Wednesday, December 2, 2020

145. Troubled Blood by Robert Galbraith

#5 Cormoran Strike
Listened on Libby (borrowed from one of my libraries)
narrated by Robert Glenister
Unabridged audio (31:52)
2020
944 pgs.
Adult murder mystery
Finished 12/2/2020
Goodreads rating: 4..335 - 31,606 ratings (lots of 1 ratings from people who haven't even read the book, but from people objecting about J. K. Rowling's supposed transphobia.)
My rating: 4
Setting: Contemporary London and Cornwall

First line/s: " 'You're a Cornishman, born and bred,' said Dave Polworth irritably."

My comments (also posted on GoodReads):  Three "negatives" and many positives to ponder as I finish this  book.  Yes, it was too long.  Way too long.  There were too many people to remember, although Galbraith did a decent job of reminding the reader each time one was mentioned.  And thirdly, I didn't like all the chapter beginnings (quotes from Spenser's Faerie Queene).  Other than that, it was spot on....great mystery, excellent plot (just too lengthy), great characters, and a really perfect ending, both for the professional pair of Strike & Robin, and for their personal side as well.  Enough going on in their personal lives to keep that part of the story quite interesting. 

Goodreads synopsis:  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 .

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