Next Cormoran Strike novel: release date of The Running Grave by JK Rowling - will it be adapted by BBC

The next instalment of the Strike novels, The Running Grave will be released this year, but it’s not expected to be the last readers see of the detective duo Strike and Robin. 

The plot of The Running Grave has mostly been kept under wraps, but we do know that it will see Strike’s business partner Robin go undercover to join a religious cult on behalf of a client who is worried about his son.

Rowling has sold more than 11 million copies of the first six Strike novels, published under the pen name Robert Galbraith - not quite matching the stats of her Harry Potter series, which sold more than 600 million copies worldwide, but still a monumental feat.

The Sun reported that Rowling paid herself dividends of more than £15 million in 2020 from her TV firm Bronte Film and Television Ltd, which produces the Strike series for the BBC.

The last instalment of the Strike series was released last year, but with one more book published and another on its way, fans of the show are hoping that there are more seasons to come.

When will The Running Grave be released?

The Running Grave is due to be published on 26 September 2023. The previous novel in Rowling’s Strike series, Ink Black Heart, was released on 30 August 2022. 

How many books are in JK Rowling’s Cormoran Strike series?

Six Strike novels have been published so far, with The Running Grave being the sevenths instalment of the series.

The previous novels in the series are:

• The Cuckoo's Calling
• The Silkworm
• Career of Evil
• Lethal White
• Troubled Blood
• The Ink Black Heart

Rowling previously said that she plans to write 10 novels in total for the Strike series - the titles of the final three novels have not yet been revealed. Rowling works at a fair old clip, releasing a new Strike novel every 18 months or so on average, so her final three Strike books will likely be released over the next four or five years.

Will The Running Grave be made into a BBC series?

The BBC has yet to officially announce that it will adapt The Running Grave, but it has adapted the first five novels in the series, and a sixth series is also believed to be in the works.

The series has proved incredibly popular, with more than 8 million viewers watching the first three seasons. Series four and five saw a slight decline in viewership, but both still pulled audiences of more than 6 million.

The sixth novel in the series proved controversial, as it concerns a woman who is killed after being accused of transphobia, and Rowling has been accused of transphobia by many of her former fans. The author claimed that the novel was not based on her own experiences.

Filming on The Ink Black Heart is set to begin in early 2024, meaning that the series will likely be released some time in late 2024 or 2025. If the BBC does adapt The Running Grave, the series won’t be released until some time after the Ink Black Heart adaptation.