Troubled Blood, Robert Galbraith

Troubled Blood by Robert Galbraith compensates for its slower pacing with remarkable psychological depth, especially in the development of Robin and Strike. Gradually, the novel pulls the reader into a chilling story about crimes left unsolved for nearly forty years — crimes that Robin and Strike, perhaps inevitably, are destined to uncover.

Anna Phipps approaches Strike with a request: to discover what happened to her mother, Margot Bamborough, who disappeared without a trace four decades earlier.

At first, the premise slightly reminded me of Has Anyone Seen Charlotte Salter?, but the resemblance ends there.

Using his police contacts, Strike gains access to the original witness statements and investigative notes from the case. Soon, Robin and Strike find themselves drowning in old archives, dreams, hypnosis sessions, diaries, astrology, and fragmented testimonies.

The case becomes even more complicated because of the theories of Talbot, a mentally unstable investigator who believed the crimes were connected to astrology, occult symbolism, and ritualistic patterns. Missing witnesses, contradictory accounts, and the passage of time make the investigation feel nearly impossible.

At the same time, Robin and Strike are dealing with their own personal struggles. Robin is finally moving toward ending her marriage, while Strike is frequently away from London caring for his ill aunt.

And honestly? At first, the lack of action made the reading experience difficult.

Around page 300, I seriously considered giving up on the novel. But then a friend whose opinion I trust told me to keep going — that every piece of the puzzle would eventually fall perfectly into place. He also warned me not to skim the lengthy passages, because the key to everything was hidden inside them.

He was absolutely right.

At some point, I stopped counting how many pages were left and simply surrendered to the story. That’s when I realized what the author had actually achieved with Troubled Blood — brilliant depictions of psychopaths and serial killers, where truth, lies, and self-deception constantly blur together.

The novel explores mental illness, parenthood, guilt, trauma, and emotional damage. The focus is not so much on who the killer is, but on what destroys people from within.

Troubled Blood is not simply a thriller.

It is an emotional and criminal puzzle filled with philosophical undertones — and in the end, every single page felt worth it.

BOOKLOVERS Rating: 5/5