---
product_id: 297147545
title: "Troubled Blood: A Cormoran Strike Novel, Book 5"
brand: "robert galbraith"
price: "KSh4988"
currency: KES
in_stock: false
reviews_count: 8
url: https://www.desertcart.co.ke/products/297147545-troubled-blood-a-cormoran-strike-novel-book-5
store_origin: KE
region: Kenya
---

# Troubled Blood: A Cormoran Strike Novel, Book 5

**Brand:** robert galbraith
**Price:** KSh4988
**Availability:** ❌ Out of Stock

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- **What is this?** Troubled Blood: A Cormoran Strike Novel, Book 5 by robert galbraith
- **How much does it cost?** KSh4988 with free shipping
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## Description

Troubled Blood: A Cormoran Strike Novel, Book 5

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## Customer Reviews

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 







  
  
    Robin and Strike together for another one...
  

*by O***7 on Reviewed in the United States on December 8, 2022*

Robin and Strike return to solve another interesting case.From a plot perspective I rather enjoyed this storyline. Galbraith usually has some odd or weird element to each of his cases. This novel seemed to center around astrology and zodiac signs. I didn’t seem to mind them much but there were parts that were a little long drawn out. I liked the illustrations that were added in, I felt as though that was a unique addition to the storyline. I did not guess who the killer was. I am usually pretty good at figuring it out so I like a book that keeps me guessing.From a character perspective, this had to be one of my least favorite in the series. For the first 3/4ths of the book Robin and Strike were just angry with each other the whole time and then the last quarter they’re sitting there trying to figure out if they like each other more than friends and it was a little annoying. I already know from reading excerpts of book 6 that they still do not end up getting together. But I think he should re consider that now as he writes book 7. From a fan perspective, it’s just annoying, and we never like Strike’s partners. Just hook them up already.Will read a few other books and come back for book 6. It’s 1024 pages and I just need a break from a big book for a while.I give this book a 4 out of 5 and will be interested to see what twist Galbraith writes in the next one.

### ⭐⭐⭐ 







  
  
    Harry Bosch meets The Corrections. 944 pages & no transsexuals
  

*by A***E on Reviewed in the United States on September 27, 2020*

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.

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐ 







  
  
    A great mystery, if a bit excessive in length
  

*by B***S on Reviewed in the United States on September 20, 2020*

It's no secret that Robert Galbraith is really J. K. Rowling, writing under a pen name presumably to dissociate her work for adults (such as this novel) from her young adult work.  And fair enough; this kind of mystery, featuring rather gruesome crimes, has very little to do with Harry Potter.  Admittedly, this is my first of the Cormoran Strike novels.  I decided to pick up a copy in light of the political controversy surrounding it, and I'm rather glad that I did.Let's begin, in fact, with that political controversy, because I think it needs acknowledgment (especially considering it's the source of most of the criticism directed toward this book).  There is a substantial number of people calling for the publisher to stop production of this novel.  Indeed, a disturbing number of people, many of them actually bearing Harry Potter tattoos (because apparently they take their lunacy laced with irony), and a few of whom I had hitherto actually respected, have been calling for anyone who reads their random scribblings to burn the book.  Some, indeed, have been desperately trying to get attention on the Internet by actually filming themselves burning copies of Rowling's novels.  Why would people do such a thing?  Because they've gotten it into their heads that the contents of this particular novel are "transphobic."I point all of this out both to explain the reason I picked up this novel, starting a series in the middle rather than going immediately back to the first volume (namely, because I give no quarter to would-be censors of literature and will always endeavor to read almost anything that large numbers of people insist I shouldn't) and to make it abundantly clear that, without exception, the people complaining about this book on political grounds either haven't read it, or lacked the capacity to understand it.  Indeed, the issue they complain about (the inclusion of a male character who cross-dressed to get close to his female victims) is barely even in the book at all, and certainly isn't what the book is "about," nor is it presented in a way that anyone could possibly find offensive who wasn't deliberately looking for excuses to complain about something.What is in the book, instead, is a delightfully complex tale of a pair of detectives attempting to solve a decades-old missing persons case whose initial investigation had been bungled by a police detective in the middle of a mental breakdown.  Beyond the mystery, we are also treated to an incredibly rich collection of subplots involving the personal lives of a small but extraordinarily believable cast of characters.  Admittedly, it took me several chapters to get myself up to speed regarding those characters' history, having not read the previous books in the series,  but that doesn't detract from a story that captures the reader's interest from page one and doesn't let go until the conclusion nearly 1000 pages later.And that, in fact, is my one point of criticism: the book is, quite frankly, excessively long, filled with tangents that seem just a little too great in number and just a little too long in duration.  While I respect and celebrate that the novel isn't only a mystery but also an interpersonal drama, the alternations between mystery and drama occasionally drifted into territory that made the novel feel just a bit of a slog in a few points.  I can't single out any one particular element that was uninteresting or that I think should have been cut entirely, but I can't help but feel that it would have been a nearly perfect novel had it been 200 pages shorter.  With none of the elements excluded but all of them presented just a smidge more succinctly (and with a bit more action and less exposition in certain parts), I think the book could have found its way into the pantheon of classic modern mysteries.As it stands, it's still no slouch.  Despite some minor flaws (and certainly contrary to what the politically-minded naysayers would have you believe), it remains a great novel that manages to successfully hit emotional notes across the entire range of the human emotional spectrum, ranging from disgust and horror to grief and sorrow, to laughter and love.  And it does this while delivering a mystery that never fails to keep the reader guessing.  With regard to the mystery itself, I'm not at all ashamed to admit that I was not able to predict the ending despite all of the necessary clues being present throughout the text.  If that's not a good mystery, I don't know what is!I began by pointing out that this was my first Cormoran Strike novel.  It certainly won't be my last.  I highly recommend it.

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*Product available on Desertcart Kenya*
*Store origin: KE*
*Last updated: 2026-03-17*