Strike Timeline

Here is a timeline for the whole of the Strike series so far. We cannot guarantee that we are 100% correct with all dates, so if you spot any errors we would really appreciate it if you let us know through our Contact page.

DateChapter(s)What Happened
1944 Jasper Chiswell is born.
8 August 1947 Della Winn (nee Jones) is born in Vale of Glamorgan , Wales.
1 August 1948 Jonny Rokeby is born.
15th July 1950 Geraint Winn is born in Cardiff, Wales.
1969 Jonny Rokeby marries first wife Shirley Mullens
Jeff Whittaker is born.
1973 Jonny Rokeby divorces Shirley Mullens.
11 October 1974 Margot Bamborough disappears.
21 November 1974 Charlotte Campbell is born.
23 November 1974 Cormoran Strike is born in Truro, Cornwall.
1975 Jonny Rokeby marries second wife Carla Astolfi.
1979 Jonny Rokeby divorces Carla Astolfi.
1981 Jonny Rokeby marries third wife Jenny Graham.
9 October 1984 Robin Ellacott is born.
1991 Leda Strike meets Jeff Whittaker.
August 1992 Strike and Dave Polworth go to Australia for Dave’s 18th. Dave is attacked by a shark on his birthday.
October 1992 Suki Lewis goes missing from Oxfordshire.
23 November 1992 Strike’s 18th birthday.
1993 Jeff Whittaker is sacked from band Necromantic.
Strike meets Charlotte Campbell at a party.
1994 Leda Strike dies of a heroin overdose. Jeff Whittaker is charged.
Strike leaves Oxford University and joins the Special Investigation Branch.
1995 Whittaker was arrested for assault and kidnap of his son.
1996 Immamu Ibrahim disappears from Wiltshire.
1998 Whittaker receives a three-month jail sentence for threatening a co-worker with a knife.
2002 Whittaker jailed for preventing lawful burial of a body.
9 October 2002 Robin Ellacott’s 18th birthday.
2003 Jack is born.
2005 Whittaker jailed for dealing crack cocaine.
2008 Strike leaves the army after losing his leg in Afghanistan.
2009 Strike starts the detective agency and receives a loan from Rokeby to get his office.
23 November 2009 Strike and Charlotte celebrate his 35th birthday at the River Cafe. Charlotte gifts him with the expensive Italian suit.
 THE CUCKOO’S CALLING 
8 January 2010 Lula Landry falls to her death from her Mayfair balcony.
February 2010 Robin and Matthew move to London.
14 March 2010 Photos are removed from Lula Landry’s laptop.
28 March 2010Part 1, Chapters 1-2Matthew and Robin have dinner at a Thai restaurant. Matthew proposes to her at the Statue of Eros in Piccadilly Circus.
Cormoran and Charlotte break up; Strike walks across London to his office through the night.
29 March 2010Part 1, Chapters 2-6Robin arrives on Denmark Street and starts working for Strike as a temp. John Bristow comes to Strike as a client. Strike goes to the Tottenham for a few pints of Doom Bar.
30 March 2010Part 1 Chapter 7 to Part 2 Chapter 2Strike spends the early afternoon at ULU. Robin researches Lula Landry on the internet. Strike and Robin go for a walk to Kentigern Gardens. Strike shows off.
That night, Robin and Matthew argue about Strike.
2 April 2010Part 2 Chapters 4-7Strike goes to Charlotte’s flat on Holland Park Avenue to collect his few possessions. He interviews Derrick Wilson at the Phoenix Café in Brixton. Strike agrees to keep Robin on for another couple of weeks.
3 April 2010Part 2 Chapter 8Strike watches the Arsenal vs Spurs match. Lucy rings him. He does some paperwork.
4 April 2010Part 2 Chapter 9Strike goes back to ULU to shower. He gets the Tube to Hammersmith Broadway, St Elmo’s Hostel for the Homeless to look for Rochelle Onifade, then goes to the Blue Anchor pub.
Robin and Matthew have lunch with two of his university friends at The Windmill. Robin and Matthew argue.
5 April 2010Part 2 Chapter 10Strike goes to Barrack and Uzi, the night clubs, and then to meet Wardle at the Feathers, near Scotland Yard.
6 April 2010Part 2 Chapter 11Strike goes to Cipriani to interview Tansy Bestigui, in the presence of Ursula May and John Bristow.
7 April 2010Part 3 Chapter 1Starts to rain in London.
9 April 2010Part 3 Chapter 1Robin wraps Jack’s birthday present. Robin attends the third of the week’s ‘proper’ interviews. Wardle sends Lula’s case file and Strike goes through it.
10 April 2010Part 3 Chapter 2Strike attends Jack’s birthday party at Lucy’s house. He uses their DVD player to watch the CCTV footage from the night Lula died.
11 April 2010Part 3 Chapter 3Bristow calls Strike. Strike goes to ULU to shower.
12 April 2010Part 3 Chapters 4-7Strike and Robin go to Vashti, where Strike is impressed by her. Strike meets Bristow at the Serpentine Bar and Kitchen in Hyde Park. He later goes to Wong Kei to meet Spanner to give him Lula’s laptop.
13 April 2010Part 3 Chapters 8-10Strike finds Rochelle at St Thomas’ hospital. They go to McDonald’s. Lucy is at the office chatting with Robin when he gets back.
14 April 2010Part 4 Chapter 1Strike goes to ULU, then goes to meet Guy Some at his office.
15 April 2010Part 4 Chapter 2Strike goes back to St Thomas’s to try and catch Rochelle again but is unsuccessful.
16 April 2010Part 4 Chapters 2 and 3Strike returns from Starbucks to find Spanner in the office. Strike and Robin go to Kentigern Gardens, as Freddie Bestigui is away.
17 April 2010Part 4 Chapter 4Strike tells Peter Gillespie over the phone to get off his fucking back.
18 April 2010Part 4 Chapter 4Strike watches the news.
19 April 2010Part 4 Chapters 4 and 5Strike meets Marlene Higson at the Ordnance Arms in Canning Town. Robin tells Strike that Charlotte is engaged. Strike goes to the Tottenham and drinks 11 pints of Doom Bar before being rescued by Robin. Robin takes him to get a kebab from the kebab shop at the end of Denmark Street.
20 April 2010Part 4 Chapters 6-8Strike wakes up with a massive hangover and goes to ULU to shower and use the pool. Strike goes to the photoshoot to interview Ciara Porter and Bryony Radford. After Ciara takes him to the nightclub to meet Evan Duffield, the three of them go to Duffield’s place. Strike then goes to Ciara’s and sleeps with her.
21 April 2010Part 4 Chapters 9-12Robin and Strike discuss what they’ve been doing (but Strike withholds certain details from the previous night). Wardle rings Strike to tell him they’ve found a body in the Thames. Strike meets Wardle and Carver at the morgue, where he identifies Rochelle. Strike asks Graham Hardacre for a favour. Strike goes to Pinewood Studios to see Freddie Bestigui.
22 April 2010Part 4 Chapter 13Wardle calls Strike.
25 April 2010Part 4 Chapter 13Strike and Robin attend Rochelle’s funeral.
26 April 2010Part 4 Chapter 14 and Part 5 Chapters 1-2
Strike goes to Chelsea to meet Yvette Bristow. Strike and Wardle meet in the Feathers. Bristow shows up at the office. Strike is taken to hospital.
6 May 2010EpilogueStrike meets Jonah Agyeman in The Tottenham.
 THE SILKWORM 
9 October 2010 Robin Ellacott’s 26th birthday.
5 November 2010 Bombfire Night. Owen Quine and Elizabeth Tassel have a public row in the River Cafe.
Quine is murdered.
15 November 2010Chapters 1-5Strike meets Dominic Culpepper at the Smithfield Café on Long Lane after a night of work. Strike sacks William Baker as a client and takes on Leonora Quine.
16 November 2010Chapters 6-7Strike goes to Exmouth Market, Crossfire Publishing, to meet Christian Fisher.
17 November 2010Chapters 8 and 9Strike goes to meet Elizabeth Tassel at her office. Strike tails Mrs Brocklehurst. Strike goes to Kathryn Kent’s flat.
England-France friendly at Wembley.
18 November 2010Chapter 10Strike meets Robin and Matthew for dinner in The Kings Arms.
19 November 2010Chapters 11-13Matthew goes to have drinks with work colleagues. Robin leaves at five. Strike meets Nina Lascelles at Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese for drinks before they go to the Roper Chard party.
20 November 2010Chapters 14-15Strike goes to a jewellers as part of one of his cases. He watches the Arsenal vs Spurs match and reads a bit of Bombyx Mori.
That evening, he takes Nina with him to his birthday dinner at Lucy’s. He sleeps with Nina.
21 November 2010Chapters 16-17Charlotte Campbell’s birthday.
Strike wakes up in Nina’s bed. He picks up keys from Leonora at her house and then goes to Talgarth Road and finds Quine’s body. Strike ends up at New Scotland Yard. Robin sleeps on the sofa that night after arguing with Matthew.
22 November 2010Chapters 18-20Robin leaves early for work. Strike finishes reading Bombyx Mori and photocopies the manuscript for Richard Anstis. Robin gets a call from Matthew saying his mother has died. Robin leaves work. Strike eats Singapore noodles.
23 November 2010Chapters 21-23Strike’s 36th birthday.
Strike talks to Anstis on the phone. Journalists are outside the office. He goes to see Leonora.
Later, Strike meets Robin at the Cambridge, where they talk about the Quine case and Robin gives Strike his birthday gift. He goes to Anstis’ house that evening for dinner.
24 November 2010Chapters 23-26Strike buys Tatler magazine and reads about Charlotte.
Robin arrives at the office and they go to check out the houses of all the suspects. Afterwards, they meet at The Albion for lunch.
25 November 2010Chapter 27It’s a snowy day in Britain. Strike meets Liz Tassel at Pescatori for lunch. Robin offers to drive him to Devon the next day.
26 November 2010Chapters 28-30Strike and Robin drive to Devon to see Daniel Chard at his home. On the way back, they stop at Tiverton Services and have lunch at Burger King, where the immortal words “…cheer the fuck up and eat your burger” are spoken. Robin catches the sleeper train to Masham from King’s Cross.
27 November 2010Chapters 31-34Mrs Cunliffe’s funeral at St Mary’s church in Masham.
Strike almost gets attacked by his mysterious stalker. Strike calls Al, who is in New York.
That evening, Robin’s brothers go to the Bay Horse, and Robin and Linda watch Michael Fancourt’s televised interview.
28 November 2010 Robin and Matthew return to London.
29 November 2010Chapters 35-37Caroline Ingles comes to the office to see Strike. Robin goes to Bridlington Bookshop. Strike goes to Simpson’s-in-the-Strand to have lunch with Jerry Waldegrave. Strike drags Pippa Midgley up to the office after she tries to stab him.
30 November 2010Chapter 38Strike tails Mrs Brocklehurst and later talks to Dave Polworth on the phone.
1 December 2010Chapter 39Leonora is arrested. Strike goes to see her.
2 December 2010Chapter 40ChaptersMrs Brocklehurst’s boss turns up at the office at around midday. Charlotte sends Strike a text that reads: “It was yours.”
Strike goes to the River Café and meets Al to see if he can get any information from Loulou the waitress. Strike figures out who the killer is.
3 December 2010Chapter 41Strike pores over the case file.
4 December 2010 Robin and Matthew spend most of the weekend discussing her job. Charlotte marries Jago Ross.
6 December 2010Chapters 42-44Strike goes to Hamleys, leaving Robin a note saying he knows who killed Quine. Charlotte emails Strike a wedding photo. Strike and Robin go and see Orlando. Strike meets Michael Fancourt at the Groucho Club.
7 December 2010Chapter 45Strike and Robin go to Kathryn Kent’s flat on Clement Attlee Court to speak with her and Pippa.
13 December 2010Chapters 45 and 46Strike is visited by the boyfriend and boss of Mrs Brocklehurst. Dave Polworth rings up to say he has the goods.
16 December 2010Chapters 47-49Strike and Robin devise a plan to catch the killer. Strike goes to the Chelsea Arts Club with Al. The killer is caught.
23 December 2010Chapter 50Strike goes to Robin’s house and gives her a Christmas present.
25 December 2010 Strike spends Christmas in St Mawes, Cornwall.
 CAREER OF EVIL 
January 2011 Cormoran Strike met Elin Toft at Nick and Ilsa‘s party.
2 April 2011 The killer murders Kelsey Platt.
3 April 2011Chapter 1The killer stalks Robin as she makes her way to the rugby match (Saracens vs Bath) with Matthew. They meet with Sarah Shadlock and her boyfriend, Tom Turvey. After the match, Robin and Matthew argue until midnight.
4 April 2011Chapters 2-6Robin arrives at the office and receives the girl’s severed leg. After Eric Wardle and Vanessa Ekwensi come to Denmark Street to interview Robin in Strike’s flat, she and Strike go to the Tottenham and discuss Strike’s three suspects. Strike sees Robin to the Tube, and then he Googles the suspects. Robin goes to Waitrose for shopping. When she gets home, she also Googles the suspects.
5 April 2011Chapter 7-10The killer tails Robin again. Dominic Culpepper phones Strike that morning.
Mid-afternoon, Strike is coming back from the airport and calls Robin. She’s in a pub called the Court, opposite Spearmint Rhino. After talking at the Court, Strike catches the train and gets a call from Graham Hardacre. Strike calls Shanker. Strike goes to Whitechapel and memories come flooding back, then goes to Nick and Ilsa’s on Octavia Street in Wandsworth.
6 April 2011Chapter 11“Strike and Robin took turns tailing Platinum over the next couple of days.”
7 April 2011Chapter 11Strike tails Platinum until she’s under the gaze of Two-Times.
8 April 2011Chapter 12Strike meets Wardle at the Old Blue Last and he meets Wardle’s wife, April.
Robin goes back to Yorkshire.
9 April 2011Chapter 13Robin goes to Harrogate with her mother in the morning to alter her wedding dress. She talks to her mother about Matthew and Strike in Betty’s tea shop. The Grand National is on. Robin has a spat with her brother Martin and goes to her old bedroom and cries. She searches acrotomophilia, which Matthew sees and then he walks out.
10 April 2011Chapter 14At 8:30pm, Strike is waiting for the train to Edinburgh.
11 April 2011Chapters 14-16Strike arrives in Edinburgh Waverly at 5:15 am. He meets Graham and goes to the SIB centre. He takes the borrowed Mini to Melrose. He talks to Mrs Bunyan in the Ship Inn. Robin and Matthew argue again. She finds out he’d cheated on her with Sarah Shadlock. She takes off her engagement ring.
12 April 2011Chapters 17-20Strike returns to London from Edinburgh. The killer stalks Robin to Denmark Street. Shanker comes to the office to talk to Strike about Jeff Whittaker. Strike notices that Robin had been crying. Later, the killer stalks Robin as she’s tailing Platinum. Strike tries to call Robin all day, but she won’t answer for fear that she’ll cry. That night, Strike finds Robin drunk in the Tottenham, and she reveals personal information to him. Strike takes Robin to Hazlitt’s, and then chases a man outside the hotel that was acting suspicious.
13 April 2011Chapters 21-22Strike picks up Robin and takes her to New Scotland Yard. The rest of the victim’s body has been found and Strike and Robin are shown the photographs. Afterwards, Robin and Strike go to the Feathers. Strike goes to Elin’s at Regent Park.
14 April 2011Chapters 23-27Cormoran wakes up at Elin’s and then goes to meet Robin at Ealing Station at 8 am. Robin picks him up in the Land Rover and they set off north for Barrow-in-Furness. In Barrow, Robin goes into the Crow’s Nest and talks to Holly Brockbank as Venetia Hall. Holly gives Robin Noel’s last address. Strike and Robin eat fish and chips in the Land Rover. They stay in (separate rooms) at a Travelodge.
15 April 2011Chapters 27-28They go to Market Harborough where Noel Brockbank previously worked at Thai Orchid. Strike gets Noel’s number from a woman who works there. Wardle calls and tells them that the body was Kelsey Platt’s. Robin and Strike then go to Corby and meet Lorrain McNaughton to get information on Donald Laing. They set off back home.
16 April 2011Chapter 30The killer is plotting. Cormoran wakes up and calls Wardle. Lucy calls Strike, and he declines her invitation to her son’s party. He also declines going with Elin on Sunday to find a new home. Robin finds the BIID website.
18 April 2011Chapters 31-32Robin and Strike bump into each other outside Tottenham Court Road Station. Robin tells Strike everything she’s found. Robin tails Platinum. She calls Noel’s phone number and Zahara picks up and she talks to Alyssa. Matthew is back from Yorkshire and is acting nicer.
21 April 2011Chapter 32Robin and Brockbank speak on the phone. She finds out he’s in Shoreditch.
22 April 2011Chapters 33-34Friday April 22nd 2011Chapters 33 and 34Shanker comes to the office and tells Strike that he knows where Whittaker is. Robin opens a card that’s delivered to the office, and there’s a rotting toe in it. Strike tails Mad Dad, who follows his son to the Natural History Museum. Strike goes to see Hazel.
23 April 2011 Over the next five days, Strike takes turns following Mad Dad and Platinum. Robin’s mother comes to visit her during this time.
28 April 2011Chapters 35-36Two-Times comes to the office. Robin and her mother go to the office before Linda leaves for Masham.
29 April 2011CHapters 37-38Day of the Royal Wedding. Robin searches for strip clubs and brothels. She sends a picture to Jason over the phone, which upsets Matthew. She puts her ring back on. Killer attempts to kill another young woman.
1 May 2011 Strike stays at Elin’s.
2 May 2011Chapters 39-40Strike wakes up at Elin’s to find out via the news that Osama bin Laden has been killed. Robin is at the office when Strike arrives. She tells him about Jason in Leeds who has agreed to meet her. Strike appreciates Robin and thinks: “There was still time.”
3 May 2011 Robin and Strike do their own things and barely see each other for the next week or so.
9 May 2011Chapter 41Wardle calls Strike and tells him about an attempted murder.
10 May 2011Chapter 41Strike tells Robin about the attempted murder. He goes to see a lawyer about Mad Dad. He tails Stephanie and clashes with Whittaker in Catford.
12 May 2011Chapter 42Strike watches the Saracen (strip club) but Brockbank doesn’t seem to be working there anymore.
13 May 2011Chapter 42Robin calls Strike while he’s in a clothing store, World Fair. She tells him Jason is coming to meet them tomorrow.
14 May 2011Chapters 43-44Strike and Robin meet at Pret A Manger on Kings Road before meeting Tempest and Jason at the Gallery Mess. The killer has persuaded It to let him go away for a week in a week’s time.
16 May 2011Chapter 45Strike meets Wardle in the Feathers in the evening.
17 May 2011Chapter 45Strike tells Robin that Wardle told him where Laing is living. Strike goes into the Saracen.
1 June 2011Chapters 46-48Robin tails Stephanie. Stephanie comes out of the house and gets in the back of a transit van. Robin collides with a tall man with a goatee whilst on the phone to Strike. She goes to Elephant and Castle and bumps into Laing.
4 June 2011 Death Cult plays at Fiddler’s Green in Enfield.
5 June 2011 Killer murders Heather Smart.
6 June 2011 Heather Smart’s body is found.
8 June 2011Chapter 49Strike meets Wardle.
9 June 2011Chapter 50Robin has her dress fitted. Strike rings to say Wardle’s brother has died and Carver has replaced him on the case.
 Chapters 51-52Robin speaks to Stephanie and is later attacked by the killer while she’s on the phone talking to Strike. Strike runs to the hospital where Robin has been taken.
22 June 2011 Robin’s mother comes to see her and tries to get her to come home.
24 June 2011Chapter 54Robin goes to Brockbank’s house with Shanker.
25 June 2011Chapter 55Strike goes to Robin’s and fires her.
26 June 2011Chapter 56Strike writes the list in Café Vergnano.
29 June 2011Chapter 57Matthew shows Robin the advertisement in the newspaper.
30 June 2011Chapter 57Robin and Matthew leave for Masham.
1 July 2011Chapter 58-61Strike catches the killer.
2 July 2011Chapter 62Strike gets Shanker to drive him to Masham for Robin’s wedding. (Continued)
 LETHAL WHITE 
2 July 2011PrologueRobin and Matthew’s wedding reception at Swinton Park.
  Robin and Matthew spend their honeymoon in the Maldives.
4 July 2011Strike seeks refulge in the Travelodge, Momument.
11 June 2012Chapter 1Robin has a week off for her move to Deptford. The ex-SIB subcontractor drives his car into the back of someone he is tailing; Strike fires him.
14 June 2012Chapters 2-4Strike interviews Sam Barclay in The Tottenham. Billy Knight comes to the office. Robin walks around Deptford after her counselling session.
15 June 2012Chapters 5-6Strike conducts surveillance on Dodgey Doc on Harley Street, then goes to Charlemont Road in East Ham: he goes to the Well on Vicarage Lane to meet Jimmy Knight, then to the White Horse pub.
16 June 2012Chapter 7Robin and Matthew’s house-warming party at their new house on Albury Street, Deptford.
17 June 2012Chapter 8Robin texts Strike about Monday and he tells her to come to the office.
18 June 2012 Robin arrives at the office at quarter to 9. she listens to a recorded message from Billy while Strike is on the phone. Jasper Chiswell calls the office.
20 June 2012 Strike spends hours in Harley Street on surveillance.
21 June 2012 Strike goes to a tech conference in Epping Forest.
22 June 2012Chapter 9-11 Strike meets Chiswell at Pratt’s club, then meets Robin at the Red Lion. Strike tells her she is going undercover in Westminster. Strike later sees his girlfriend, Lorelei.
23 June 2012 Strike and Lorelei get coffee at a cafe. Strike goes to Chiswell’s house on Ebury Street. He goes back to Denmark Street and searches Jimmy Knight on the internet.
24 June 2012 Strike searches Geraint Winn on the internet. He gets a Chinese takeaway. Eric Wardle emails Strike information on two missing kids in Oxfordshire/Wiltshire. Robin tries on her disguise. Strike and Robin talk on the phone. England plays against Italy in the European Football Championship in Kiev.
25 June 2012 Robin wakes up in a panic from a bad dream; it’s her first day undercover in Westminster.
26 June 2012 Strike goes to Manchester to interview Dawn (Jimmy Knight’s ex-wife). Robin visits Chiswell at the DCMS. Sam Barclay gets in with Jimmy Knight. Strike and Robin talk on the phone.
27 June 2012 Robin leaves the house at quarter to 6. In Westminster, she bugs Winn’s office; Raff startles her as she enters Izzy’s office. Later, Strike and Robin meet in the Two Chairmen.
29 June 2012 Robin is at Westminster. Chiswell quotes Catullus to Aamir Mallik. Strike asks Robin to cover Jimmy Knight the following day, but Robin declines since it’s her anniversary weekend and she’s leaving London with Matthew that evening. Robin talks to Raff in the office; Kinvara walks in, and later Jasper and Izzy.
30 June 2012 Strike goes to Jimmy Knight’s protest march; he follows Jimmy and Flick to Bow station but tears a hamstring in his leg and has to call Lorelei to pick him up.
1 July 2012 Robin and Matthew are away for their wedding anniversary weekend at Le Manoir aux Quatsaisons.
2 July 2012 Robin and Matthew’s wedding anniversary.
5 July 2012 Lorelei tells Strike ‘I love you’. He doesn’t say it back.
6 July 2012 Strike returns to Denmark Street after staying at Lorelei’s for 6 nights with a sore leg. Dominic Culpepper calls Strike. Lucy calls, but he doesn’t answer. Barclay calls. He answers Lucy’s third call. Robin spends the day at Westminster and visits Chiswell at DCMS after contacting Sir Kevin and getting information on Geraint Winn.
7 July 2012 Strike spends the day with Jack in hospital; Robin goes to see him there. Later, Robin meets Matthew back at a bar, but his rugby team had lost and he doesn’t speak to her. She goes home alone.
8 July 2012 Robin and Matthew spend hours arguing; she spends the next three days sleeping in the spare room.
11 July 2012 Robin makes her way to the House of Commons and is stopped by Mitch Patterson. She speaks to Strike on the phone in a tea room. Strike follows Dodgey Doc to Sloane Square, Chelsea Physic Garden.
12 July 2012 Strike rests his legs up on the office sofa and reviews the Chiswell file. He is to go to dinner with Lorelei that night. Robin and Barclay meet outside and they head up to the office together; the three of them listen to a tape recording of Della and Aamir talking in Winn’s office. Strike gets a taxi from Charing Cross Rd to St James Park, and walks past the street where Pratt’s is located. Strike gets punched by Jimmy and is taken to Lancaster House, Stable Yard, by Chiswell. Strike meets Charlotte, and Robin sees them leaving. Strike gets a call from Billy and tries to find him in Trafalgar Square. Robin gets home and Matthew rips her green dress. Strike goes to the restaurant late to meet Lorelei.
13 July 2012 Robin goes to the cafe on Ebury Street where she waits for Strike. Due to Tube delays, Robin goes to Chiswell’s by herself and finds him dead. Strike arrives; after the police arrive on the scene, they are both escorted to Scotland Yard and interviewed separately. Strike takes a taxi back to Denmark Street, collects his things, and goes to Nick and Ilsa’s.
27 July 2012 Strike is at Nick and Ilsa’s. He looks at the photos of Chiswell taken by Robin. Strike and Robin talk on the phone. 
  Strike goes to Lucy’s to watch the London Olympics opening ceremony; he ends up staying over for the night.
28 July 2012 Robin wakes up at 4am from a nightmare and lies in bed until 7am. Strike has breakfast with Lucy and family. Izzy calls Strike and he agrees to go and see her. Strike goes to Izzy’s and she hires him to investigate Jasper’s murder. Strike tells Robin over the phone that Izzy has hired them. Robin and Matthew have dinner with Sarah and Tom, which is “an awful affair.”
1 August 2012 Strike and Robin meet Oliver Bargate at the Corner Café on Lambeth Road.
3 August 2012 Strike goes to Lorelei’s in Camden; Izzy calls, then Barclay calls. Lorelei is upset.
4 August 2012Strike rises at 6am; Lorelei catches him as he’s leaving her flat. Strike makes a detour to a handy McDonald’s for an Egg McMuffin and a large coffee. In McDonald’s, Strike googles Della and Geraint’s divorce. He gets the Tube to Barons Court station and Robin arrives in the Land Rover to pick him up; they drive to Woolstone, Oxfordshire. They notice the white chalk horse. They go to Chiswell House and interview the family, then go to Steda Cottage. They go to the White Horse pub; Strike has a pint of Arkell’s Wiltshire Gold; their food arrives midway through conversation; Strike has a burger and blue cheese and Robin has a bowl of chili. They drive home.
5 August 2012Strike is in the office all day; he gets an email from Lorelei; he calls Robin about the photo of Malik (it sounds as though she’s been in the middle of an argument); she hangs up quickly. Strike watches the Olympics highlights.
9 August 201211At lunchtime, Strike is at a pizza takeaway restaurant watching Ivy Cottages opposite, which is Della’s house. Robin calls Strike, saying she got the job at the jewelry shop with the “mad Wiccan owner.” Strike follows Aamir to his house; he questions him and also finds the carved horse on the bathroom door.
10 August 2012Robin starts working at the jewelry shop in Camden. Strike spends the day following Geraint Winn. Later, Strike, Robin and Barclay have a Chinese takeaway in the office; Barclay leaves and Strike and Robin discuss the case.
11 August 2012Strike talks to Lorelei on the phone at lunchtime. He has an appointment with Henry Drummond at the art gallery. Strike and Charlotte go to Franco’s and talk. Robin is with Flick at The Duke of Wellington in Hackney for a CORE event, then back to Flick’s house for a party. Robin finds the note in Flick’s bathroom.
12 August 2012Strike is asleep when Robin texts. At 1am, Strike goes through the files and writes a to-do list. Strike does the stuff on his to-do list. Later, Robin and Strike speak on the phone. Robin finds Sarah’s earring and realises Matthew has been cheating again. Strike interviews Della at her house in the evening. At 9pm, Matthew comes home and Robin leaves him and goes to Vanessa’s.
13 August 2012Strike interviews Billy at the psychiatric hospital. In the evening, Robin interviews Raphael. Strike goes to the Tottenham with his notebook. Robin and Strike speak on the phone.
14 August 2012Strike calls Wardle for info but he is too busy; Robin watches Dodgy Doc on Harley Street.
15 August 2012Robin calls Strike and asks for two days off.
18 August 2012The day of the trip to Oxfordshire to interview Tegan Butcher at Crafty Filly, Newbury Racecourse. Robin picks up Strike in the Land Rover at Wembley station. Geraint Winn calls on the way and Robin breaks down. Strike comforts Robin at the side of the road. Later, they interview Tegan and watch the races. Strike, Robin and Barclay dig up the dell and find the horse’s skull. Strike and Robin interview Kinvara. Strike tells Robin his theory.
21 August 2012Strike and Robin are invited to New Scotland Yard. Robin gets the Tube to Warwick Avenue to meet Matthew; Raphael kidnaps her in the barge. Everything is revealed. Robin later gives her statement at New Scotland Yard.
Mid-September 2012Strike and Robin meet Izzy and Billy at a restaurant. Plans for the evening include Strike and Robin meeting at Nick and Ilsa’s for dinner.
TROUBLED BLOOD
7 August 2013Joan receives a diagnosis of cancer.
16 August 2013Chalotte leaves a message with Robin for Cormoran to call back.
17 August 2013Chapter 1Dave Polworth’s 39th birthday. This date has been chosen over the 15th, as it falls on a Saturday and Cormoran would leave for London the next day in time to begin a working week.

 

Chapter Date Key Milestones
1 07/08/2013 Joan receives a diagnosis of advanced ovarian cancer.
2 16/08/2013 Charlotte leaves a message with Robin for Cormoran to call back.
1 17/08/2013 Dave Polworth’s 39th birthday. This date has been chosen over the 15th, as it falls on a Saturday and Cormoran would leave for London the next day in time to begin a working week.
1 17/08/2013 Strike meets Anna Phipps and Kim Sullivan. Anna mentions her missing mother Dr. Margot (Margaret) Bamborough.
2 17/08/2013 Robin solves the Tufty case.
6 & 7 18/08/2013 Cormoran and Robin visit Anna and Kim at Woodhouse Terrace, Falmouth. On their drive back, they receive a call from the couple, saying that they would like to give the detectives a year to crack the case.
8 20/08/2013 After taking Monday off, Cormoran and Robin visit Mrs Tufty to break the news about her husband.
8 03/09/2013 Cormoran is in the tabloids due to Tufty and his three women.
8 Mid Sept *Unable to nail the exact date: George Layborn meets with Cormoran at a pub near Scotland Yard and offers to find Dr Bamborough’s case files
9 09/10/2013 Robin’s 29th birthday.
10 09/10/2013 Cormoran meets with Dr Dinesh Gupta, the first witness who knew and worked with Dr Bamborough at St. John’s Clerkenwell Practice.
11 09/10/2013 George Layborn informs Cormoran that he has the files and will drop them off at Denmark Street the next day.
13 11/10/2013 The 39th anniversary of Dr. Margot’s disappearance.
13 31/10/2013 Robin and Cormoran meet at 1 o’clock at St. John’s Lane to walk the supposed route Dr Margot would have taken on her way to meet Oonagh at The Three Kings.
15 11/11/2013 Joan’s chemotherapy goes wrong and she is admitted to the hospital. Lucy and Cormoran head back to Cornwall.
16 15/11/2013 Cormoran meets Robin in Notes Café, St. Martin’s Lane, close to the National Portrait Gallery, which Robin plans to visit before heading home.
17 16/11/2013 Cormoran meets Gregory Talbot on a Saturday at The Avenue, West Wickham. Gregory gives Cormoran Talbot’s secret notebook.
18 20/11/2013 Robin meets with her lawyer, Judith, who recommends mediation. She also receives a call from Wilma Bayliss’s eldest daughter – Eden Richards, asking Robin to stay away from her family.
19 23/11/2013 Cormoran’s 39th birthday. He receives his first birthday card from Rokeby. Robin gets Cormoran headphones to replace the ones that Luke had broken. She also makes sure that there are biscuits for the journey. 😊
19 & 20 23/11/2013 Robin meets Cormoran at Earl’s Court station for their meeting with Irene Bull (now Hickson) and Janice Beattie. This meeting reveals many crucial details that become pivotal to solving the case.
21 23/11/2013 Robin and Cormoran head to The Trafalgar Tavern after meeting with Irene and Janice. While poring over Talbot’s secret diary, Robin recognises the Zodiac symbols, thus solving the mystery of the unrelated dates at the end of Talbot’s police report. Cormoran has the job of finding out all of the witnesses star signs.
23 03/12/2013 Robin gets her copy of Whatever Happened to Margot Bamborough? By C.B. Oakden.
23 04/12/2013 Annabel Marie Ellacott is born. Joan takes a turn for the worse.
24 04/12/2013 Robin and Cormoran meet Oonagh Kennedy at Fortune and Mason, Piccadilly Circus.
25 07/12/2013 Joan is released from the hospital. Cormoran recognises a ring in one of the photos in Oakden’s book.
26 20/12/2013 Barclay falls sick, having caught the flu from Morris. Robin suspects that Cormoran has got the flu as well, which he denies. Gregory Talbot calls to inform Cormoran about the 16mm film and offers to drop it off at the office that day. Cormoran asks Pat to find a suitable projector to be delivered by COB.

Cormoran ponders the behaviour and relationship of Shifty’s boss with a lady on Stoke Newington.

 

 

Robin reveals that she might have a positive ID on Postcar

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27 20/12/2013 Cormoran goes shopping at Hamley’s but, after being confronted with perfume labels like ‘Shaggable Me,´ settles on a box of chocolates for Robin. Cormoran meets Shanker at Shakespeare’s Head for a glass of water. Shanker identifies Nico ‘Mucky’ Ricci and warns Cormoran to stay away from the old gangster and his sons.
29 21/12/2013 Cormoran falls sick. ☹
29 24/12/2013 Pat Chauncey gets Cormoran soup and lugs the projector and his gifts up to his attic door at 5 o’clock.
29 25/12/2013 Cormoran lays out a detailed outline/synopsis of Talbot’s notebook, as well as a plan of action for him and Robin to carry out, and sends it as an attachment to Robin. No Merry Christmas. ☹
29 25/12/2013 Cormoran watches the 16mm film on the projector and witness the brutal death and gang rape of a young woman who has a scar down her rib cage. The ring is visible on the hand of the man filming the incident.
29 25/12/2013 Cormoron gets even sicker, this time with food poisoning.
30 26/12/2013 Robin plays Pictionary with her family, and Martin’s drawing of Icarus catches Robin’s attention. The flower that looked like a sun and vice versa.

Morris sends Robin a dick pic.
31 01/01/2014 Cormoran spends New Year’s Day watching Tom Waits’ No Vision After Midnight DVD, Robin’s Christmas gift which he opened on that day.
31 04/01/2014 Cormoran travels to Cornwall to visit Joan.
31 11/01/2014 Joan and Cormoran spend Saturday talking. With the help of Dave and Kerenza, Cormoran gets Ted to go down to the pub. Joan tells Cormoran how she wants her funeral and burial to take place and asks him to ensure that the family carry it out.
32 11/01/2014 Robin informs Cormoran that the Ministry of Justice has turned down Cormoran’s request to interview Dennis Creed. She mentions that she has tracked down Gloria Conti, aka Mary Jaubert, who now lives in Nimes, France. She also informs Cormoran about her theory that the logo on the side of the van could be for a Wholefoods shop. She had tracked down the company and gotten the name of the driver, Dave Underwood.

 

 

Cormoran informs Gregory that he had to hand over the film to the police. Gregory is not happy with the information.
33 17/01/2014 Barclay is yet to see Postcard at the gallery, which causes Robin to express her concern about Postcard’s sudden disappearance.

 

 

Dave’s daughter calls Robin and confirms that her father was the one driving the van at St John’s Lane on the night of Dr Margot’s disappearance

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33 17/01/2014 Robin decides to go behind Cormoran’s back and put one of her own ideas into motion. Max lands a new job.
34 19/01/2014 Cormoran is back in London.
34 20/01/2014 Robin picks up Cormoran at Earl’s Court Tube Station, and they travel to meet Cynthia Phipps at Hampton Court Palace.

 

 

The journey is fraught as Cormoran reveals what he saw on the old film.
35 20/01/2014 Cormoran and Robin meet Cynthia at Privy Kitchen’s Café.
36 20/01/2014 Roy Phipps finds out that Cynthia is meeting with the detectives and orders them back to Broom House at Ham.
37 05/02/2014 Savage storms lash the south, including Cornwall.
37 13/02/2014 Cormoran decides to get breakfast at a café on St Johns Street, Clerkenwell, and spots Samhain Athorn. Robin is blocked from interviewing Gloria by her husband. She also finds Julia Wilkes, who was mentioned in Whatever Happened to Margot Bamborough? and who had drowned at the end of 1985 at a holiday camp.

 

 

Robin asks Cormoran if he can come over for dinner the next night as Max wishes to interview him.
38 13/02/2014 Cormoran talks to Samhain and Deborah Athorn. He warns the downstairs neighbour (an ironmonger) to stop harassing the Athorns about the sagging wall and leaves a message for Clare Spencer to call him back.
39 14/02/2014 Joan’s condition gets worse and Kerenza mentions that she does not have long. Cormoran assures Ted that he and Lucy will head to Cornwall despite the weather conditions. He rings Dave for help and comes up with a plan.
39 14/02/2014 Robin is late for her meeting with Cormoran – first time ever.

 

 

Nick calls Cormoran asking for a catchup over lunch. Cormoran locates Oakden, and Robin feels that she has been slightly chastened for her lack of tracking down witnesses in the Bamborough case. Barclay cracks the Postcard case. Cormoran praises him but the Scot mentions that it was Robin’s lead that solved the case. Rokeby calls Cormoran – the call does not end well
40 14/02/2014 Ilsa has a miscarriage; Jonathan and his mates visit; the dinner ends up in a shouting match between Cormoran and the students – a total disaster.
41 14/02/2014 The FIGHT.
42 15/02/2014 Clare Spencer calls Cormoran.

 

 

Charlotte messages Cormoran that she has been admitted to Symonds House

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43 15/02/2014 Cormoran calls Robin and apologises for his behaviour the previous evening.

 

 

Robin finds Paul Satchwell

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44 15/02/2014 Cormoran leaves for St Mawes with Lucy. Dave and other school friends meet the brother and sister and help with the journey through fields and flooded plains.
44 21/02/2014 Joan passes away.
45 02/03/2014 Robin heads to Leamington Spa. She checks in at Premier Inn, finds the graveyard where Margot was “seen” by Ramage and discovers Schmidt.
46 & 47 03/03/2014 Robin visits the gallery and meets Paul Satchwell. They go to Roebuck for lunch and a chat. Robin learns about an older sister and the possible reason for the Pillow Dream.
48 03/03/2014 Joan’s funeral is held at a church, followed by drinks at Ship and Castle.
  08/03/2014 A Malaysian airliner disappears without a trace.
49 19/03/2014 Morris solves the Commodity Broker and Nanny’s case.

 

 

Matthew postpones the mediation at the last minute. Robin and Cormoran head over to Bar Italia on Frith Street for a breakfast catchup. Robin tries to explain the Bamborough case along Talbot’s line of thought, but Cormoran does not buy it. At the end of breakfast, Amanda White (Laws) calls.
50 02/04/2014 Cormoran pays a surprise visit to Janis at Nightingale Grove. He learns that Oakden had visited her two weeks ago.
51 02/04/2014 Robin calls Barclay to help stop Shifty’s Boss from jumping off Tower Bridge.
51 02/04/2014 Robin meets Brian Tucker at the Star Café in Soho and learns about Kara Wolfson.
52 19/04/2014 Cormoran and Robin meet at 0100 am on Stoke Street and discuss Oakden and his childhood.
53 19/04/2014 Robin and Cormoran meet the Bayliss sisters in Wanstead at a café. They earn about a new lead, Betty Fuller.
54 20/04/2014 Easter Sunday – Joan’s ashes are sent off in the sea.

 

 

Cormoran receives a call from Charlotte, who had overdosed herself at Symmonds House

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55 05/05/2014 Robin and Matthew’s mediation. Their divorce is finalised, and Robin realises that Sarah is pregnant.

 

 

Robin receives an email from Oakden offering to meet at the American Bar in Stafford hotel on the 24th May

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56 05/05/2014 Cormoran loses it with Al over the phone, gets shirty with Barclay and manages again to feed Robin’s insecurity. ☹

 

 

Robin and Cormoran interview Betty Fuller at Sans Walk located in Clerkenwell

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56 05/05/2014 When Cormoran replays the part of the interview (after Robin had left the room), Robin identifies the girl in the 16mm film as Kara Wolfson. She also gives a medical term to Brenner’s kink: Somnophilia.
57 24/05/2014 Robin spots Mucky Ricci when the residents are taken out of St Peter’s Roman Catholic Nursing Home for a ‘walk.’

Robin calls Barclay with her conclusion about the Shifty case (Autonepiophilia) and, despite Barclay’s protests, convinces him to do what she asks of him.
57 24/05/2014 Robin meets Cormoran at the American Bar to interview Oakden.
58 24/05/2014 Cormoran gives Robin two black eyes, takes her back to Denmark Street, feeds her, gets her drinks and ice and TALKS. xoxo
59 24/05/2015 Barclay barges in with the news about Shifty’s kink. Robin headbutts Morris, confronts him about his behaviour, including the dick pic, and tells Cormoran that she does not wish to work with him any longer.
60 26/05/2014 Cormoran informs Pat that Morris is not coming back. Robin tells Cormoran about her theory of Gloria being pregnant at the BBQ.

 

 

Cormoran bumps into Marjorie, a physiotherapist at Selly Oaks, outside Ricci’s nursing home where she now works.
61 1st wk June Oakden’s article about Cormoran and Rokeby
61 16/07/2014 *This date is a guestimate, as the Ricci family visits on a Sunday with Ricci’s birthday the following week

 

 

Robin enters the Ricci nursing home on the pretence of visiting Enid and runs into Luca, who mentions that he usually comes in on Thursdays.
61 25/07/2014 *The date and the day do not match in the book as Luca writes that Ricci’s birthday is on 25th July, but the day mentioned is Thursday. According to the calendar, it is Friday.
62 01/08/2014 Anna and Kim call to inform Cormoran and Robin that they would like to stop the investigation.
62 02/08/2014 Cormoran visits a footballer with regards to a new case.
61 15/08/2014 The contracted last day of investigation.
63 28/08/2014 Robin meets Gemma in the Vintry Bar. Gemma reveals that Shifty is committing insider trading. She also relays Morris’s advice about reporting Shifty’s sexual harassment.
63 28/08/2014 Robin receives an email about Creed.

Cormoran tracks down Steve Douthwaite in Skegness.
64 29/08/2014 Robin and Cormoran travel to Skegness to interview Steve Douthwaite.
66 30/08/2014 Robin and Cormoran Facetime Gloria Conti, aka Mary Jaubert, at 1800.
68 19/09/2014 Cormoran interviews Dennis Creed at Broadmoor.
69 19/09/2014 Robin deciphers Dennis Creed’s clue on where Louise Tuckers’s body is buried.
70 20/09/2014 Robin and Barclay visit the Athorns and discover what is hidden in the ottoman.
71 20/09/2014 Cormoran visits Janice and has another chat with her at Nightingale Grove.
72 03/10/2014 Cormoran tells Charlotte that he is changing his number.

Robin and Cormoran visit Anna, Kim, Roy, Cynthia and Oonagh at Anna and Kim’s house on Kyrle Road.
73 09/10/2014 Robin’s 30th Birthday