If you love the slow-burn romance between Strike and Robin in the excellent British series, C.B. Strike as much as we do, then good news: C.B Strike Season 6 (likely presented as Season 4 in the U.S.) is quietly premiering on Max in January 2025. The new season is an adaptation of The Ink Black Heart, book six in the Strike series by Robert Galbraith (aka J.K. Rowling).
There haven’t been any big announcements or promotions about the new season premiering in the U.S., so we thought we’d share everything you need to know about C.B. Strike: The Ink Black Heart – especially if the unspoken romance between Cormoran Strike and Robin Ellacott will have any new exciting developments!
ABOUT THE BOOK: STRIKE – THE INK BLACK HEART
The Ink Black Heart is the sixth (out of seven) in the Strike Books and falls into the Mystery & Thriller, Mystery & Detective, and Private Investigator book genres – with a little bit of a good, old-fashioned slow-burn romance on the side.
Here is the Official Book Description:
The latest installment in the highly acclaimed, internationally bestselling Strike series finds Cormoran and Robin ensnared in another winding, wicked case.
When frantic, disheveled 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 cocreator 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 decides that the agency can’t help with this—and thinks nothing more of it until a few days 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 their powers of deduction to the limits – and which threatens them in new and horrifying ways . . .
A gripping, fiendishly clever mystery, The Ink Black Heart is a true tour-de-force.
ABOUT C.B. STRIKE SEASON 6
HBO Original Limited Series Official Description:
Strike and Robin are hired to investigate a murder involving a creator of a cult TV cartoon and an anonymous online troll known as “Anomie.” With a complex web of online aliases, business interests and family conflicts to navigate, our heroic pair find themselves in a case that stretches them to their limit with the threat of this mysterious killer around every corner.
Robert Galbraith Series Description:
Cormoran Strike (Tom Burke) and Robin Ellacott (Holliday Grainer) return in The Ink Black Heart, tackling the murder of Edie Ledwell (Mirren Mack) after Robin decides the agency can’t help her.
Across four episodes, Strike and Robin investigate the murder of a co-creator of the cult TV cartoon, The Ink Black Heart, who was being harassed by an online figure known as Anomie.
Strike, Robin and the agency work together to eliminate several suspects, with Robin putting herself in danger in order to save lives, as the killer continues to claim victims.
The cast includes Tom Burke, Holliday Grainger, David Westhead, Christian McKay, Emma Fielding, Tupele Dorgu, James Nelson-Joyce, Ruth Sheen, Jack Greenlees, Natasha O’Keeffe, and Caitlin Innes Edwards.
The Ink Black Heart was adapted for television by Tom Edge, directed by Sue Tully, and executive produced by J.K. Rowling, Neil Blair, Ruth Kenley-Letts, and the BBC’s Nick Lambon.
STRIKE AND ROBIN PICKING UP STEAM? (BEWARE OF SLIGHT SPOILERS)
In an interview with the Radio Times Magazine, actors Tom Burke and Holliday Grainger hint toward a juicy romantic moment in season 6. While the slow burn continues, there is a “close call.”
Burke describes the moment: “They’re having dinner and their guard is down because they’re not in the middle of a case, and they’re both a bit tipsy as well. Something nearly happens; it’s a spectacular moment of mistiming. Consequently, they retreat from it.”
RELATED: New K-Drama Alert: Watch the When the Stars Gossip Trailer
On the other hand, Grainger reveals more about Robin discovering her feelings at this moment: “That moment makes her realise how she feels towards him properly for the first time, I think. But in that moment there’s also fear of rejection, and of losing what they have, which is friendship. Robin has very few close friends, which is a big element.”
Burke adds, “That’s a big thing that pulls you into the show, because I think people have friendships like this a lot, where it’s on a precipice of becoming something else and you think, let’s keep it in the sweet spot, because this could all go horribly wrong.”
This almost kiss sounds like it’s one more step toward a possible Robin and Strike romance finally happening (although I’m not convinced it will happen until the final book).
C.B. STRIKE SEASON 6 RELEASE DATE
C.B. Strike: The Ink Black Heart debuts on Max on January 23, 2025, with four episodes in total debuting weekly.
All episodes are now available to stream in the U.K. on BBC iPlayer.
WATCH THE TRAILER FOR C.B. STRIKE: THE INK BLACK HEART
The new season looks so good! Make sure to add it to your Watchlist!
And if you haven’t watched the show yet and enjoy compelling mysteries and sizzling chemistry between lead actors, you can watch the previous seasons on Max.
RELATED: Miss Scarlet Season 5 Available to Watch Early
Hopefully, there will be C.B. Strike Season 7 news soon, with an announcement about adapting The Running Grave (book 7).
PIN THIS ARTICLE! AND MAKE SURE TO FOLLOW US ON PINTEREST.
