Troubled Blood - *Spoiler-laden discussion*

[EllacottObsessive]

Setting this up for Strike and Ellacott fans to talk about spoilery things.

Channelling my inner strike by having a curry & hugging mysejf because I’ve finished my reread and the last chapter is everything!

'This argued degrees of planning and effort that seemed highly uncharacteristic.'

People can change, Robin. They can become...thoughtful.

That last chapter is just bliss.

Maybe we can watch Arsenal v Spurs tomorrow too! Unfortunately Arsenal have been a bit crap lately, I doubt Strike would be very impressed

Well, if he will be a Gooner...

@EllacottObsessive

Well, if he will be a Gooner...

I'm re-watching The Musketeers & keep calling Athos Strike in my head & getting confused when people call him Athos.

@AGnu

I'm re-watching The Musketeers & keep calling Athos Strike in my head & getting confused when people call him Athos.

AGnu I have a meta fanfic that lives in my head where a modern day athos has to team up with strike to track down a Russian criminal (dolokhov)😆

I rather like the idea of Robin finding a drunk athos & strike in the pub talking about women trouble “you think that’s bad? She tried to have me killed!” And being “I do not get paid enough to deal with 2 drunk melancholy men” 😆

There's an absolutely stonkingly good War and Peace fic of Dolokhov falling in love with an original character, which I loved, and at the end there's a bit of meta fun with an allusion to another story the author did involving Athos being wounded and Aramis performing surgery.

I'm not normally bothered by overly self referential fanfic because it can be a bit cliquey and takes you totally out of it, but this one is both an excellent story, a good original character, and the allusion at the end just makes me smile because you only 'get it' if you've read the other story or in my case, read the end notes by the author.

I'm so gutted that I finished the audiobook last night so imagine my excitement to find EO's podcast. Just subscribing now.

Did anyone else feel a resemblance to JKR from the descriptions of Margot's actions?

my perfume samples have been dispatched apparently. DD reckons I shouldn't be allowed on the internet unsupervised, as I'm so easily led

I'm sitting on my hands so as not to order samples, Visions.

Go on, go on, go on, go on Lancelottie

Incidentally, wasn't it Fracas that loads of the Jilly Cooper characters wore? It's been a long time since I read any, but it was something like that anyway.

...maybe not this one?
www.scentsamples.uk.com/creed-aventus/perfume/61

Did anyone else feel a resemblance to JKR from the descriptions of Margot's actions?

What are you thinking of, DialSquare?

I've been flicking through The Silkworm, and noticed a bit where That Twat is thinking:

'...before she worked for Strike, Robin had always been first to back down in a row, first to apologise, but her conciliatory nature seemed to have been warped by the stupid bloody job...'

Which parallels one of my favourite descriptions of Strike's modus operandi in Troubled Blood:

'While Strike wasn't in principle opposed to offering an unsolicited apology in the event that he felt himself to have been in the wrong, in practice his apologies tended to be delivered late, and only when it became clear that resolution would come no other way.'

(I absolutely know men who operate like this. JKR nails it again.)

I love how both of them are being shaped unconsciously by each other and how their trajectories are crossing in the middle. Strike's apology is one of my favourite bits of TB, because Robin has been completely right in calling him out (and in refusing to get in contact first - she's come a long way from the Robin of The Silkworm), and he is able to respond to that by breaking deeply formed relationship habits. Admittedly his apology is not fulsome, but it feels genuine.

@parentalhelpline

Did anyone else feel a resemblance to JKR from the descriptions of Margot's actions?

What are you thinking of, DialSquare?

Just the way Margot seemed to be strong and hard working after coming from an underprivileged background and very aware of the hardships of life. Then they way she helped Gloria. I kept getting flashes of JKR in my head the more Margot was talked about.

I can definitely see that. I've also noticed how important work is for both Strike and Robin - almost to the exclusion of everything else in their lives - and I wonder if that is an echo of Rowling's own ethic.

I would agree with that. She emphasises how important their work is to them both which as you say, seems to echo her feelings.

I think the differing reactions of their friends and relatives to their mutual work ethic is one of my favourite strands of the story. There's obviously the different perspectives based on their sex, so that the attitude that is seem as drive and ambition in Strike is seen negatively in Robin. She's expected to put other things first, he's not. And because JKR does nuance so well, it's not being imposed on them from others, it's coming from the two of them as well.

I love the way she is such a story teller. She's narrating a tale, she's not smugly waiting to thump you over the head with how you are supposed to react to these people or events. That's why I suspect the YA market is so painfully right on - the skill of storytelling is a distant third behind ticking boxes and having an approved 'moral of the story'.

JKR doesn't give a monkey's. You can work out her perspectives, of course, but only because she is showing you pictures of reality. She's all about show, not tell. It's such a rare gift nowadays.

My samples arrived!

It has confirmed to me that I'm definitely not a perfume person, although I'm not having a coughing fit so that's something... DS was in the room while I was sniffing them & vaguely looked up from the computer to demand to know what that strange smell was. He was very when I explained that it was perfume I bought because of a book! I made him sniff them all & he grunted at each one but decided that L'Absolu was the best.

Flowerbomb is very different to the 2 Narciso ones I got, not as warm. That's it for my analysis... They all smell perfume-y to me!

My perfume arrived AND my husband forwarded me a link to a green dress he thought I might like. He has no idea about Strike beyond the fact he liked watching it with me and I am very enthusiastic about the books.

Unless he's reading my posts here of course...

I work in a library, and I'm enjoying myself this afternoon. I have to choose books for customers so I put Galbraiths in the pile of anyone who asks for crime novels.

Just trying to spread the love.

Excellent!

I've had a hell of a day, with one thing and another, so I've indulged in some fanfic. Still working on the next podcast. Think I'm aiming for beginning of next week to get episode four out.

I stopped sitting on my hands.

Scent samples arriving shortly!

Kindly arrange a podcast to accompany them, EO, there's a dear.