Troubled Blood

Troubled Blood gives the series its most intricate cold case up to that point. While visiting family in Cornwall, Strike is approached by a woman who wants him to investigate the disappearance of her mother, Margot Bamborough, who vanished in 1974. What makes the premise especially strong is the sheer difficulty of the task: this is not a fresh crime scene but a decades-old mystery layered with fading memories, unreliable witnesses, and the kind of leads that only grow stranger the deeper Strike and Robin go. The novel has a broader, more immersive feel than some of the earlier books, balancing the long shadow of Margot’s disappearance with the increasingly important emotional and professional bond between its two investigators. Rather than relying on quick shocks, it builds its pull through complexity, atmosphere, and the sense that old cases can remain dangerous long after the world has moved on.

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