The Silkworm / which HP book is not like the others?

[starfishstar]

I finally read "The Silkworm" by J. K. Rowling (well, by "Robert Galbraith," but...) and WHOA, my goodness, I'm so impressed! JKR is truly moving from strength to strength.

Back in the day, the good old Harry Potter day, my assessment of J. K. Rowling tended to be: unquestionable genius at world-building, plot and character; not always so deft in the not-clunky prose department.

Now, though? Wow. Her prose is smooth and lovely, her plotting swept me along with no exceptions, the conclusion to the mystery was masterfully done (and better than in "The Cuckoo's Calling," in fact) – in short, this is a very well-written novel from a very assured author. The work she's put into learning and working and constantly improving! I'm impressed and inspired. And very much looking forward to the next Cormoran Strike novel, whenever that may come.

Hats off, Ms. Rowling/Galbraith. Hats off.

. . . . .

A side note and a fun question to ponder: In poking around online to see if there's any word about Strike novel #3, I came across an article where JKR pointed out that it's really no surprise she's now writing mysteries, given that the Harry Potter books, despite technically being in the fantasy genre, are structured as mysteries. (Thank you, that's what I said all along!) Specifically, she described the HP books as "six whodunits and one why dun it."

...Which book do you think she's describing as a "why dun it"? "Half-Blood Prince," given that it centers on backstory more than a present-day mystery (though it does have the present-day mystery of Draco and the Vanishing Cabinet)? Or "Deathly Hallows," which does break from form in that it's not a mystery so much as an epic fantasy-style quest (but on the other hand, does it really have "why" elements in it)?

Comments

[author-by-night.livejournal.com]

Actually, I would say GoF. There's a bit of a whodunnit, but a lot of is is the why. WHY Harry got lured to the maze. WHY the wizarding world was so screwed up during and shortly after the war (the Longbottoms, Crouch). WHY Sirius was never given an opportunity to defend himself (he went to Azkaban without being granted a trial).

[starfishstar]

I think GoF is still structured like a mostly-whodunit mystery, though... (Who set off the Dark Mark at the Quidditch Cup? What's the deal with Winky, and Barty Crouch, and who's behind it all? Who put Harry's name in the goblet?) And then the answers to all those things are revealed at the end.

Hmm, maybe HBP really is the "whydunit," because isn't that the only book that doesn't have that Dumbledore-explains-it-all mechanism for revealing what was going on throughout the book? (That wily Dumbledore, he manages to act as a mechanism to explain it all even in DH, after his death!) ...Though HBP has a definite "who" in the identity of the titular Half-Blood Prince, not to mention who's making all the attempts on Dumbledore's life... Okay, not HBP then after all.

So now I'm back to thinking it really must be DH, because that's the only book that doesn't have a mystery – we know exactly who's doing what, it's just a matter of stopping them. I don't see that it has much of a "why" either, though... Maybe the "why" is that we finally learn exactly why Harry and Voldemort have shared this bond that keeps them both alive, and why Dumbledore's guided Harry all these years towards this point where he has to make the choice to "die"?

I give up! JKR is too sneaky for me. :-)