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4.2 AVERAGE
4.2 AVERAGE
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
I did love the mystery but I'm fed up of the whole Robin/Strike romance.
This is perhaps the heftiest of the Strike books yet, featuring a 40-year-old missing persons case and a bewildering number of persons of interest. Rowling-as-Galbraith should be lauded for pulling off a mystery narrative of such complexity, that culminates in a whodunit reveal that feels both unexpected and earned.
That said, the complexity of the plot can overwhelm the reader with ultimately unnecessary detail, and its cold-case bona fides means that the mystery work mainly comprises lengthly interviews with septuagenerian codgers, which both robs the book of a sense of urgency, as well as stretches credulity; after all, how can these folks remember all the little details from 40-years with such fidelity, and why would experienced PIs like Strike and Robin buy into them so uncritically?
Ultimately, though, I don’t follow the Strike books because of the mysteries (however fiendishly plotted), but because of the characters - Strike and Robin and the ways in which they’ve developed over the course of the series so far, and Troubled Blood hasn’t disappointed in this regard, featuring a lot in the way of character drama unrelated to the case. Galbraith understands that the appeal of a mystery lies not just in the case but in the people who solve it (unless you’re Keigo Higashino, in which case your twisted genius plots serve as the main draw, Detective Galileo Gary Sue be damned.)
Finally, and small spoilers ahead, but just a small mention of the obvious controversy hanging over the novel’s head - is it transphobic, as some have claimed? Rowling’s reveal as someone with TERF sympathies has been the great authorial disappointment of the decade, although I don’t think it’s on the level of Orson Scott Card’s fall from grace.
Having read the book, my (straight, cisgender, privileged) personal view is that the concerns are somewhat overblown. The crossdressing character in question is not actually trans, but simply as someone who crossdresses on occasion to get closer to his victims. Read purely in the context of the text, it cannot be said to be espousing any particular belief about the nature of trans people as a whole. Say what you want about what Rowling has written on Twitter, it doesn’t seem as if she wrote Troubled Blood to espouse any anti-trans view. But I can also understand people who feel like the act of writing a less-than-stellar gender-divide-crosser into any book, especially by someone who has espoused TERF views, is inherently problematic, and also cancel-culture warriors who would boycott anything from a cancelled person, regardless of its inherent literary value. Ultimately, the decision of whether to read the book, despite Rowling’s TERF views, is a function of your willingness to separate text from writer, a debate as old as literature. The text itself is, in my opinion, not the problem.
I give this: 4 out of 5 store-bought perfume
That said, the complexity of the plot can overwhelm the reader with ultimately unnecessary detail, and its cold-case bona fides means that the mystery work mainly comprises lengthly interviews with septuagenerian codgers, which both robs the book of a sense of urgency, as well as stretches credulity; after all, how can these folks remember all the little details from 40-years with such fidelity, and why would experienced PIs like Strike and Robin buy into them so uncritically?
Ultimately, though, I don’t follow the Strike books because of the mysteries (however fiendishly plotted), but because of the characters - Strike and Robin and the ways in which they’ve developed over the course of the series so far, and Troubled Blood hasn’t disappointed in this regard, featuring a lot in the way of character drama unrelated to the case. Galbraith understands that the appeal of a mystery lies not just in the case but in the people who solve it (unless you’re Keigo Higashino, in which case your twisted genius plots serve as the main draw, Detective Galileo Gary Sue be damned.)
Finally, and small spoilers ahead, but just a small mention of the obvious controversy hanging over the novel’s head - is it transphobic, as some have claimed? Rowling’s reveal as someone with TERF sympathies has been the great authorial disappointment of the decade, although I don’t think it’s on the level of Orson Scott Card’s fall from grace.
Having read the book, my (straight, cisgender, privileged) personal view is that the concerns are somewhat overblown. The crossdressing character in question is not actually trans, but simply as someone who crossdresses on occasion to get closer to his victims. Read purely in the context of the text, it cannot be said to be espousing any particular belief about the nature of trans people as a whole. Say what you want about what Rowling has written on Twitter, it doesn’t seem as if she wrote Troubled Blood to espouse any anti-trans view. But I can also understand people who feel like the act of writing a less-than-stellar gender-divide-crosser into any book, especially by someone who has espoused TERF views, is inherently problematic, and also cancel-culture warriors who would boycott anything from a cancelled person, regardless of its inherent literary value. Ultimately, the decision of whether to read the book, despite Rowling’s TERF views, is a function of your willingness to separate text from writer, a debate as old as literature. The text itself is, in my opinion, not the problem.
I give this: 4 out of 5 store-bought perfume
My only complaint is: why do the number of pages keep creeping up?! Does she really need almost a 1000 pages to tell a story?
Well it's a really good story, and as always the threads are so carefully woven elegantly together, the truths and the lies, past and present. And what really happened to Margot Bamborough in 1974 is a complicated story to unravel so many years later. It's fine crime fiction, but 950 pages is excessive, and while it does add a certain understanding of the boring and tedious waiting the detective profession entail, well it's too much.
Well it's a really good story, and as always the threads are so carefully woven elegantly together, the truths and the lies, past and present. And what really happened to Margot Bamborough in 1974 is a complicated story to unravel so many years later. It's fine crime fiction, but 950 pages is excessive, and while it does add a certain understanding of the boring and tedious waiting the detective profession entail, well it's too much.
I loved it of course. Strike is one of my all time favorite characters.
I can’t wait for book six.
I can’t wait for book six.
A good read but I feel like the author almost tried to do too much in this book. Dragged everything out in my opinion. If this is meant to be the end of the series than that's on brand for the author. And honeslty I didn't want to read this because of Rowling. But I really do like the characters. It truly felt like this was the first book that allowed them substantial growth rather than continue to reintroduce them as they were in the previous sequels. If this is where the series ends I'll take it.
Audible version. As with all the Cormoran Strike books, I loved this book as well. Her characters come alive and the story moved at a steady pace, keeping my attention. I am looking forward to the next book.
adventurous
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
