Troubled Blood sells almost 65,000 copies in just five days

I've just started Cuckoos Calling this week, haven't had much time to read it but got stuck in last night and I'm very much enjoying it.

FWRLurcker - I would start with the first book and read in order.

That depends I have no intention of reading my copy.

@MotherForkinShirtBalls yes it did change! I didn't know whether maybe she was called Ilsa in the show but Isla in the books. Must go back and check one of the other books.

I’ve read the previous books and they’re OK, generally superior detective fiction. I struggle with the writing which I find overdone and the books are too long. I also find the main characters and their relationship faintly annoying. I expect this one to be the same but have bought it anyway - if it wasn’t Rowling I would have waited for it to be available at the library - it will be bedtime reading for a month or so.

Jolly good denouement though, and plenty of evil characters of both sexes.

Audio book version! To hear it is much better, the narrator is fantastic.

I've got a clever book cushion thingie that's like a tall little beanbag with a wedge out of it where the book sits and an adjustable, elasticated perspex strip to hold it open. Hard to describe but a joy to use.

Thanks for that link, @persistentwoman. By Christ, that's a good article. Wow.

thanks good article

There's a separate thread about this article by Nick Cohen but on this very busy board I thought some may have missed it. I found it very powerful and moving.

thecritic.co.uk/braving-the-goblet-of-fire/

I downloaded it on Audible today and I'm utterly gripped. I went to bed at 7.30pm!

I've already come across THE sentence about a suspect wearing a woman's coat. If that really is it then I honestly think most of the media have drunk the koolaid calling this a 'transphobic book'.

I recently watched the TV series & really enjoyed it - I was aware that JKR had written under the RG pseudonym but didn't make the link between that & the Strike series on BBC. I read Troubled Blood in a couple of days & have now bought the rest of the series so I can find out what they missed out of the TV series. I'm currently 1/5 of the way through Cuckoo's Calling & am already noticing lots of details that just couldn't be/weren't included in the TV series.

Anyone know when Strike #6 is out?

Delighted to hear this. And yes, so many true to life themes and experiences run through the story.

As an aside, anyone who is listening to the book, was it my imagination or did the narrator change Ilsa's name to Isla?? I'm absolutely sure she was called Nick and Ilsa through all the books and right up to the dinner party at Robin's flat. It really bugged me for the rest of the book.

It’s absolutely fab. I’m in a topsy turvy Strike world: watching thé séries on BBC while reading Troubled Blood, and now rereading the Strike series from the start, recasting my own mental images of Strike and Robin With Tom Burke and Holliday G!! It’s so rare to have a casting /setting done so well that I’m prepared to abandon my own imagery...

Great

I havent bought it yet as am still near the start of lethal white. Havent had too much time, which is annoying as I also really want t wtch the TV version but I must finish the book before that! Will get this one then..so will add to later sales figures

Those stropping as people didn't listen when they were told not to buy as JK is a witch..is hilarious

Some will be buying to burn apparently i pointed out thst their pointless act puts more money in her pockets so they shouted how transphobic it was I ssid it really isn't have you read it? Apparently they don't NEED TOO

The only book I have left from my childhood is HP and the Philosopher's Stone. I kept it safe because my nan and grandad bought it me for my birthday, and it has a lovely written message in there from them 😊

After the bullying and harassment campaign against JKR kicked off, I bought the rest of the HP series. I know it probably didn't make much difference, but it felt supportive in a way. I probably wouldn't have got them if not for the abuse I saw JKR subjected to.

I bought Troubled Blood too, even though I haven't started the series yet, just to add to the sales. It'll be a long time before I get to actually read it (want to read them in order), but it felt good sticking it to the misogynistic pricks.

Still number one on the Amazon chart and check out the average review score!

I too bought the first one in the series to show support for JKR and found that I was completely hooked and read through all the rest. It was lovely waiting impatiently for Troubled Blood to come out, it reminded me of waiting for The Goblet of Fire to be released after discovering the first three HP books. Troubled Blood is definitely the best and I have massive crush on both the main characters.

I thought it was wonderful, so richly layered with complex characters and a cracking page turning plot. Can’t wait for the next one.

Only slight disappointment was that the case wasn’t cracked by my favourite of the pair

I may be biased by how much I adore & admire J.K

It’s such a good book. I just wish it was longer. And what amazes me about it is that with all her money, all the assistants she must have, etc, JKR still knows exactly what normal life is like. The way people interact, the daily frustrations, the horrible chores, etc etc. How can she possibly be so rich and still know what ordinary life is like?
I wasn’t a mad fan of the other books in the series but this one just seems in a different league. It’s like she’s channelled Dickens or George Eliot to create a whole miniature world.

@CodenameVillanelle

Thank you for that - it looks beautiful!! Had already bought my daughter the original illustrated Philosophers Stone but couldn't resist it! Will have to give the other one away for Christmas I think!! 🙈

I bought the hardback and also bought some as presents for friends just to show those nasty misogynistic trolls that they can't cancel JKR.

As an added bonus its the best book I've read in ages and for the first time in a long time I am completely absorbed in a book and don't want to finish it. I have approx 2-3 nights left 😭

@FWRLurker I just read the first and now on the second, can't put them down! I think it's good to do them in order. Happy reading