Troubled Blood (Cormoran Strike) Audio CD – Unabridged, September 15, 2020

As Cormoran Strike is visiting his aunt and uncle in Cornwall, he is approached on the street by a woman. She explains that she has recognized him and wonders if he can help her. Her mother, Margot Bamborough, disappeared forty years ago. Strike thinks it is unlikely he can help but agrees to listen.Margot was a doctor and left the practice after dark one evening to meet a friend for a drink. For many years, the assumption of the police and everyone else was that Margot had been kidnapped off the street walking to the pub one night by the serial killer, Dennis Creed. But there is no actual proof that Creed killed Margot and there are other suspects. There is the husband with whom Margot is estranged at the time of her disappearance. There is the ex-boyfriend who is back in the picture. There is a receptionist at the practice whom Margot was helping to escape from her violent gangster boyfriend. A recent patient seemed to have a crush on Margot and disappeared after she did. A man with mental issues talked about doing magic that killed Margot. Any of these individuals could have been involved but who was?The book spans the year that Strike and his partner Robin work on the case. Robin is still in the throes of her divorce from her husband, Matthew but the feelings between Robin and Strike are getting stronger. Cormoran's aunt, who along with his uncle, raised him for long periods of his childhood, is dying of cancer and he needs to divide his time between taking care of her and his practice. Many associated with the case have died over forty years and others claim to know nothing about it. The leading detective had a mental breakdown as he investigated the case but his ravings in his private journal supply some clues which have to be interpreted. The ending is a surprise but fits well in the story. This book is recommended for mystery readers.

Be prepared for a long slog. The author takes us through a year in the life of two detectives and all of the cases investigated during that time. In addition, we follow the family drama of the detective protagonists and practically everyone else in the book including miscellaneous characters who populate the backstory. Harry Bosch meets The Corrections.This epic is populated by representations from all across the human spectrum, a one legged man, a woman making her way back from a brutal rape, a lesbian couple looking for closure on the death of one partner’s mother, all types of developmentally challenged persons including fragile X syndrome, people of all socioeconomic status, more accent variations than I could track, psychopaths at their various levels, and lots of mental illness and personality disorders, in all their various forms. Throw in a heavy dose of multiple types of sexual paraphilia, graphically depicted encounters that end in prostitutes needing medical care, as well as murders and rapes, along with a dose of the Italian mafia and that’s only pieces of this puzzle. There is also the sturm and drang of the two partner’s approach/avoidance to the possibility of romance between them against a background of a divorce for the female, and multiple family challenges for the other, and because well, there isn’t enough to cope with here already, we have to wade into the dynamics of Strike’s ex-lover and his father just to kick it up a notch. Even the weather and Cornish politics gets a starring role.I’ve never read Rowling before and I bought this particular novel because of all the controversy. I wanted to judge it for myself. My mistake: I thought I was buying a regular detective novel. At 250 pages (on the Kindle) I sadly woke up and saw I was in for what felt like a prison sentence without parole. I finished it because I wanted to prove to myself I could.What I liked:1) The dialogue is very good.2) Characterization: Rowling is good at it and endows each person with memorable traits.3) The writing flows even if the events drag.4) Many of the psychological observations are absolute gems (I'm a licensed psychotherapist).5) Character arc:a) Robin comes off as a decent, empathic person. She has a history that has wounded her. She’s young and her lack of basic entitlement and life skill shows in her uneven handling of men who demean her. The character was realistic but grated on me with her avoidance of even little things that need to be addressed directly. She needed to take a 1980s assertiveness class and given this takes place in the 2000 somethings, I didn’t understand why she wouldn’t be in therapy or something to support her growth. I guess one could say her development is in the questions she’s beginning to ask.b) Strike is also realistic, but mostly a jerk with nothing to make me want to spend time in his company. He is, down deep, not so different than the criminals he pursues, but has found socially acceptable ways to channel the reaction to his childhood narcissistic injury. He has two speeds, rage and self-pity. In between he intellectualizes. I felt he understood that he was *supposed* to feel, being a very observant type, but he had no idea how to do it, he either had to be told how the expression would look or needed role modeling. For a 29 year old (Robin) to get mixed up with this 41 year old, orally fixated chain smoker, whose previous romantic involvement mimicked marrying the emotional version of his mother, is not a recommendation. I didn’t really see growth here, but again, I haven’t read the previous books. He understands his social mistakes, apologizes to make life easier on himself, and then repeats. Even his interest in Robin seems based on thinking about his future needs vs who she is, although in the final chapter he remembers her birthday, an improvement over the prior year where he had to be reminded.c) As partners, they agree to communicate better, especially in situations of high danger, but all this takes place while both are drunk and drunken promises don’t count. I guess that will be for future books.What I didn’t like:1) Too long. It needs massive editing2) It suffers from identity confusion. There is (excellent) literary examination of family dynamics, there is the whodunit murder mystery, there is the romantic teaser, and finally, it could easily serve as an instruction book in competing schools of astrology – complete with drawings - which certainly plays no useful part other than to stretch the already insufferable length.3) While I understand the author is making a statement about the status of women in society and the obstacles faced (which I in general support), and is making a statement regarding women’s safety in general, I really can’t stomach graphic violence or demonstrations of cruelty for its own sake. I don’t believe a really talented writer needs to do that to make a point. Also, the misogyny is constant to the point of overdone.4) The resolution of the murder mystery didn’t even come close to the perpetrator until the last 5%. Nine hundred 20 pages littered with red herrings and suddenly Cormoran Strike has an epiphany and goes straight to the murder’s house. This irritated me. It almost felt like the author didn’t know who the murder was either - until even she got sick of the whole thing then abruptly ended it while retrospectively twisting the explanation Strike offers to fit the narrative. Convoluted doesn’t begin to describe this.In summary, the only thing this book lacks is the presence of a transsexual person because, as we say in America, it contains everything but the kitchen sink. Had this been a literary examination of family, I would give it five stars. Had it been a properly edited detective novel, I would give it four stars. As it stands, I give it three, not because it entertained me (my usual measurement) but out of generosity, simply for occupying me for the 13 days it took to read it. If you read for length, you will get your money’s worth as it consumes 944 pages. If you read for resolution of a plot, you will likely be frustrated to the maximum of your tolerance.

Boken var lång men den var spännande så det gick att ta sig igenom den hyfsat fort.

今回は40年近く前の失踪事件。今起こっている事件ではないので若干緊迫感に欠けるし，前半は捜査もストライクとロビンの関係もなかなか進展せずストレスフルな展開。でもそのストレスが一つずつ解消され，後半はがぜん面白くなり一気に読みました。関係者の証言に隠された嘘を注意深く暴いていく…ストライク最高です。

Muy buena historia, muy interesante.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. In my opinion, it is the best and most suspenseful in the series, apart from Career of Evil -- although I like all Strike novels.This one I couldn't put down and it had me guessing to the last page -- I was wrong the whole time. The only downside were the chapters about Joan, I felt they were dragged out too long, and I sometimes found it hard to follow the side cases.As to the current "trans controversy", I have to say it is laughable. Creed is not even a trans person, he just dresses as a woman to deceive his victims, but he's heterosexual. This fact doesn't play a big role in the book, so I'm surprised this is getting picked on. Obviously, the small but aggressive identity politics fraction is just really out to get Rowling. I applaud her for daring to have an opinion. However, the same group conveniently overlooks all the right things that Robin as one of the lead characters has to say about women and Blacks. Shame on them! If it had been written by someone else, it would be called feminist and BLM.

This will be a difficult review to write.I have read all the Strike novels released till now and I have liked them generally. I do feel they depict more violence than other crime thriller books that i read, but more than the plot of any single book, the series is addictive (in a Harry Potter kind of way). I am fond of all the characters and do love the way they have evolved and the chemistry and romantic tension between the two main characters.As far as the plot is concerned of this latest book, it is good and riveting (to me). That said it is 927 pages long and it can seem a bit stretched out at parts for many. And maybe because i have eagerly awaited this book, for almost 2 years, it felt like a bit of a let down as i reached page 927. Despite the good plot and sub-plots, despite the nice way the author has depicted the romance between the two main characters, despite the beautiful descriptions about some of England's regions/places, despite the fact that I really like a hero who doesn't come across as infallible and right always as some other detectives, despite the fact that I really like the heroine who is quietly efficient and has lots of guts and solves many cases on her own (it can now really be called Strike-Ellacot series), despite the other well developed characters who support the main narrative, despite the nice way it is written that effectively makes me feel I am actually there witnessing it all unfold...despite all of this it was still not overall fantastic.To begin with there was too much astrology and Tarrot in the main plot for my liking...it is intended to obfuscate and it does...and it is too far stretched this particular angle of the story and I didn't like that this became kind of a central angle and it did seem to show there was meaning in the astrology angle. Secondly, even though I am reading a Strike novel after 2 years I realised that it also has become a bit predictable - not the plot and who-done-it part but some of the other elements (maybe that is true of most series). Thirdly, I wish the violent crimes depicted in the book were in less vivid details - I know in real world there actually are far worse crimes committed against women (and men) but reading it amidst a pandemic was a little more disconcerting. Fourthly, given the pandemic I so much wished one of the killers would be someone else. Fifthly, didn't at all understand, or appreciate, the poetry in each chapter beginning.Finally, just as I got the book I got to know about the whole transphobia row of the author. I did not read about it in details before I delved into the book, but once it was over I went through the arguments and counter arguments against JK Rowling regarding her portrayal of one of the suspects in the book. I also went through her initial comments and her lengthy article in June 2020 on trans issues. The main question I had to ask myself was: can I keep the art and artist separate when I am reviewing this book? There are many ways this has been examined in literature and someone had famously said "the author is dead" implying it is the reader who gives their own meaning to the text through their reading and interpretations. So we should, according to this viewpoint, consider the art totally separately and make it our own.I do understand some parts of what Rowling has been saying and understand some of her concerns, but sadly she does seem to have some form of transphobia. However, to be objective, the character in the book over which there has been such a row is not really Trans - he dresses up as a woman only occasionally to establish kinship with vulnerbale women, to gain their trust as another woman, with the aim to kidnap them. There are many other suspects in the book. So this was just one character.However, given Rowling's history on this issue why did she choose such a character? I think she knew the controversy it will bring - maybe drive up book sales? Even if this is true, I still don't get it why many people are calling this particular book to be perpetrating transphobia, cause in my understanding of my reading of it - it is not a transphobic plot because that character is not really a Trans woman. I also don't understand why people are so angry with her that they want Rowling dead (not the "author is dead" kind of way) and has called for her books to be banned/tossed to fire? That is real hate. And if her detractors feel she is transphobic and creating/legitimising hatred against the Trans community what are they doing by calling her all sorts of names and wishing her harm? I understand the frustration Trans people and their allies feel at someone of the stature of JK Rowling using her huge platform to air views that can affect how others view Trans people. But painting her in a corner with so much of hatred, does it achieve in making her (or anyone supporting her) see the alternate point of view any kindly?Also she is a fantastic author and has created a good plot and told a good story. It is very easy to critique (I am aware of that as I write this review and give the rating) and impossible for most of us to create what she creates - both in Hogwarts and in this series.I do understand in my reading of it it may not have come across as transphobic, but then again I am not Trans and I have not felt hurt by the author's comments for a couple of years now on this issue. I can understand the sadness of fans of Rowling and Harry Potter and anger of others who feel that this has been another example of the author's narrow view on Trans issues. They have every right not to read this book, to denounce the author's stubbornness on the Trans issue. Despite that this particular book is a good crime thriller. It is, however, not as fantastic as I hoped it would be.