Troubled blood by Robert Galbraith

Cormoran Strike, book 5. Little Brown, 2020. ISBN: 9780751579949. 944 pp.
(Age: Adult - Senior secondary) Highly recommended. Although a massive 944 pages, fans of the series will be rivetted by the complex plotting and relationships in Galbraith's latest offering. Strike and Robin are back again, this time investigating a cold case involving a young doctor, Margot Bamborough, who mysteriously disappeared forty years earlier. Strike had been approached by her daughter to see if he could find the truth about her and give her some solace. As Strike and Robin start investigating, they discover that there had been a serial killer on the loose nearby, and the detective in charge of the case had been convinced that he was the killer. However, he had become increasingly obsessed with tarot cards which he was using to solve the case and eventually was forced to leave it. Strike and Robin must delve through copious strange notes, interview any surviving witnesses all the while researching the many cases their agency was actively pursuing. Not to mention Strike having to cope with the fact that his aunt, who had brought him up, has cancer, while Robin is struggling with a difficult divorce.
There are many plot threads to follow in Troubled blood, and the author keeps the reader puzzling not only over what happened to Margot Bamborough, but also what happened to other young women that the serial killer was supposed to kill. Even the other cases the agency is investigating are interesting and contain more puzzles for the reader to try and solve. And readers who have been following the growing rapport between Robin and Strike will enjoy the way Galbraith has given an in-depth understanding of how their backgrounds and past relationships have affected their emotional growth.
Fans of the Cormoran Strike series will not want to miss this one, and lovers of the mystery genre will appreciate the intricate plotting and may, like me, be surprised by the final denouements.
Pat Pledger