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 .

58. Alone in the Wild by Kelley Armstrong

#5 Rockton
borrowed from Bosler, listened on Libby
narrated by Therese Plummer
Unabridged audio (10:32)
2020 Minotaur Books
368 pgs.
Adult mystery
Finished 3/28/2020
Goodreads rating:  4.26 - 2732 ratings
My rating: 5
Setting:  Yukon wilderness, contemporary

First line/s:  "I wake under one hundred and forty pounds of dog."

My comments:  Another excellent episode in the Rockton series.  This one was spent mostly in the woods, with very little participation of the Rockton residents.  However, we get lots more insight into both settler villages and the hostiles.  This one involves finding the parents of a baby found hidden under the snow in the arms of a dead hostile.  So Casey and Eric troupe from settlement-to-settlement and back-and-forth through the woods many times to figure out what is going on.  It was a really mesmerizing story.

Goodreads synopsis:  In #1 New York Times bestseller Kelley Armstrong's latest thriller, the hidden town of Rockton is about to face a challenge none of them saw coming: a baby.   
         Every season in Rockton seems to bring a new challenge. At least that's what Detective Casey Duncan has felt since she decided to call this place home. Between all the secretive residents, the sometimes-hostile settlers outside, and the surrounding wilderness, there's always something to worry about.
          While on a much needed camping vacation with her boyfriend, Sheriff Eric Dalton, Casey hears a baby crying in the woods. The sound leads them to a tragic scene: a woman buried under the snow, murdered, a baby still alive in her arms.
          A town that doesn’t let anyone in under the age of eighteen, Rockton must take care of its youngest resident yet while solving another murder and finding out where the baby came from - and whether she's better off where she is.

92. A Lighthouse for the Lonely Heart by Scott William Carter

#5 Garrison Gage
listened - Audible/own
narrated by Steven Roy Grimsley
Unabridged audio (11:04)
2017 Flying Raven Press
406 pgs.
Adult Mystery
Finished 9/26/2019
Goodreads rating: 4.19 - 219 ratings
My rating:  3.5
Setting: Contemporary Coastal Oregon

First line/s:  "The ocean churned, wild and unforgiving, buffeting the boat from all sides."

My comments:  Didn't enjoy this quite as much as some of the previous, though it was entertaining and not unlikable.  In this one, Gage does some sleuthing for a very famous female singer - who he ends up having a relationships with - before she is kidnapped.  Quite a bit of on-the-edge-of-your-seat suspense and adventure, and lots and lots of hand-to-hand, face-to-face fighting.

Goodreads synopsis:  They find his body at the bottom of Heceta Head Lighthouse—Ed Boone, a longtime volunteer who commits suicide rather than see his grim diagnosis to its bitter end. The strangeness of the old man's death makes the local news, but Garrison Gage thinks little of it until the famous Nora West sneaks into town with an unsettling letter in hand.
          Professing he wants to go to his grave with a clear conscience, Ed claims to be Nora's biological father. But the revelation stirs up all kinds of complicated emotions for the talented but troubled musician, who hires Gage to find out the truth.
          Yet the truth may be a lot more disturbing — and dangerous — than either of them expect.