Troubled Blood - *Spoiler-laden discussion*

[EllacottObsessive]

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

I was trying to think what they would likely cut out in adaptation. It'll probably be a 4 parter like LW, but even so, there's a lot to get in and retain both a sense of the case and the relationship stuff they must know is key.
So yeah, I think the full dinner party will go, although I do think it might be there in some form so that the conflict of Robin getting to the end of her tether with him seeming to take her for granted and him having to so beautifully apologize remains. (Plus Drunk!Strike again, which is so entertaining.)

I will be mightily cheesed off if they dont have some form of Chapter 58, too, given how pivotal it is.

I suspect quite a bit of the visits to Cornwall will be dropped, and I can't see them trying to replicate the journey in the storm. I hope they keep both the botched perfume purchase attempt and the successful one, and I think there's a good chance of that because that'd be a funny moment.

I wonder how much of Morris we'll get too, and I think the other cases might be glancingly referenced, but they won't give them much more than a sentence.

Possible flashbacks would be the easiest way to really give Margot the same sense of reality she has in the novel. And I want to see the Strike/Creed showdown too.

I've just finish reading all the books in order and I love them.
Feeling bereft that there aren't more to decoys right away!

I think the other cases will go completely, and any other staff will all be working on Margot, whose case will be massively simplified.

It's possible they could lose the whole Cornwall plot, although that would take quite a radical reworking, and be a bit of a shame.

As long as the dinner party, Skegness and chapters 58 and 73 are in there I can probably just about cope with the way they will have to slash and burn the rest of the book.

@feministbias

I've just finish reading all the books in order and I love them. Feeling bereft that there aren't more to decoys right away!

I know! There's no way we're going to get the next book before next autumn at the very earliest, is there?

Oh, I found my people!! I adored this book (one the whole series and keep telling people they must read them) - I only came to the series through buying this book in support of JKR, and then going - oh there are 5 , I better start at No.1. I devoured them, had a month of bliss of reading the 5, and am now bereft that I have no follow up to pick up.

I love everything about them, the detail, the sense of place, the fact that Robin is such a brilliant driver, the stories of the victims, who become alive through the book. I was cross at Robin in the earlier books because she seemed unable to stand up to the odious Matthew, but she got there in the end and it almost seemed sweeter because she came to all the conclusions herself - although I was disappointed that it was hi affair that caused her to end it and not his actions and controlling personality towards her.

The dinner party was divine - I almost felt I was there, looking at the smug, woke, bearded, face of the opinionated twat. And her take down of Morris was awesome. I particularly liked that it happened in front of Barclay and Strike so there were witnesses to his awfulness and there was no room for Morris to paint a different picture.

I’m wondering whether they’ll keep the references to Creed cross-dressing. They’ve removed all previous references to transgenderism AND transableism, after all.

I'm certain that will go Empress along with the Cornwall storyline and the other minor cases. The BBC will be desperate to avoid controversy

I think chapter 58 is safe because that's all about their relationship. They'll keep all the Charlotte stuff too

I like the advanced driving stuff too but got very cross with the filmed version where she bucketed across a field and zoomed through a wood in a tiny car. That wasn't advanced driving, it made a mockery of what advanced driving actually is.

And how does she manage to do surveillance in an old Land Rover? They're very obvious. They're noisy and they smell (fumes, not wet dogs and wellies ) Should be a soulless, million-selling hatchback.

Adore the books

I like the advanced driving stuff too but got very cross with the filmed version where she bucketed across a field and zoomed through a wood in a tiny car. That wasn't advanced driving, it made a mockery of what advanced driving actually is.

I wondered if that was to do with budget or something - easier & cheaper than filming a mass pileup.

The thing about chapter 58 is how interior it is. I think it will be quite hard to write for the screen in a way that tells us what we need to know but also leaves the important things for their friendship moving forward unsaid.

They will definitely have My best mate.... is you.

There reat will have to be conveyed with honeyed longing looks. I reckon they'll play with the blocking, too, and have them both on the sofa, rather than one at desk and one on farting sofa. Ramp up the physical immediacy.

Nah, they've got include 'What do you say, Robin, first one to break Barclay's nose wins the night?'

Oooh, I can't believe I missed the implications of that one.

(This is why I love talking to other readers, they dig out nuggets I missed!)

@EllacottObsessive

Oooh, I can't believe I missed the implications of that one.

(This is why I love talking to other readers, they dig out nuggets I missed!)

What implications?

I've not watched any of the tv series but they absolutely HAVE to have the adult baby kink guy. I guessed right away what was going on, couldn't believe it took them so long to work it out.

Well, it's obviously a joke, but you could read it as a joke based on the fact that he's a low key pissed off that Barclay interrupted them them.

Them them? Good lord,more wine needed.

I reckoned it was adult baby thing when Robin saw her in the supermarket buying dummies and other baby stuff

Yep,I got the adult baby thing with the dummies, and concluded that Robin must have been distracted by the warm glow she gets from talking to Corm to not realize what was going on....

@WarOnWomen

I've not watched any of the tv series but they absolutely HAVE to have the adult baby kink guy. I guessed right away what was going on, couldn't believe it took them so long to work it out.

Bet they don’t. It would be kink shaming.

Which is silly really, given that the detectives think it's ridiculous but ultimately do things to assist the person indulging in the oddness.

@EllacottObsessive

Which is silly really, given that the detectives think it's ridiculous but ultimately do things to assist the person indulging in the oddness.

Absolutely. Just like Robin was sympathetic to Pippa the TIM in Silkworm. But I still think they’ll chicken out.

Oh they will. For sure.

The descriptions of how the old pimp - who once organised the rape and murder of a woman and filmed it - now lived and was treated vs how that old woman who used to be a prostitute was living really stayed with me. Ugh. The part where Robin was cornered by the pimp's son while she was undercover was nerve-racking.

I finished TB yesterday and am feeling bereft since. I'm enjoying reliving the love here.

I had watched the series but bought the books recently in support of JK and have read them back to back. There's so much more in them than the tv series (not surprisingly) especially in the Robin/Strike relationship. It will be interesting to see how they adapt TB and what makes the cut.

I don't usually read crime thrillers but these are so well-written and the quality of the relationship between Robin and Strike adds a whole other dimension to them.

The feminist journey is a thing of beauty. Like others, I loved the dinner party for Strike's annihilation of the "warriors" at the table. But it was uncomfortable because of Robin's own discomfort. That's a hard thing to write and a hard balance to achieve. Part of JKR's skill is in the capturing and reflection of the complexity and messiness of life and the layers of experience that shape a human being. Clearly a thing she understands.

I cannot wait for the next book.