Troubled Blood

By: Robert Gailbraith (aka J.K. Rowling)

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 that is 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.

Meanwhile, Robin juggles 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.

I cannot get this book out of my head! I was one of the lucky ones at my library and got to be the first one to read my copy. Because it is a highly anticipated new release, I only had 14 days to read it before returning. At nearly 1,000 pages, it was a lot to read in a short amount of time. But to be honest, I probably would have devoured it in a similar time frame even if I would have bought it from a store. It was that good! The writing is impeccable. The multiple story lines kept me interested in what was going on - even if it wasn’t talking about Bamborough, the main case. This is the 5th novel in the Cormoran Strike series and it is my favorite one yet. Strike and Robin have a super interesting case with Bamborough that has all kinds of drama and secrets that most of the people involved (and still alive) would rather keep forgotten. I love that you get POV from Strike and Robin to get more insight into their personal lives and the drama that unfolds there. I was so pleased with how much both of them grew. The mutual attraction they have for one another - yet the other is unaware that their feelings are returned - is written in a way that is frustratingly lifelike. I highly recommend not only this book, but the whole series to anyone that enjoys page turning, suspenseful, tough to crack mysteries, and a subtle love story. I easily rate this book 5 stars!