiancée, Charlotte Campbell. Charlotte died by suicide a few months earlier, citing her continued love for Strike as a reason. Consequently, Charlotte’s family and friends blamed Strike for her death.

Decima believes the police incorrectly identified a man who was murdered in the vault of a silver shop six months earlier.