Troubled Blood

December 29, 2020

Troubled Blood is the fifth novel by Robert Galbraith to feature the British private investigator, Cormoran Strike, and his agency partner, Robin Ellacott. One glance at one of these mysteries and it is clear why J.K. Rowling writes under this Galbraith pen name: these books are not for kids.

When I picked up the first book, The Cuckoo’s Calling, in 2013, it was shortly after J.K. Rowling was revealed as the author. I bought it more for her, because she was the one who created Harry Potter. Now, I buy these novels for Cormoran Strike. He’s the kind of character that stays with you.

This massive book follows Strike and Robin as they solve the forty year old cold case of a missing woman. The messy lives of Strike and Robin run like subplots throughout the story. I don’t mind the extra insight; after four previous books I need to know how they’re surviving. At times, it covers for the plot slowing as answers become scarce.

In Troubled Blood, as with the previous Strike novels, Galbraith displays the gruesome nature of killers and their victims. At times, the details are almost too much, but by that time I’m too invested to stop reading.

The plotting of this story is spot-on. The twists become full turns and there are hidden clues right from the beginning which only make sense after the final reveal. The pace ramps up gradually until that final all-stop moment where Strike has figured something out, but hasn’t thought to tell the reader. That comes in the next chapter, the one I stayed up past midnight to finish because I couldn’t wait until morning to find out what happened.

J.K. Rowling’s mind must be an incredible place. The time it would take to plot such a novel in such intricate detail means the next Strike novel is probably half-formed by the time Troubled Blood was published.

All I’ll say: I need to take plotting lessons from her!