The Strike & Ellacott books are filled with amazing quotes. Here are some of our favourites from book 1 of the series.
Warning: some of the commentary for these quotes refer to books later on in the series, so if you haven’t fully caught up yet, be careful how much you read. We have added a spoiler warning where this applies.
“The buzz in the street was like the humming of flies.” (The Cuckoo’s Calling, Prologue) This is the opening line of the entire series and very memorable.
“Though Robin Ellacott’s twenty-five years of life had seen their moments of drama and incident, she had never before woken up in the certain knowledge that she would remember the coming day for as long as she lived.” (The Cuckoo’s Calling, Chapter 1). This sentence opens chapter 1 when we are first introduced to Robin Ellacott. It is significant to us because both Robin and Strike certainly do remember this day as being a turning point in both of their lives.
“Robin stood quite still, with her mouth slightly open, experiencing a moment of wonder that nobody who knew her could have understood. She had never confided in a solitary human being (even Matthew) her lifelong, secret, childish ambition.” (The Cuckoo’s Calling, Chapter 1). The fact that she has never told a single person her secret ambition for investigative work implies that she isn’t living the life she wants to live; she’ll only feel like she’s being her true self later on in the series (spoiler) when she’s left Matthew and become a partner in the detective agency.
“She stretched out her left hand (sapphire dark, now, in this dim light) towards the handle; but before she had touched it, the glass door too flew open. This time, there was no near-miss. Sixteen unseeing stone of dishevelled male slammed into her; Robin was knocked off her feet and catapulted backwards, handbag flying, arms windmilling, towards the void beyond the lethal staircase.” (The Cuckoo’s Calling, Chapter 1). This is the very first time Strike and Robin meet, with him nearly killing her.
“Exhausted, sore and hungry, Strike slid face down on to the desk again, muffling his eyes and ears in his encircling arms, so that he did not have to listen while his humiliation was laid bare next door by a stranger.” (The Cuckoo’s Calling, Chapter 2). You really feel that Strike is at his lowest point in this moment, having just broken up with his long-term on-off girlfriend of 16 years, being deep in debt and struggling with his business. But, similar to the author in her Harvard speech, this rock bottom is the foundation in which he rebuilt his life. With the help of Robin of course.
“She had taken off her coat to reveal a snugly, even seductively fitting cream sweater.” (The Cuckoo’s Calling, Chapter 3). We know from Chapter 58 of Troubled Blood (spoiler) that this was the first time that Strike found Robin attractive.
“Strike’s job and his black eye had a certain beaten-up glamour, but his attitude towards her was deplorable, and her left breast was still sore.” (The Cuckoo’s Calling, Chapter 4). Similarly, for Robin, she’s already starting to see the “glamour” in Strike, despite his poor treatment of her, though she’s not finding him attractive at this point.
“‘All I want, Strike,’ said Bristow hoarsely, the colour high in his thin face, ‘is justice.’
He might have struck a divine tuning fork; the word rang through the shabby office, calling forth an inaudible but plangent note in Strike’s breast. Bristow had located the pilot light Strike shielded when everything else had been blown to ashes. He stood in desperate need of money, but Bristow had given him another, better reason to jettison his scruples.” This quote is beautifully written and tells us a lot about Strike’s personality – he thrives off finding the truth and getting justice. It’s the word “justice” that persuades Strike to take on the case, even more so than the money.
“The Cornish beer tasted of home, peace and long-gone security.” (The Cuckoo’s Calling, Chapter 5). Although we don’t know anything about his life in Cornwall at this point, we later find out that his “long-gone security” was his time with his Aunt Joan and Uncle Ted in St Mawes. The taste of Doom Bar takes him back to those times of love and safety throughout his childhood, when he’s away from his chaotic and often dangerous life with Leda.
“Charlotte would not rest until she had hurt him as badly as she could in retaliation. This morning’s scene, when she had tracked him to his office, had doubtless been a mere foretaste of what would unfold in the months, even years, to come. He had never known anyone with such an appetite for revenge.” (The Cuckoo’s Calling, Chapter 5). After buying himself a pint, Strike starts to think about Charlotte. This paragraph is some great foreshadowing (spoilers) because, as we know, Charlotte continues to creep back into his life to cause trouble. In The Silkworm, she tries to hurt Strike by getting engaged to Jago Ross, an abuser, in the hopes that he would save her from the marriage; Strike ignores her and she proceeds to marry Ross. In Career of Evil, she is only mentioned, but by Lethal White, Charlotte is pregnant with twins, and after bumping into Strike at the Paralympics reception, she plans a second meeting with Strike in Drummond’s Gallery, which results in them sitting together in Franco’s restaurant, where she tells him she wants him back. In Troubled Blood, Charlotte starts to text Strike more often. She sends him a photo of her naked body, which comes up later. Later in the book, while Strike is in Cornwall, Charlotte overdoses and Strike has to, once again, save her from committing suicide. In The Ink Black Heart, her texting Strike the naked photo comes up in her divorce with Jago Ross. Strike is forced to investigate Ross so that he isn’t mentioned in the divorce settlement case, which would ruin his reputation and business.