Robert Glenister, the star of BBC's Hustle, has added a new item to his roster of acclaimed audiobook recordings with a narration of the new novel by Robert Galbraith - The Silkworm.

The book is the second to focus on the work of maverick private detective Cormoran Strike.

The hardback edition of The Silkworm raced to success since its UK publication last month, topping the Sunday Times best seller list within a week - and it reached number two in the New York Times' hardcover best seller list. The Cuckoo's Calling, the first Cormoran Strike novel, became an international best seller in hard back, rocketing over 4,000 places in Amazon's charts after it was revealed that Galbraith was a pseudonym for Harry Potter author JK Rowling.

If past form is anything to go by then the audiobook looks likely to experience similar popularity. Glenister's narration of The Cuckoo's Calling won a 'Listeners' Pick' Audiobook of the Year award on the audiobook download site, Audible, as well as a 'Sounds of Crime' award at Crimefest, the international crime fiction convention, in Bristol in May.

The plot of The Silkworm centres around novelist Owen Quine, whose wife calls in Strike when he goes missing. At first, she just thinks her husband has gone off by himself for a few days - something that's happened before. But as Strike - a former military policeman who lost part of his leg in Afghanistan - investigates, it becomes clear that this is a much more serious affair.

It transpires that Quine has just completed a manuscript featuring unkind representations of many within the publishing world. A lot of people never want it to see the light of day. When his body is found brutally murdered in bizarre circumstances, Strike and his young assistant Robin Ellacott need to race against the clock to understand why it happened - and who did it.

Like its predecessor, the book has been praised by reviewers. The New York Times Book Review called it "a very well-written, wonderfully entertaining take on the traditional British crime novel" and the Financial Times called it a "properly addictive whodunit".

Many reviewers singled out the developing relationship between Strike and Ellacott as one of the most intriguing aspects of the book. The New York Times called the pair "a gumshoe team that's on its way to becoming as celebrated for its mystery-solving skills as Nick and Nora Charles of "Thin Man" fame, and Mikael Blomkvist and Lisbeth Salander (a.k.a. the girl with the dragon tattoo)."

And in another newspaper review, Jake Kerridge wrote: "What gives the novel its heart, though, is the touching relationship between Strike…and his faithful Watson, the beautiful Robin."

Glenister's narration was praised by reviewers, with one blogger saying "Glenister narrates the audiobook superbly…the Cornish grump he puts on for Strike himself is immediately recognisable."

The recording has also caused a stir on social media, with one person tweeting "The Silkworm by @RGalbraith on @audibleuk is jaw dropping brilliance! Faultless narration by Robert Glenister. Strike & Robin...perfection". The Silkworm also had the highest ever pre-orders on Audible.co.uk to date.

Alongside the two Galbraith books, Glenister has recorded a number of other audiobooks including Mark Billingham's bestselling series of "Tom Thorne" crime novels [note: these are available on Audible]. Born in 1960, he is the son of director John Glenister and brother of actor Philip Glenister, who played DCI Gene Hunt in the BBC TV series Life on Mars and Ashes to Ashes.

Listen to an excerpt from Glenister's narration of The Silkworm here.

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