A self-published author of “erotic fantasy” novels, Kathryn Kent was Owen Quine’s girlfriend for more than a year. They met when she was enrolled as a student in one of his writing courses, and their relationship was not a very well-kept secret, with Owen even taking Kathryn as a date to at least one professional social event.

Kathryn is described as being middle-aged with long, thick curly red hair and in general being “not unattractive” with slender legs and a curvy body.

Kathryn’s day job is at an animal-testing facility, where experiments are performed on rats, dogs and monkeys. She lives in Clement Attlee Court, a rundown council housing block in the Fulham area of London.

Robin discovers that Kathryn maintains a diary-type blog called “My Literary Life,” from which she and Strike are able to obtain some valuable clues, including Kathryn’s close friendship with Pippa Midgley. These two characters play a significant role in the unfolding mystery of The Silkworm.