If anyone is still living under the belief that Strike and Robin are somehow still a “will they/won’t they” pairing, we’d like to invite you to join us in the “When and How Will They” club.
With foreshadowing like well-planted seeds, we have eagerly watched as their relationship has bloomed into something even they can’t define. For this very special StrikeFans Valentine’s Day post, we invite you to take a look back with us at some of the most memorable moments and tell signs that our two favorite detectives will soon be more than just partners and best friends.
The Cuckoo’s Calling
When we first meet Robin in The Cuckoo’s Calling, she tells us that she “… had never before woken up in the certain knowledge that she would remember the coming day for as long as she lived.” At the time, we, along with Robin, assume it’s because she’s just become engaged to Matthew, but we literally see the brightness of her engagement ring fade as she approaches the door of Cormoran Strike.
“Savoring the moment, she approached the engraved door very slowly. 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.” The Cuckoo’s Calling, Chapter 1
The dimming of her ring representing the sun setting on her old life and rising again with the start of her new one, as the person she was always meant to be. She will remember this day forever, not because of Matthew, but because she’s just met the man who will ultimately change her life in every way.
On Strike’s side of the equation, we see it as foreshadowing that Robin literally stands in the way of his chasing after Charlotte, who had just been in his office after their latest breakup. Strike then literally saves Robin’s life, as he nearly knocks her down the stairs when he barges out of the office. It will be a slow burn between them from this point, but the literal and symbolic signs are there.
Arguably, the most memorable moment between Strike and Robin in The Cuckoo’s Calling is when she models the green Cavalli dress during her first time undercover. It’s a moment that Strike still thinks about, almost five years later in Troubled Blood.
“Nothing else had seemed to encapsulate what he wanted to tell her, which was ‘look what we achieved together,’ ‘I couldn’t have done it without you’ and (if he was being totally honest with himself) ‘you look gorgeous in this, and I’d like you to know I thought so when I saw you in it.’” Troubled Blood, Chapter 13
The Silkworm
In The Silkworm, we start to see Strike’s increasing distress over Robin’s upcoming wedding and his unwelcome happiness at it being postponed. We also see Robin’s desire to marry her work life with her home life, something that she can never quite achieve with Matthew in the picture.
“She wanted to tug the working life that she had never enjoyed so much closer to the personal life that currently refused to meld with it; she wanted to stitch the two together in a satisfying whole and to see Strike in the congregation, approving (approving! Why did he have to approve?) of her marrying Matthew.” The Silkworm, Chapter 10
Don’t worry, Robin. One day your work life and personal life are going to meld together just perfectly!
Career of Evil
From Career of Evil onward, it becomes increasingly difficult to select only a few of these moments, as Strike spends an entire chapter thinking about how he sort of/definitely doesn’t/ absolutely has feelings for Robin.
“He was sorry, genuinely sorry, for the pain she was in. Yet the revelation had caused certain other feelings — feelings he usually kept under tight rein, considering them both misguided and dangerous — to flex inside him, to test their strength against their restraining bonds. Don’t be a stupid fucker, he told himself. That’s one thing that can never happen. It’d screw everything up royally.” Career of Evil, Chapter 20
There have been quite a few moments where we’d all like to give both Strike and Robin that same look, Ilsa!
When it comes to thoughts of Strike, though, Robin spends a lot of Career of Evil wondering why certain thoughts pop in her head.
“Does she know you’ve gone away with me? Just the two of us?
Robin felt herself turn red. She did not know where that thought had come from. It wasn’t as though …” Career of Evil, Chapter 26
One moment early on in chapter 8, Robin is trying not to overhear Strike on the phone with his girlfriend, Elin, and finds it “difficult to imagine Strike murmuring endearments to anyone.” Something tells us that maybe she’ll be able to imagine it soon. Career of Evil, Chapter 8
While the ending of Career of Evil left everyone desperate for the next book (and screaming ‘NOO!’ that Robin actually marries Matthew), it also gave us this particularly wonderful moment when Strike shows up to her wedding, knocking the flowers to the floor.
“Robin knew she’d been avoiding the question of what she really felt about Strike for the past year.” Troubled Blood, Chapter 45
While Robin still seems desperate to keep her feelings hidden, Strike starts to become “all antennae” about the situation. “Strike wondered exactly how egotistical it was to suspect that Robin’s feelings toward him might be warmer than those of pure friendship…” “Nor was Strike unconscious of Robin’s good looks: indeed, he’d been fully aware of them ever since she’d taken off her coat in his office for the first time. But her physical appeal was less of a threat to his peace of mind than the deep, guilty liking for being, currently, the main man in her life.” Troubled Blood, Chapter 22 We don’t know about you, but we are forever loving Strike’s “main man in her life” comment! There are two chapters in Troubled Blood that bring about a lot of much-needed change for Strike and Robin’s relationship. The first of these chapters (Chapter 40) just so happens to take place on Valentine’s Day! We’ve all been wanting Strike and Robin to spend Valentine’s Day together, but we never imagined it would be like this! The explosive fight they have is painful to read but leads to some serious change in how Strike operates with Robin. The things she takes issue with (his lateness, his rudeness to others like Pat and taking his temper out on her) all change after this confrontation. We see Strike make a noticeable effort to arrive early to all their meetings, be friendly to Pat, and apologize when he’s stressed and snaps at her. Growth! “’Al pissed me off,’ he explained. ‘So I might’ve been a bit—’ “’Cormoran, it’s fine,’ repeated Robin, but with a smile that reassured Strike.’” Troubled Blood, Chapter 56 The other chapter that brings change — but in a much more pleasant way — is Chapter 58. Here they come the closest they’ve ever come to moving their relationship to the next level and expressing, even if not fully, what they mean to each other.
Robin notes that walls have come down since that night in the office, but we get a particularly enjoyable chapter when Strike and Robin go to Skegness to interview a possible suspect. Strike appears so happy in this chapter that he not only sings but also has the desire to buy Robin a stuffed donkey like he was a “kid on a daytime date with his first girlfriend.” Troubled Blood, Chapter 65
One especially great moment is when Strike appears to almost flirt with Robin, making her blush: “Strike looked at her without smiling for the space it took him to chew and swallow a chip, then said, ‘Yeah. But you’re exceptional, aren’t you?’” Troubled Blood, Chapter 65
Remember the swans from Lethal White? We had hoped that the twin swans facing each other at the end of Lethal White would mean Strike and Robin getting together, but in hindsight, maybe it was indicating the additional closeness they’d achieve in Troubled Blood and the recognition of their best friend status. If that’s true, we have very high hopes for what this mention of swans in Troubled Blood could indicate for Book 6!
“Kirsty had arranged towels in the shape of kissing swans on the maroon bedspread, which matched the patterned wallpaper of maroon and deep purple.” Troubled Blood, Chapter 64
Kissing swans!
And here is our Valentine’s Day Quiz
she’s the one I’ve watered
“…my rose, all on her own, is more important than all of you together, since she’s the one I’ve watered. Since she’s the one I put under glass, since she’s the one I sheltered behind the screen. Since she’s the one for whom I killed the caterpillars (except the two or three butterflies). Since she’s the one I listened to when she complained, or when she boasted, or even sometimes when she said nothing at all. Since she’s my rose.” – The Little Prince, Antoine de Saint-Exupéry As she climbed the stairs from the Tottenham Court Road tube station, Robin was mentally going over her schedule for the day. Strike would be on surveillance this morning, but he was planning to call in for the meeting they had set with a potential new client at three. She’d prep for that first thing, then spend the rest of the morning updating the files on Two-Times’s latest girlfriend. She had to talk to Pat about the rota at some point too, she realized, dodging past a slow-moving tourist dragging a heavy suitcase behind them. As she reached the top of the steps, she passed a tall, thin, blonde woman, wearing a skirted trench coat, whose face was taut with anger as she yelled into her mobile, “It’s Valentine’s Day, Hugo! We had plans!” Robin tugged her own phone out of her pocket and glanced at the date, confirming that she had, indeed, forgotten that it was Valentines Day. The revelation came with a certain sinking sensation. She couldn’t help remembering the night exactly a year ago, which she easily ranked as one of the worst Valentine’s she’d ever spent; single, exhausted, gritting her teeth through the Nightmare Dinner, watching Strike vomit in the street and the blowout fight she’d had with him immediately after… But at the same time, she remembered seeing her phone light up with his name the next day, her surprise at his unprompted and sincere apology, the way he’d made her laugh and cry at the same time. She’d felt a change in him, in the year since that night. He’d been slightly more thoughtful, more open. Warmer. He’d remembered her birthday, and Christmas too, and she felt a small glow of pleasure at the memory of both as she unlocked the outer door of the office and started up the metal stairs. And though she could admit to herself now (even if only when alone in her bed, in the hidden dark of night) that she might want more of Strike, might in fact want all of him, she was content with what they had. Best mates, she reminded herself with a tiny spurt of happiness as she keyed open the office door. Pat hadn’t yet arrived, and Robin deposited the day’s mail on the front desk on her way through to the inner office, unwinding her scarf and unbuttoning her coat as she went At the sight of her desk, she halted in her tracks and stared. Standing there, emerging from a slim glass vase, was a single, exquisite white rose. She had worked late last night, but she knew had left her desk tidy, its surface bare, as always. The rose hadn’t been there then. She felt a quick stab of anxiety as the image of a quivering bundle of red roses swam before her eyes, and hesitated a moment before stepping forward. As she moved closer, she saw that the bottom of the vase was filled with glass pebbles of the most delicate blue-grey. There was a card propped up next to it, bright pink and glittery with a cartoonish red bird singing on the front of it. She picked up the card with trembling fingers, and flipped it open. You said I wasn’t to get you flowers, so I picked out just the one. Love Strike x The sight of the cramped and spiky handwriting, as familiar to her as her own, came with a rush of relief, followed almost instantly by something much warmer spreading through her in its wake. She huffed a quiet laugh of surprise and delight as she lifted the flower carefully from the vase, the water clinging to its stem cool on her fingers. She inhaled its scent, its petals soft as they brushed against her lips, and read the card again. There had been white roses at her wedding; she wondered now if Strike remembered. She would have thought, a day ago, that this particular flower would hold only bad memories for her. But now, all she could see as she twirled the stem slowly between her fingers was Strike standing sheepishly next to an overturned vase at the back of the church; all she could feel was his arms around her, his breath stirring the curls of her hair. “Morning.” She looked up, startled. Strike was standing in the door of the office, a tray of coffees in one hand, a paper bag in the other. He was wearing his overcoat still, with a dark blue scarf wrapped around his throat. His cheeks were ruddy from the cold, his eyes bright, and Robin’s heart jumped at the sight of him, as it so often did these days. Slightly flustered, she stared at him for a moment too long and then, realizing that she was still holding the rose to her lips, dropped her hand. She felt her cheeks begin to heat, and looked down before he could see the ridiculous grin that she couldn’t stop from spreading across her face. “Good morning,” she said to the wood of her desk, and blushed harder at the sound of her voice, which she could only describe to herself as throaty. Her mind scrabbled frantically for something else to say, something normal, something casual, willing her body to calm down, but every second that passed made the clamoring mess of feelings inside her stronger and more unruly. It was Strike who broke the silence first. “Sorry.” “For what?” she said, startled into looking up at him; but Strike was grinning in a way that was anything but contrite. “Going against orders,” he said, his eyes twinkling at her as he glanced pointedly down at the rose. She laughed. “I’ll allow it,” she said, finding solid footing again on the back of his joke. “Just this once, mind you,” she added with mock severity. They stood there, grinning across the office at each other, for a long moment before Strike seemed to remember the coffee in his hand. “Here,” he said, putting the paper cup on her desk. He placed the paper bag carefully down beside it, and glanced up at her almost shyly as he added, “Triple chocolate brownie.” She recognized the logo on the bag; it belonged to a trendy new bakery that had exploded into sudden popularity, the artfully composed shots of its decadent pastries and cakes that swamped Instagram feeds drawing enormous crowds and resulting in lines out the door. She’d idly mentioned wanting to try one of their famous brownies, more than a week ago. She hadn’t thought he was listening. Robin felt her heart swell and her eyes prickle threateningly. The bakery was nowhere near Denmark Street. Strike was on surveillance today; he wasn’t even supposed to be in the office. He’d gone out of his way, braved the tube at rush hour, to bring her this. “You must’ve gotten up at the crack of dawn to beat the queue,” she said thickly, her attempt at lighthearted banter drowning in the tears pooling in her throat. Strike shrugged, sipping his own coffee and leaning back against his side of the desk. Robin sat, placing the rose that she’d still been holding carefully back in its vase. “Didn’t you get anything for yourself?” she asked as she unwrapped her brownie, placing it on top of the smoothed-out bag where she could admire it, the chunks of dark chocolate and drizzle of ganache making her mouth water. “Ate it on the way back,” he said with a sheepish shrug, and Robin laughed again. She was conscious of his eyes on her as she broke off a piece from the corner and took a bite. Her eyelids fluttered closed as the cake crumbled and melted on her tongue, the decadent, dark, fudgey chocolate prompting an involuntary moan of delight. Having savoured every moment of the morsel, she opened her eyes, and her breath caught in her throat as she met Strike’s gaze; for the briefest of moments his eyes were dark and blazing with something that looked almost like desire. Then he looked down, fiddling with the lid of his coffee cup, and the moment broke as Robin felt her heart start beating again. “Thank you,” she said softly. “For everything. I wasn’t expecting…” she trailed off, helpless to describe the jumbled mass of feelings that were burning under her ribcage. “You’re welcome,” he replied quietly, glancing back up at her. The burning in his eyes was gone, or banked; he heaved a breath and pushed himself up off the desk. “Listen, before I head out…” he hesitated for a moment before he said, in a rush, “D’you have plans tonight?” “Plans?” Robin said blankly. “Yeah. Plans,” he said, eloquently. “I—no, not really,” Robin answered, as articulate as her partner, blossoming excitement and quavering uncertainty mingling and fluttering in her stomach. “Max is having his boyfriend over, I was going to make myself scarce. Early night with a book kind of thing.” She became aware that she was babbling, and clamped her mouth shut. Strike took a deep breath. “Would you like to have dinner with me?” The question was clear and confident; but as Robin stared at him, her mouth hanging open a little in surprise, she could see a hint of fear and uncertainty lurking in his dark eyes, in the near whitening of his knuckles as he gripped his coffee cup. “Tonight?” she managed, her voice emerging an octave too high. “Yes,” he said, and when she didn’t respond, added with a rueful grin, “I’ll be both punctual and sober, I promise.” Robin stared at him, lost for words. Was he asking what she thought he was asking? The flower, the chocolate… it was Valentine’s Day. Surely this wasn’t what best mates did on Valentine’s Day. Or was it? “We’ll never get a table,” she said weakly, not knowing how to respond. “I already have one.” He was holding her gaze, his dark eyes steady and warm. “Well. Alright then,” she said, her cheeks pink, tucking her hair behind her ears with trembling fingers. “Yes. That would be…lovely.” “Good.” The corners of his lips tilted, in a crooked and almost boyish grin. “Pick you up at seven?” She nodded, but as he got up out of his chair to leave, his coffee in one hand and the other busy re-tucking the ends of his scarf into his collar, she felt the need to say something, anything, to put some kind of words to the hope blooming in her chest. “It’s a date,” she blurted with sudden, reckless bravery. Strike paused, glancing back at her with a cheeky grin as he reached the door. “Yeah,” he said, his eyes meeting hers with a burning intensity that made her stomach flip. “It is.” And then he was gone. She fell back into her chair, her eyes falling on the white rose in its vase, fresh and bright in the morning sunlight trickling through the window, once again wondering why he’d chosen it. Perhaps, she mused, unconscious of the tiny smile blooming on her face, she’d ask him tonight. On their date.
What a wonderful article! I really enjoyed it. It’s nice to have all those moments connected together in one place.
Also, the Valentine’s Day Strike fic is lovely — kudos to Pools of VenetianBlue! I will be imagining that date (maybe you’ll write it?). 🙂 <3
A brilliant article with so many great points brought together. Let’s hope these two do get together, they both deserve each other! An absolutely wonderful fanfic too. Many thanks for a wonderful Valentine’s Day post
Great article… good to know where to find the best shippy parts of our two favourite people.
And what a wonderful fanfic from pools_of-venetianblue… many many kudos to you.
I’m gonna listen to the podcast later today, looking forward to it.
And thanks so much for this lovely Valentine’s Day post.
Loved it!-all of it!
Great article! You’ve woven their growing friendship and mutual attraction together from all of the books so well; I love seeing it all put together.
And that Valentine’s fic from Pools_of_Venetian_Blue… wow. Just, wow. I would dearly love to see something like that happen in book 6!
This is all so wonderful .You’ve really made my day , I just couldn’t stop reading it .
The potential romance between Robin and Strike that’s blossoming slowly is absolutely fantastic, all unspoken but through subtle dialogue is plain for all to see. It’s always simmering below the surface .The development of their relationship and their obvious , well obvious to us, love for each other is the most romantic that I have ever encountered. I find it is more intriguing and emotional than Romeo and Juliet ,or Miss Elizabeth and Mr Darcy’s relationship and they are a mere two of the greats that spring to mind .
Love this site , great writing , fanfic is extremely clever and must give a mention to the talented person who created the kissing swans from towels, remarkable ! Thank you for all your efforts it’s greatly appreciated .
Thoroughly indulgent & enjoyable trip down memory lane charting their will they/ won’t they moments. Throughout the books Robin calls him “Cormoron ” she is the only one who calls him by his Christian name. But after the fabulous trip to Liberty she thanks him by calling him ” Strike ” this is what everyone else calls him. I thought it was more endearing of her to always call him Cormoron..so why in her happiest moment does she now call him Strike. Since you are as obsessed as I am by this romance. I wonder what your thoughts are on this change by Robin
Hello, yes you are correct I am totally obsessed by their romance . I put this down to the way their relationship is developing. Slowly, organically.
The growing love for each other is due more to falling in love with the person first and not simply following their physical desires instantly , even though they are obviously attracted to each other and have been from early on and of course that can be important in any relationship but is usually a stronger bond when mutual frienship and respect are nurtured first.
They are always happy just to be in each others company even when they are in separate rooms at the office, as long as they know the other one is there and Strike often needs to hear her voice when he is away, it calms and relaxes him .
Robin is the same her heart almost leaps when she receives a text or call from him and is then instantly brightened.
Strike cares for Robin’s well being and sees her value, her worth as a person and sees her as equally valuable to himself .
Who as a woman wouldn’t love that in a man, a rarity indeed.
Yes I too have noticed that prior to troubled blood Robin has been the only one to give him his full name ( a respectful gesture again ) which has also endeared me to Robin. I thought that was lovely throughout.
My thoughts are that I hope she doesn’t continue indefinitely to call him Strike , although she must feel closer to him and relaxed enough now to call him that, or she wouldn’t.
Also I think he said something like he quite liked her calling him Strike so maybe he feels that it brings them closer together in that respect as well, as it’s less formal than using his first name in full, even though that seems contradictory.
Thank you for asking for my thoughts about this, it is always nice to be asked.
Do you have any further thoughts regarding this ?
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Thank you so much for breaking down the symbolism of the swans! I miss stuff like that, so that was very helpful and made my heart leap!
(And that Valentine’s Day story…y’all excuse me, I need to have a squeeeeeeeee for a good few hours.)
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