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 .

9. Lethal White by Robert Galbraith

Cormoran Strike #4 (J. K. Rowling pseudonym)
listened to on audio - from TPPL
read by Robert Glenister
2018, Sphere
656 pgs.
Adult Mystery
Finished 1/20/2019 (Ashley's 17th birthday)
Goodreads rating:  4.30 -- 43,301 ratings
My rating: 4
Setting:  In and around London, contemporary time

First line/s:  "If only the swans would swim side by side on the dark green lake, this picture might turn out to be the crowning achievement of the wedding photographer's career."

My comments:  I love listening to Robert Glenister read Cormoran Strike.  I can even tell when he uses different accents for different places in England!  This was a l-o-n-g mystery, but quite a bit of it told the story of Robyn's wedding, first anniversary, and all the turmoil and activity surrounding these events, which definitely fit really well into the telling of the story.  We have such an investment in Cormoran and Robyn, and it's always interesting to see where this goes, or might be headed, in each subsequent book.  The mystery is engaging and complicated, very complicated, but it's pretty easy to not get confused.  Every single tiny little detail is examined, discussed, and fits in like a puzzle piece.  A little too long, a few too many minute details repeated, but otherwise a very interesting, thought-provoking mystery.

Goodreads synopsis:  “I seen a kid killed…He strangled it, up by the horse.”
          When Billy, a troubled young man, comes to private eye Cormoran Strike’s office to ask for his help investigating a crime he thinks he witnessed as a child, Strike is left deeply unsettled. While Billy is obviously mentally distressed, and cannot remember many concrete details, there is something sincere about him and his story. But before Strike can question him further, Billy bolts from his office in a panic.
          Trying to get to the bottom of Billy’s story, Strike and Robin Ellacott—once his assistant, now a partner in the agency—set off on a twisting trail that leads them through the backstreets of London, into a secretive inner sanctum within Parliament, and to a beautiful but sinister manor house deep in the countryside.
          And during this labyrinthine investigation, Strike’s own life is far from straightforward: his newfound fame as a private eye means he can no longer operate behind the scenes as he once did. Plus, his relationship with his former assistant is more fraught than it ever has been—Robin is now invaluable to Strike in the business, but their personal relationship is much, much trickier than that.

7. The Silkworm - Robert Galbraith (J. K. Rowling)

#2 Cormoran Strike 

Listened to on cd in the car AND read 

Audio read by 

14 unabridged audio discs (17.5 hours)

2014 Mulholland Books/Little Brown

456 pgs.

Adult Murder Mystery

Finished 1/17/15

Goodreads rating: 4.01

My rating:   4/ Liked it a lot

TPPL - both audio and book

Setting:  Contemporary London, England

1st sentence/s: " 'Someone bloody famous,' said the hoarse voice on the end of the line, 'better've died, Strike.'" 

My comments:  Good story, but overly long, I think.  I like the characters of Strike and Robin and I love the story that's developing between them.  I look forward to more.  (Oh, and I'm not so crazy about all the quotes at the beginning of the chapters...50 chapters, 50 quotes.....

Goodreads book summary:  Private investigator Cormoran Strike returns in a new mystery from Robert Galbraith, author of the #1 international bestsellerThe Cuckoo's Calling.
          When novelist Owen Quine goes missing, his wife calls in private detective Cormoran Strike. At first, Mrs. Quine just thinks her husband has gone off by himself for a few days—as he has done before—and she wants Strike to find him and bring him home.
          But as Strike investigates, it becomes clear that there is more to Quine's disappearance than his wife realizes. The novelist has just completed a manuscript featuring poisonous pen-portraits of almost everyone he knows. If the novel were to be published, it would ruin lives—meaning that there are a lot of people who might want him silenced.
          When Quine is found brutally murdered under bizarre circumstances, it becomes a race against time to understand the motivation of a ruthless killer, a killer unlike any Strike has encountered before...