This page is for character introduced in the novel Career of Evil. For characters who appear across the series, see here.
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The Suspects
"You know four men who'd send you a severed leg? Four?"
"To tell you the truth, I think it's only three."
"To tell you the truth, I think it's only three."
— Robin Ellacott and Cormoran Strike
The four men from Strike’s past that he suspects are capable of sending him a severed human leg.
Terrence Malley
Terrence ‘Digger’ Malley
A boss with the Harringay Crime Syndicate, who was sent to prison on account of Strike’s testimony.
- The Dreaded: He has a fearsome reputation in the criminal underworld.
- The Ghost: He is mentioned a lot early in the novel, but never makes an appearance in the flesh.
- Finger in the Mail: He once sent a man’s severed penis to someone else as a message.
- Red Herring: While the police focus their investigation on Malley for the majority of the novel, Strike correctly decides that it probably wasn't him (and that it was a mistake to tell the police about Malley) within the first five chapters, feeling that the song lyrics tattooed on the leg aren't his style.
Donald Laing
Donald Laing
A former soldier who served in the King’s Own Royal Borderers. Strike got him convicted of the torture of his wife.
- Abusive Parents: According to Donald, his mother was verbally abusive and emotionally unavailable. His stepfather was a physically abusive drunk, and to top it off, his biological father was never in the picture.
- Berserk Button: Policemen. His biological father was a policeman, his wife ended up marrying a policeman after divorcing him and he was arrested by the police for abusing his wife.
- The Charmer: Laing has always had the ability to charm people and get them to trust him. As long as they don't really get to know his true nature: the man's name is mud in his hometown, as Strike finds out when he goes there investigating (Laing's own brothers ran him out of town after his release from jail, and other locals are happy to spill all the dirt about Laing's many shocking misdeeds, particularly his ex-mother-in-law).
- Domestic Abuser: He tied his wife up under a bed, beat her, and shoved a knife up her vagina.
- Evil Is Petty: When Laing was growing up a rugby team that cut him had the field vandalized a week later, a farm that fired him had a barn burn down a week later, and when his in-laws tried to talk his wife into leaving him there cat turned up strangled. And that's not counting everything he does in his hatred for Strike in the present.
- Evil Redhead: The man’s hair color is often compared to a fox’s, never as a compliment.
- Formerly Fit: When Strike first met him, Laing was lean and massively muscled, but by the time of the story, he has become fat.
- Genius Bruiser: While nowhere near as smart as he thinks he is, Laing possesses vast amounts of low cunning that one wouldn’t expect from such a massive guy.
- Hate Sink: A class A prick who Strike harbours nothing but contempt for.
- Obfuscating Disability: He is only pretending to still need crutches.
- The Sociopath: Strike’s evaluation of the man is that he is a true sociopath, and his actions past and present amply demonstrate it.
Noel Brockbank
Noel Brockbank
A former soldier who served in the Seventh Armored Brigade. A vicious pedophile, he escaped conviction as a result of an incident when Strike tried to arrest him.
- Abusive Parents: His father abused him and his sister when they were children. He abused his stepdaughter.
- Bouncer: Over the years, this is the only job that he has been able to get, but he never lasts long.
- Brother–Sister Incest: He sexually molested his sister when they were both children.
- Disappeared Dad: To his biological son, who his wife took and left with along with his step kids.
- Evil Cripple: An undiagnosed skull fracture sustained during a rugby match coupled with his physical confrontation with Strike (while trying to arrest him) left him with a form of epilepsy for the rest of his days.
- Hate Sink: You REALLY wish Shanker had killed him when the latter chased him out of his house.
- Karma Houdini: As a result of his injuries during his arrest, he was able to escape the charges for raping his stepdaughter. Thanks to Robin, he is eventually caught for molesting the daughter of his latest girlfriend.
- Pædo Hunt: He has a habit of molesting little girls.
Jeff Whittaker
Jeff Whittaker
Strike’s stepfather, who Strike believes was responsible for the death of Leda Strike.
- The Charmer: Whittaker was always able to exert a great degree of control over women.
- Disappeared Dad: His grandfather took custody of his son with Leda away from him. Whittaker once tried to kidnap the boy back.
- Driven by Envy: He deeply resents people who are more famous, believing himself entitled to fame and fortune.
- Gold Digger: A male version. He married Leda Strike because he was convinced that all the children she had with famous musicians meant she had a ton of money hidden somewhere. He was wrong.
- It's All About Me: He is supremely narcissistic and thinks the world revolves around him.
- Karma Houdini: If Strike is right about him, he was able to get away with the murder of his wife. Twice. As of the end of the story, he still gets away with abusing Stephanie and dealing drugs.
- Make It Look Like an Accident: How he allegedly murdered Leda Strike, by making it look like a heroin overdose.
- May–December Romance: When he married Leda, he was closer in age to her son than he was to her. By the time the story takes place, the situation is inverted, as he is involved with a girl barely out of her teens.
- Throat-Slitting Gesture: It is noted in the narration that this gesture was a favorite of his. It is described as one with which Strike was very familiar: "a midair, horizontal slash of the hand, directed at the throat of the person who had offended him." When he is on trial for killing Leda Strike, after Strike has testified against him, he gives what is described as being a micro-gesture, a miniature copy of the one that Strike knows so well.
