Troubled Blood (Cormoran Strike #5)
By: Robert Galbraith
Published Year: 2020
Publisher: Sphere
Pages: 944
Summary (Provided by Goodreads): Private Detective Cormoran Strike is visiting his family in Cornwall when he is approached by a woman asking for help finding her mother, Margot Bamborough — who went missing in mysterious circumstances in 1974.
Strike has never tackled a cold case before, let alone one forty years old. But despite the slim chance of success, he is intrigued and takes it on; adding to the long list of cases that he and his partner in the agency, Robin Ellacott, are currently working on. And Robin herself is also juggling a messy divorce and unwanted male attention, as well as battling her own feelings about Strike.
As Strike and Robin investigate Margot's disappearance, they come up against a fiendishly complex case with leads that include tarot cards, a psychopathic serial killer and witnesses who cannot all be trusted. And they learn that even cases decades old can prove to be deadly . . .
First Impressions
Holy moly this book is massive. I’ve read the other books in the series and added this one to my to-read list without much thought but then I picked it up from the library and just immediate shock at how large it was. Probably a good thing I didn’t know how long it was before putting it on hold because I definitely would have put off reading it
What I thought
The Cormoran Strike series is a very enjoyable detective mystery series. If you haven’t read the previous novels this review might not be for you. Other than avoiding spoiling the mystery itself, I’m probably going to talk about minor storyline things that could spoil earlier books. Just fair warning.
Robin is a partner at the agency now (can’t remember exactly when that happened) and she is taking on a lot of work. She is becoming more confident in her abilities as a private detective and is also working through her divorce from her first husband. Strike is pretty much the same, except his aunt (and basically mother because she raised him) has been diagnosed with cancer and his father (who he has never had a relationship with) is trying to get in contact with him for the first time ever. When Strike is visiting his aunt, a couple comes up to him. One of the wives asks Strike to look into the disappearance of her mother 40 years ago. Robin and Strike have never taken on a cold case, but something about this one draws them in and then have 1 year to solve it.
The fact that they have a year is what I think made this book so long. There is a lot of secondary plot that happens throughout this mammoth of a novel. Don’t get me wrong, I was all-in the entire time, but it definitely could’ve been trimmed down a few hundred pages. The entire storyline with Strike’s dad seemed to do nothing but provide a reason for Strike to be irritable at times. Robin’s secondary plot I enjoyed more and felt more integral to the story to me.
The fact that they were working on a cold case was definitely fascinating. It didn’t feel like they were on a time crunch to save someone so the overall feel of the book was a bit more relaxed with a mystery that was just as intriguing.
As always, I judge mysteries on whether or not I was able to figure them out. I had my suspicions throughout the novel but only one moment where I had a strong feeling that I quickly dismissed. So, this series continues to win points by stumping me each time.
The only thing that throws me a little bit is that by the end of book 5 I’m still very confused as to Strike and Robin’s relationship and where it’s going to lead.
It’s pretty impressive that a 900+ page book consistently held my attention for the two weeks it took me to read it. This series doesn’t hold punches. It can be gruesome at times, so it’s not for the faint of heart. However, Galbraith (Rowling) is a wonderful writer and really knows how to deliver a good story. I definitely recommend checking out the series if you haven’t already. If you have, this one will live up to your expectations.