Troubled Blood - *Spoiler-laden discussion*

[EllacottObsessive]

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

Finally finished. I got nowhere near cracking the case, but I DID crack the baby fetish.

Seemed to be quite rushed at the end, with lots of filler in the middle.

Not sure whether to try another Strike as finding the dynamic between Robin and Strike tedious. And the bloke who plays Strike on telly looks nothing like his description in the book.

Oh the baby fetish was signposted a mile off. I was incredulous it took so long for them to get it, but Barclay's reaction was quite funny.
You won't enjoy Career of Evil or Lethal White if you don't like the dynamic between Strike and Robin. You might get on better with the first two, The Cuckoo's Calling and The Silkworm because it's not quite so front and centre.
And no, Tom Burke is visually not Strike. But he makes up for it in melancholic undercurrents.

Yes, the baby fetish was really obvious. I try desperately hard NOT to solve things but I couldn't help spotting that. Barclay's reaction was funny, yes, and there were a good few funny moments, especially Irene's fart.

Thanks for the heads-up on potential reads.

Hmm, could it be the baby fetish is only really obvious if you frequent the FWR boards on here..?

Nope. I knew all about baby fetishes from weird late night channel 4 programmes in the early 90's that my mum disapproved of.

I didn't the the baby one too quickly but did get the Janice /Irene bit, then felt off kilter/unsure about it through all the red herrings

It was my first Strike book too so I wasn't hugely invested in the couple dynamics at that point

Yes, a slow build isn't quite as arresting if you leap in at the point they're considering if the bedsheets have been washed and buying perfume and donkey balloons, tbf, I can certainly see why it wouldn't land as strongly without the long run up.

It was still heart warmingly lovely

I knew who did it before getting to the end... I have a tendency to look ahead! What I find interesting is the process of working out who it is.
I don’t think I got the baby fetish at first, but it did all make sense when it was “revealed”.

I think Robin would have got it much quicker from the supermarket visit, but she was distracted by her phone call iirc.

Just having a moment of lockdown-prompted despair at the enormous amount of time we are going to have to wait for Strike 6. Surely JKR should be hastening its arrival as an act of charity to the reading public. 🙁

It had better be worth it. I'm demanding it contain a kiss, at the very least.

Honestly, yes. At this rate the daft fanfiction I'm writing about Strike getting a cat will be as long as TB by the time the next book comes out.

Still, tremendously entertaining to read the FB posts of people insisting that any romance would spoil perfectly good mystery novels as the Galbraith PR keeps releasing content with #Soulmates and promo pics of them gazing at each other. Nowt so blind as them that will not see...

Whenever I hear/see people discussing the cases of TB I have a moment of surprise that there were any cases at all... They're definitely not what I particularly remember when thinking about the book. Funnily enough, the one thing that always comes to mind is the donkey balloon, shortly followed by a takeaway in the dark office & perfume shopping trips.

Readers of Strike seem to be divided into

A) Those who read for the crime plotting
B) Those who read for the crime plotting and the characters
C) Those who read obsessively for the characters' slow burn romance and to whom the value of the plot lies chiefly in how it throws light on our heroes and their states of mind

I started off with The Cuckoo's Calling as A), finished it as B) but now seem to be an unrepentant C)

@parentalhelpline I just came on to say how long until the next book?

Currently filling the gap by re-reading (well listening on audio) the Millennium Trilogy. It’s good but hard going in places especially the third one

Just been given a bunch of stargazer lilies #thankssarahshardlake #youcandobetterstrike

Waiting for my salted caramel chocolates next...

I probably wouldn’t mind salted caramel chocolates. But that’s me I’d be the same about minty chocolates or chocolate orange type things.
I just googled stargazer lilies because I wasn’t sure what they looked like, but I have seen them... again, I find them really pretty, but then again I don’t have negative association with them or an equivalent of Sarah Shadlock in my life (not Shardlake, that’s another book )

Highly toxic to cats, I believe, so there's another reason to avoid (or to buy lots if you really hate cats, I suppose).

toffee 😁😁 I'm reading the second Shardlake at the moment so that's where it came from

Even if you don't normally read fanfic, I think you'll enjoy this one.

archiveofourown.org/works/29787078

It's charming, isn't it? Really enjoyed it.

There's a new podcast episode knocking about if anyone's interested

Great news, not least for the cleanliness of the helpline family's bathroom.

If you produced these episodes every week I might live in a more sanitary house...

If I produced these episodes every week, I definitely wouldn't!

😂😂

Created an account just to contribute to this thread, given I love all things Strike and Robin. I spend far more time than I should thinking about their inevitable first kiss, and imagining how it might happen. Anyone else do this? My latest imagining, for book 6:

Robin has done something bold and very dangerous again, a la visiting Mucky Ricci. She has a very close call, and Strike is again furious when he finds out. They're alone in the Denmark St office at night, having a blazing, stand-up row about it. Robin shouts something about why he won't allow her to do the job, and Strike bellows back 'BECAUSE I CAN'T LOSE YOU!!!'

All the anger and rage in the room vanishes in an instant, as the words reverberate around the room. Strike takes a baby-step back, looks down at his shoes and mutters the words again, so softly that Robin can barely hear him. There's a brief pause. Then Strike feels a hand on his cheek, and looks up to see Robin right there in front of him. He thinks she's never looked so beautiful, her colour still high from the row, the tender look in her eyes as they well up with tears. She whispers just as softly back - 'You could never lose me Strike'.

They gaze at each other for a few seconds, and simultaneously move so slowly in for a slow, delicious, tender kiss. And then things develop . . . .

Ah, bliss!!!!