The Hallmarked Man

The Hallmarked Man

First edition in the United Kingdom
Authors	Robert Galbraith
Audio read by	Robert Glenister
Cover artist	Duncan Spilling
Language	English
Series	Cormoran Strike
Release number	8
Genre	Crime fiction
Set in	United Kingdom
Publisher	Sphere Books
Publication date	2 September 2025 (2025-09-02)
Publication place	United Kingdom
Media type	Print, Digital, Audiobook
Pages	912 (Hardcover)
ISBN	978-0-3165-8600-9 (Hardcover)
Preceded by	The Running Grave
Website	The Hallmarked Man at robert-galbraith.com

The Hallmarked Man is a crime fiction novel written by the British author J. K. Rowling, and published under the pseudonym Robert Galbraith on 2 September 2025. The eighth novel in the Cormoran Strike detective series, it follows The Running Grave. As with previous books in the series, it features the protagonists Cormoran Strike and Robin Ellacott solving a murder, in this case involving Freemasonry and trafficking.

Plot

Decima Mullins, sister of Valentine Longcaster, hires the agency to investigate the body of one "William Wright" found in the vault of Ramsay Silver. Identification is difficult due to mutilation and the outdated security system. The body is draped in a masonic sash and is marked with the Cross of Salem. Malcom Truman, the DCI in charge of the case, is a freemason. The police say that Wright was Jason Knowles, a convicted robber. Mullins thinks Wright was Rupert Fleetwood, her boyfriend and father of her newborn baby. Shanker states that Wright was neither man, that a powerful freemason is behind the execution, and that Knowles has been sent to "Barnaby's". Information Ryan Murphy gets from the Metropolitan Police reveals that Niall Semple and Tyler Powell also fit the profile. The agency receives a letter encoded with a pigpen cipher saying that Wright was "Dick DeLion". Fleetwood's social circle believes he is in New York. Ralph Lawrence of MI5 warns against investigating Semple. The agency receives threatening calls, which Strike believes are from Knowles' associates. Robin is attacked and threatened in Harrods by someone who knows about the trial of her rapist.

Daz and Mandy, neighbors of "Wright" reveal that he mentioned a name similar to "Rita Linda". Robin discovers that a woman called Reata Lindvall and her daughter Jolanda were murdered in Sweden in 1998. The office door is defaced with a letter "G" from the Square and Compasses. A music producer named Calvin Osgood discovers that his identity was stolen by a individual calling himself "Oz". A missing schoolgirl named Sapphire Neagle is the only connection between him and the impostor "Oz", whom Wright had emailed from the computer at Ramsay Silver. Oz ransacks Wright's apartment with a female resembling Sofia Medina, a student found dead on North Wessex Downs. Jade Semple tells Strike that her SAS veteran husband became obsessed with Freemasonry after a traumatic brain injury. Lawrence took the note he left behind, and warned her not to speak about it. After Robin meets Valentine Longcaster, the stalker threatens her and drops a Masonic dagger. Lawrence places Rena Liddle in a psychiatric hold before Strike can interview her.

Strike runs into Nina Lascelles, a former discarded fling, while on mission. Nina who is still pissed at Cormoran, informs her cousin, Dominic Culpepper, that it was Kim Cochran (a new subcontractor with the agency) who took the photos of his wife having an affair. Culpepper writes articles portraying Strike as an abusive womaniser, and fabricates an interview with a sex worker who Strike purportedly used as a honeytrap and coerced into sex. Strike responds via Fergus Robertson of The Telegraph. Jonny Rokeby's lawyers quash a false story about the Strike fathering Bijou Watkins' daughter. Strike discovers that the encoded note was from an adult film actress named Fiona Freeman, who thinks De Leon was executed because he blackmailed a powerful freemason who employs porn actors to fulfil his voyeur fetish using unsuspecting members of the public. Strike believes that the freemason is Oliver Branfoot, who is part of the same Masonic lodge as Truman and is colluding with Culpepper. De Leon is found alive on Sark. "Barnaby's" is deduced to be a scrap yard where bodies are destroyed in the car compactor. Jim Todd, who was janitor at Ramsey Silver and discovered the body, flees when caught taking upskirt photos on the Circle line, and Strike finds him dead along with his mother.

Dilys Powell and Ian Griffiths explain that Tyler, a mechanic, left Ironbridge due to a scandal involving a car crash. Griffiths' daughter Chloe explains that Tyler was aggressive and possessive with women. Faber Whitehead voices his suspicions of Ian Griffiths. Robin is attacked again, but pepper-sprays the assailant, who is arrested and identified as Wade King. Hussein Mohamed mentions seeing dumbbells with the logo of Wolverhampton Wanderers, which Powell supported. King attempts to intimidate Robin again while on bail. Strike deduces that Griffiths runs a trafficking ring and uses identities like Oz to lure women. He killed Lindvall while on tour with King, and passed off Jolanda as Chloe. When Powell tried to rescue Chloe, Griffiths tampered with the ABS on his car. Todd got Powell a job at Ramsay Silver and lured him to the vault, where Griffiths murdered him; the Masonic symbols were a red herring. Griffiths and Medina ransacked Powell's apartment of anything that could identify him. Both Medina and Todd were killed to tie up loose ends. At Griffiths' house in Ironbridge, Strike knocks out Wynn Jones and discovers Sapphire chained in the basement. He is attacked by Griffiths, but the traffickers are subdued with the aid of Barclay and Wardle. It is revealed that Chloe was murdered and buried in the basement after Griffiths got her pregnant, and that Griffiths impersonated both her and Powell. Robin and Midge find the missing silver behind a wall in the basement of Ramsay Silver.

After Strike rebuffs her advances, Kim begins working for Farah Navabi to help Branfoot foil Strike's investigation, but becomes the subject of one of his sex tapes. Fergus Robertson's piece in The Sunday Telegraph exposes Branfoot, and Culpepper is fired for fabricating articles. Strike learns from Tara Jenson that Fleetwood took a job at an overseas hotel. Robin interviews Fleetwood in Sardinia, who says Valentine Longcaster revealed that Mullins is Fleetwood's half sister through Dino Longcaster's affair with Fleetwood's mother. Robin convinces him to contact Decima. From Rena Liddle, Strike discovers that Niall Semple committed suicide in Regent's Canal, and his body is found under the rail bridge. Strike attends the funeral, where Ralph Lawrence reveals the circumstances of Ben Liddell's execution by Daesh.

Robin's growing relationship with Murphy causes Strike to engineer situations where he can express his feelings, but these are all foiled. Murphy is insecure about Robin's closeness to Strike, and is sensitive about his sobriety; he secretly relapses until confronted by Robin. She initially vacillates about telling him about her infertility resulting from the Chlamydia she contracted from her rapist and surgery following an ectopic pregnancy, and delays having her eggs frozen. Robin questions her feelings after Strike gives her a deeply personal Christmas present. Spurred by Murphy's impending proposal, Strike confesses his feelings just before she departs to meet Murphy at the Ritz Hotel.

Characters

Ramsay Silver is located behind Freemasons' Hall, London

Part of the investigation and the conclusion of the case take place in the village of Ironbridge

Main

• Cormoran Strike: An ex-SIB investigator who co-runs a private detective agency alongside Robin.
• Robin Ellacott: Strike's partner in the detective agency.

Antagonists

Trafficking ring

• Ian Griffiths: Neighbour of Tyler Powell, leader of the trafficking ring
• Wynn Jones: Tyler Powell's friend
• Todd Jameson (Jim Todd): Cleaner at Ramsay Silver, also part of the trafficking ring in Belgium
• Wade King: Robin's gorilla-masked stalker, former bandmate of Ian Griffiths
• Mickey Edwards: Member of the ring
• Darren Pratt: Tyler Powell's friend

Branfoot's operation

• Lord Oliver Branfoot: A former MP, media personality and Freemason
• Danny De Leon (Dick DeLion): Porn actor who blackmailed Branfoot
• Craig Wheaton: Porn director, associate of Branfoot
• Fiona Freeman (Fyola Fay): Porn actress who worked with De Leon, Craig Wheaton's girlfriend
• Kim Cochran: Former police detective and sub-contractor, jumps ship to Farah Navabi and leaks information to Branfoot

People of interest

Rupert Fleetwood's social circle

• Decima Mullins (nee Longcaster): Restaurateur, Client of the agency, Valentine Longcaster's sister, step sister of Strike's late ex-fiancée Charlotte Campbell
• Rupert Fleetwood: Decima Mullins' boyfriend, cousin of Sacha Legard, Dino Longcaster's illegitimate son
• Sacha Legard: Actor, Charlotte's half-brother
• Valentine Longcaster: Decima Mullin's brother, Charlotte's stepbrother
• Cosima Longcaster: Valentine and Decima's younger sister
• Dino Longcaster: Patriarch of the Longcaster family, biological father of Rupert Fleetwood
• Anjelica Wallner: Rupert Fleetwood's aunt
• Albie Simpson-White: Rupert Fleetwood's friend, Harrods employee, former employee of the Longcasters' club
• Zacharias Lorimer: Rupert Fleetwood's roommate
• Tara Jenson: Mother of Charlotte Campbell and Sacha Legard, ex-wife of Dino Longcaster

Other people of interest

• Kenneth Ramsay: Owner of Ramsay Silver
• Pamela Bullen-Driscoll: Owner of the Bullen & Co., Kenneth Ramsay's sister-in-law
• Jade Semple: Wife of Niall Semple, a missing SAS veteran
• Dilys Powell: Tyler Powell's grandmother
• Hussein Mohamed: William Wright's neighbour
• Daz and Mandy: William Wright's neighbours
• Sapphire Neagle: A missing school student
• Calvin "Oz" Osgood: Music producer, victim of identity theft
• Rena Liddell: Sister of Ben Liddell, late member of the SAS and Niall Semple's friend
• Gretchen Schiff: Sofia Medina's roommate
• Tia Thompson: Sapphire Neagle's classmate
• Faber Whitehead: Architect, father of Hugo Whitehead, who was killed when Tyler Powell's car crashed

Strike and Robin's social circle

The Strike and Ellacott Detective Agency

• Sam Barclay: A Glaswegian private investigator, a sub-contractor
• Dev Shah: A sub-contractor
• Midge Greenstreet: A sub-contractor
• Eric Wardle: Former police detective, new sub-contractor
• Pat Chauncey: Office manager

Friends and family

• Lucy: Strike's half-sister, Leda Strike's daughter
• Shanker: A career criminal, Strike's childhood friend and informant
• Linda and Michael Ellacott: Robin's parents
• Jonathan, Stephen and Martin Ellacott: Robin's brothers
• Jenny and Carmen: Partners of Robin's brothers
• Jonny Rokeby: Rock star, Strike's estranged father
• Ilsa Herbert: Strike's school friend
• Graham Hardacre: Strike's SIB colleague
• Ryan Murphy: A CID detective, Robin's boyfriend
• Prudence Donleavy: Psychologist, Strike's half-sister, Jonny Rokeby's daughter

Former romantic interests

• Nina Lascelles: A former fling of Strike from The Silkworm; cousin to the journalist Dominic Culpepper
• Matthew Cunliffe: Robin's ex-husband
• Bijou Watkins: A former girlfriend of Strike's from The Running Grave

Law enforcement

• DCI Northmore: In charge of the silver vault case
• DCI Iverson: Working on the silver vault case, former fling of Ryan Murphy
• Ralph Lawrence: A member of MI5, acquaintance of Angela Darwish from The Ink Black Heart

Development

Freemasonry, Masonic symbols like the Square and Compass, and the letter G feature in the plot.

The body found in the vault is branded with the Cross of Salem, a symbol of the leadership of Freemasonry

Background

Rowling announced the title of the book through X on 15 March 2024. Public speculation about the setting and plot of the novel grew due to images and posts on Rowling's X account. These included Iron Bridge, Wild Court (a street behind Freemasons' Hall in London), the island of Sark in the Channel Islands, Crieff in Scotland and the Savoy Hotel in London.

Rowling partly confirmed these speculations when she said during an interview that a few chapters would be set on Sark. She also teased a few plot details, revealing that she had written about an encounter that had been foreshadowed for years. On 17 December 2024, Rowling announced that she had finished writing the novel.

The involvement of the Masons was further hinted at when the cover, which was leaked through Apple books on 23 May 2025, featured Freemasons' Hall. Retail listings later revealed the inclusion of a new character called Decima Mullins and confirmed the involvement of Freemasonry. Rowling revealed in an interview that Masonic concepts like the Pigpen Cipher would be plot points.

Publication

The novel was published by Sphere Books in the UK and by Mulholland Books in the USA. Both Mulholland and Sphere are imprints of Little, Brown and Company (part of the Hachette Book Group), which has published all Rowling's adult fiction, including The Casual Vacancy.

The novel has hardback, paperback, large-print paperback, eBook and audiobook editions. The audiobook is narrated by Robert Glenister, who also narrated all the previous books in the series. The cover art was created by Duncan Spilling, who has designed the covers for all the books in the series.

Early copies of the hardcover edition started going out on 27 August. The book was released to the public on 2 September.

Sales and Reception

The book sold 53,207 copies in the UK during its first week on sale, outselling the previous two entries in the series. It made its debut at the top of the UK Top 50, and also landed at the top of the hardcover fiction sales lists in the US.

Press reception was mixed. A critic described the book as another strong, emotionally engaging entry in the series. Praise was given to the construction and handling of multiple intertwining plot lines. A point of criticism were the lack of resolution for the romantic tension between the protagonists. The length of the book was noted as a negative by critics, although the novel is shorter than previous entries.

Sequel

On 16 December 2024, Rowling revealed that she was already making plans for the ninth book in the series. Rowling has previously stated that she intends to end the series after ten books.