Henry is the sixteen-year-old son of Strike’s new girlfriend, Madeline Courson-Miles. Madeline had Henry when she was nineteen and hadn’t married Henry’s father, who went on to become a successful interior designer. Henry splits his time between living with his mother in her mews house in Ecclestone Square and with his father and his family who live nearby.

Henry is described as “a good-looking boy with Madeline’s red-gold hair, which he wore as long and floppy as Westminster School would permit” (The Ink Black Heart, Chapter 13). Strike also describes Henry as “monosyllabic and barely polite” to him when they meet, which Strike doesn’t take personally (The Ink Black Heart, Chapter 8). However, they bond a little when Strike asks him some questions about The Ink Black Heart cartoon, and Henry tells him about Wally Cardew’s YouTube channel (The Ink Black Heart, Chapter 13).

Strike later bumps into Henry in a doorway in Bond Street on the night of Madeline’s launch party. Henry is sharing a joint with a friend and Strike is waiting for the photographers to leave before approaching the shop. Henry and his friend are discussing the American pick-up artist known as Kosh  (The Ink Black Heart, Chapter 51).