_-_book_cover.jpg) UK first edition cover | |
| Author | Robert Galbraith |
|---|---|
| Language | English |
| Genre | Crime fiction |
| Publisher | Sphere Books |
Publication date | 15 September 2020 |
| Publication place | United Kingdom |
| Pages | 944 |
| ISBN | 0751579939 |
| Preceded by | Lethal White |
| Followed by | The Ink Black Heart |
Troubled Blood is acrime novel written by British authorJ. K. Rowling, published under thepseudonym Robert Galbraith. The novel is the fifth in theCormoran Strike series, and was released on 15 September 2020.[1][2][3]
The story follows private detective Cormoran Strike and his business partner Robin Ellacott as they investigate the disappearance of Margot Bamborough, a doctor who vanished in 1974. The book explores themes of change, loss, and absence, and the changing face of feminism.
Upon release,Troubled Blood became a bestseller and won the Crime and Thriller Book of the Year Award at the British Book Awards. The novel has been adapted as part of theStrike television series.
Troubled Blood begins in August 2013 and ends on Robin's 30th birthday on 9 October 2014. While visiting his terminally ill aunt Joan inCornwall, Strike is approached by a woman who wants to hire Strike's firm to investigate the disappearance of her mother, Margot Bamborough, ageneral practitioner inClerkenwell, London, almost 40 years previously, on 11 October 1974. As a result of their previous successes, business partners Strike and Robin now employ three contract investigators and an office manager. Both are dealing with their own problems: Strike over his aunt's illness, suicide threats from his ex-fiancée Charlotte (now a married mother of two), and the attempts of his half-siblings to get him to attend a party honouring his rock star biological father Jonny Rokeby; Robin over Matthew's intransigence in their divorce, her continuingPTSD, and her unsettled personal life, brought into clearer focus by her brother and his wife having their first child.
The police's principal suspect in Margot's disappearance was a currently incarcerated serial killer named Dennis Creed. The daughter, Anna, and her wife give the firm a one-year contract to try to trace information; however, because the small firm has three other ongoing cases, it takes several months to run down the surviving witnesses and investigators or their children. During the year, Joan dies from cancer, Matthew gives up and grants Robin the divorce after he impregnates his mistress Sarah Shadlock, Charlotte attempts suicide and calls Strike to tell him goodbye (although Strike's quick reaction gets help to her in time), and the heavy work schedule combined with a lack of communication about all of the issues contributes to many personal misunderstandings within the firm, including arguments between Strike and Robin and the termination of one of the contract investigators for instances of inappropriate behaviour toward Robin.
In August 2014, although the firm is still trying to trace leads, the client and her wife terminate the contract at the end of the month, two weeks before the allotted year. Despite this, Strike and Robin continue to investigate. There are three breakthroughs with the case: Strike locates an elusive patient of Margot's, Steve Douthwaite; a receptionist, who claims she was the last person to see Margot alive, agrees to speak to Strike and Robin; and, through Robin's inventiveness and persistence in attempting to secure an interview with Creed behind Strike's back, Strike is granted permission to interrogate Creed inBroadmoor Hospital on the 19th of September. Strike outwits Creed and this leads to the discovery of the remains of another victim of Creed, Louise Tucker, bringing closure and relief to her father. Robin and Strike then use evidence from the original police investigation and their subsequent investigation to find Margot's body and identify her killer: Janice Beattie, a nurse who worked for Margot's practice. Margot had correctly begun to suspect Janice had been poisoning Douthwaite and was implicated in the apparent suicide of his lover, and after examining Janice's son, Margot realised Janice was poisoning him also. Strike deduces that Janice is a serial killer who has murdered many more victims over decades.
An avalanche of publicity centred on Strike and Robin follows the discovery of the remains of Louise Tucker and Margot Bamborough and the arrest of Janice Beattie. Robin and Strike both move out of their homes temporarily to avoid journalists. The novel ends on Robin's 30th birthday, with Strike (in contrast to the generic last-minute gifts he gave Robin at Christmas and on her previous birthday) buying her thoughtful and personalised gifts and taking her to the Ritz for champagne; enigmatically, Strike smiles to himself as he remembers a conversation with his friend Dave Polworth about the competing demands of career, romantic relationships, and marriage.
Speaking after the release of the novel, Rowling described its main themes as "change, loss and absence" and that the book examines the "changing face of feminism". She also stated that the character of Dennis Creed was loosely based on real-life killersJerry Brudos andRussell Williams.[4][5]
Troubled Blood sold 64,633 copies in its first week and was the top selling book in the UK. This was the biggest single week of sales for any Galbraith title and almost double the launch-week volume of the previous StrikeLethal White.[6] It retained the number one spot in its second week on sale, selling a further 25,430 copies.[7] In May 2021, the novel won the Crime and Thriller Book of the Year Award at theBritish Book Awards.[8] In the same month, the book was shortlisted for the twoCrime Writers' Association Awards, in theIan Fleming Steel Dagger category, for thrillers first published in the UK and in theGold Dagger category, for the best crime novel first published in the UK. TheWall Street Journal included the novel in their 'Best Books of 2020: Mysteries' year-end list.[9]
InThe Daily Telegraph, the reviewer Jake Kerridge complimented the novel's character development and pleasant reading, while finding it unnecessarily long and less exciting than previous books of the series.[2] Clare Clark, writing forThe Guardian, gave the novel a positive review, pointing out its plot full of "simmering emotional tension" and "terrific fun", while acknowledging that it was excessively long and "hardly a hair-raising ride".[1] Joan Smith inThe Sunday Times said "the story is injected with a powerful sense of urgency...in this magnificent addition to the Strike novels". Tom Nolan, fromThe Wall Street Journal, deemed it "a formidable entertainment from the first page to the last".[10] Writing forThe Washington Post, Bill Sheehan praised the development of the series central characters alongside the novel's narrative and called Rowling "a natural, supremely confident storyteller".[11]Allan Massie, writing forThe Scotsman, described the novel as "very enjoyable" and praised Rowling as an author who "enjoys writing".[12] Kelly Lawler, reviewing forUSA Today, called the novel a "laborious read" and "simply not good", paling in comparison to previous books in the series.[13]Stephen King praised the novel, calling Rowling "a wonderful storyteller and a gifted stylist".[14]
Some media outlets regarded the male villain who dresses as a woman in order to kill women astransphobic, given theauthor's past comments on transgender people.[20] Laura Bradley, reviewing inThe Daily Beast, wrote that there were "pernicious anti-trans tropes"[21] in the novel, while Jake Kerridge observed that the book's "moral seems to be: never trust a man in a dress".[2]
Nick Cohen, writing forThe Spectator, argued that thetransphobia accusations were baseless and slanderous, noting that Dennis Creed is investigated along with a dozen other suspects. He also stated that the book does not engage in the politics ofwomen-only spaces and access to gender reassignment treatments.[22] Alison Flood, writing forThe Guardian, expressed similar views, arguing that people who have not read the book were making wrong assumptions based on a single review.[23] Allan Massie, writing forThe Scotsman, stated of the character of Creed that "there is no suggestion that he was transgender".[12]
Troubled Blood was adapted as part of the television series starringTom Burke as Cormoran Strike andHolliday Grainger as Robin Ellacott.[24] Filming began in February 2022.[25]
On September 15th J.K.Rowling... published a new book... in which a character occasionally dresses as a woman to stalk his victims. Accusations of transphobia and an online punch-up ensued.