Strike season six is set to land on our screens very soon, with the BBC releasing first look snaps of Robin Ellacott and Cormoran Strike in the upcoming adaptation of the bestselling novel, The Ink Black Heart.
Since the books are a little ahead of the TV show, we already know plenty about the TV show - so if you're curious about Cormoran and Robin's relationship in season six - as well as the plot of the new series, this is the place for you. Find out everything you need to know here…
What happens in The Ink Black Heart?
Season six is set to follow the events of the sixth novel in JK Rowling's series, which is written under the pseudonym Robert Galbraith, as Cormoran and Robin investigate the death of a popular cartoonist who is murdered after receiving hate online.
The BBC's synopsis reads: "When frantic, desperate Edie Ledwell appears in the office begging to speak to her, private detective Robin Ellacott doesn't know quite what to make of the situation. The co-creator of a popular cartoon, The Ink Black Heart, Edie is being persecuted by a mysterious online figure who goes by the pseudonym of Anomie. Edie is desperate to uncover Anomie's true identity.
"Robin informs Edie that the agency is too busy to take on her case and thinks nothing more of it until a few weeks later, when she reads the shocking news that Edie has been tasered and then murdered in Highgate Cemetery, the location of The Ink Black Heart.
"Robin and her business partner Cormoran Strike become drawn into the quest to uncover Anomie's true identity. But with a complex web of online aliases, business interests and family conflicts to navigate, Strike and Robin find themselves embroiled in a case that stretches them to their limit."
Do Robin and Cormoran get together?
While we can't say for sure whether the BBC adaptation will tweak the book plot, if the novel is anything to go by then sadly Cormoran and Robin do not get together by season six. However, they do share a moment on Robin's birthday whether Cormoran goes in for a kiss, only for Robin to appear to reject him, leading him to think she is uninterested.
The quote reads: "In the days following her silent rejection of his kiss, he kept going over incidents he’d thought proved the attraction was mutual, returning again and again to the fact that she’d broken off her first dance at her wedding to follow him, leaving Matthew abandoned on the dance floor… Had he imagined it all?"
© Laurence CendrowiczHowever, from Robin's perspective, she pulls away at the last moment over her concern about the future of their working relationship together should they become romantically involved, only to realise throughout the course of the book that she is deeply in love with him.
Later in the novel, she realises her feelings, with the passage reading: "I’m in love with him. She’d been kidding herself too long. This wasn’t friendship or mere fondness: you didn’t feel as though all your intestines had been seared with dry ice when you found out your friend was sleeping with someone new."
© Rob YoungsonHowever, after both misinterpreting each other's feelings towards one another, they both onto new relationships - much to the frustration of the readers, and soon to be viewers! While Strike starts dating a jewelry designer, Robin starts dating police officer Ryan Murphy.
As for the seventh novel? Find out everything you need to know here.
When is season 6 being released?
Although the sneak peek images hint that the show is right around the corner, an official date has yet to be released just yet - so watch this space!
© Sam TaylorWho is in the cast?
As per usual, Tom Burke will be reprising his role as the gruff detective Cormoran, while Holliday Grainger plays his business partner Robin Ellacott. Tom is perhaps best known for starring in The Three Musketeers, and opposite Anya Taylor Joy in Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga. Speaking to HELLO! about Strike at the Cannes Film Festival, he said: "I can't even remember who the murderer is! The biggest change going from Furiosa to Strike is the weather!"
Meanwhile, Holliday is best known for starring in Cinderella, The Borgias, The Capture and Lady Chatterley's Lover.
