Troubled Blood

By: Robert Galbraith

Narrated by: Robert Glenister

Length: 31 hrs and 51 mins

Publisher's Summary

A breathtaking, labyrinthine epic, Troubled Blood is the fifth Strike and Robin novel and the most gripping and satisfying yet.

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 40 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. And Robin herself is also juggling 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....

©2020 Robert Galbraith (P)2020 Hachette Audio

Critic Reviews

"Compulsively readable." (People)

"Even if the world is the seedy underbelly of contemporary London and not Magical Hogwarts, cracking the cover of a Galbraith novel is like stepping through a portal. You're immersed all at once." (Bustle)

"Rowling's emotionally intelligent portrayal of her protagonists never overwhelms the whodunit story line." (Publishers Weekly, starred review)

Chapter 2 is not complete

So as you can guess, I just finished chapter 2. And the chapter stops abruptly. And at the most juiciest bit. So HELP!!!

Chapter 2

Stops abruptly in the text too. You can get a free kindle sample of the first three chapters to verify. You’re not missing anything.

What happened with the narrator?

I'm not sure what happened to Robert Glenister, but he did not perform in this audio book any where close to where he did in books 1-4. The accents of the characters have changed dramatically - so much so I'm having a hard time following him at points in the story. Also, he is saying character names incorrectly. How can you have the character that has been in all 5 books suddenly have their name mispronounced? I even checked to see if there was a new narrator because of the numerous inconsistencies. The narration is taking away some of the enjoyment of listening to this book, which is my relaxation on the way to and from a very stressful job. The story is up to par with the other stories, but extremely disappointed with the performance.

Stops at chapter 2 abruptly 😞

Disappointing delivery. Names mispronounced and stops at chapter 2 abruptly. It picks up at the next chapter. This is a series you wait for unfortunately disappointed but not with the storyline.

Long, but worth it.

Rowling, er, Galbraith, is at the top of his game, so far. Their first cold case, and an interesting one to boot. All fine work on all fronts.

Superb Novel With Endless Puzzles - A Feast

I've been longing for this book from before I even finished listening to the previous book in the series. How wonderful to finally have it. I give it five stars for three reasons. Number one: the plot and writing are first rate, as is the narrator. Number two: The two main characters emerge even more richly realized and electric than in the previous books. Number three: I'm a former English major and I appreciated the fun that the author had building into the book medieval motifs, Elizabethan character names, mythological plot elements, astrology, chapter headers from The Fairie Queene, London history and places, Elizabethan poetry (Spencer's Fairie Queene), masques, herbal-ism, contemporary mythology, Greek and Roman mythology, the Crusades, the cycles of conception, birth, death, the Underworld, the afterlife, regeneration and more. Don't let the third reason put you off if you're not an English and/or mythology geek. Reasons one and two make this a more exciting, gripping, and satisfying mystery thriller than almost any other published and recorded this year.

very detailed

I think if another author wrote a 32 hour book, I couldn’t have handled it and would have asked for editing. But Galbraith makes it work.
In the year plus of this story, Strike and Robin both have outstanding issues with their exes while working on various cases, headlined by a 40 year old missing persons case.
It’s the exposition of the various individuals’ morass of lies, omissions and outright cowardice that drags you in and under, but Galbraith brings you through to the end.
The only weak point to me was the “a-hah!” moments for Strike and Robin.
The only annoying thing to me were the extended quotes from The Fairy Queen at the beginning of each chapter. I wonder if it would have felt more seamless to use lyrics from Court and Spark. And yes, I still love my copy as vinyl was replaced by CD, then digital.
Glenister does a very good job of narration.

Best Book Yet!

The Strike books are, by far, my favorite audiobook series. They are the Harry Potter of my adulthood--I can't wait for the next one to come, and it's like Christmas morning when they do. Robert Glenister is a masterful narrator. I am endlessly in awe of his ability to switch between accents, emphasize character-to-character specificities, and maintain them across all 5 books.

When I saw that this book was 30+ hours, I was delighted and a little nervous. Lethal White (which I still enjoyed) was more meandering than the other books, and that was just 22 hours long, but Troubled Blood was my favorite book in the series thus far! I adored the occult aspect, the cold case, and--of course--learning more about the personal lives of Strike and Robin. There are a ton of characters and a lot of leads to follow, but it seemed more fluid and natural than Lethal White's convoluted plot. The ending came from left field, and yet it all made sense! I cannot wait to listen to it again. And again. And again.

I was a bit worried about this one, given the initial press about the book being anti-trans. The line I remember reading from one of those reviews is something like "the lesson is clear: never trust a man in a dress." I did not sense any anti-trans sentiment from the book, unless mentioning a serial killer's occasional MO of dressing up as a woman three times in a 900+ page book qualifies. For what it's worth.

Chapter 2 is complete

I am about half way through and it is as good as the others. Bought the hard copy as well to see about chapter 2 and that is just how it ends. Does anyone hear some weird squeaking sounds in Chapter 29. I have tried several headphones and these squeaks are always in the same place. It could be just me. I have not noticed them in any other chapter. I have not noticed any changes in the voices the narrator does. I still love the reading as I have the previous books. I am so glad the same person has read them all. Back to my book.

Brilliant, as all her books

It is witty, and kind, and humanistic, despite the fact that it’s a crime novel. Loved every letter (sound).