** spoiler alert ** 
 I have mixed feelings about Career of Evil. There's a lot of (thankfully) offscreen rape and domestic abuse in this book. One of the antagonists is a serial child rapist, the main villain is a sadist who used to torture his wife and thinks women are literally objects, Robin was raped... It's a lot to take in, to the point that it overwhelms the reading experience. Robin's development as a character hinges upon her ensuing trauma and insecurities. She gets more action this book and takes more initiative, rescuing a child who was being raped by her step-father. She was rather careless about it, but honestly everything could have been solved if Strike had not underestimated her desire for action. 
 Why on earth does she end up married to Matthew? Honestly, Matthew is the worst: insecure and petty and jealous. Robin knows this. She chafes at this. I don't even think she's still in love with him. She does take him back after the whole cheating fiasco, but it's more out of pity. I wonder why she couldn't have taken a step back to reassess her relationship instead of bulling through with it despite her lack of happiness? It is, in my opinion, a negative turn in what was an otherwise great character arc. 
 Ugh. Matthew reads her e-mails without her permission and accuses her of wanting to sleep with Strike when he's slept with some trollop who's still very much present in his life. Just... ugh. 
 I wish Strike wasn't so obviously falling in love with her. I don't blame him, but his overprotectiveness and unwillingness to involve Robin in his investigation is a huge step back in their relationship. He was an ass about it, too. Glad to know he's come back to his senses by the end of the book (even if Robin doesn't - just... why?). 
 It's not fun to see Strike and Robin at odds and isolated from each other, and it takes up most of this book. Career of Evil is well written, but it's not an enjoyable read. Sure it's filled to the brim with JK Rowling's sharp insight into humanity and human character, but the sensitive issues at the center of the plot prevent the book from being the fun, entertaining read its predecessors were. 
 Still a page-turner.