Mazankov, Krupov, and Polworth; an Unlikely Trio and the start of Troubled Blood

     Hello, Everyone! I will be starting our re-read of Troubled Blood for this and Thursday’s post. I have to say Troubled Blood has to be one of my favorites. It has everything you can want in a detective novel with the additional look at the trauma and healing moments that come from lives well lived without it feeling over the top. It is also a nice treat to have all of the epigraphs come from one place, Edmund Spencer’s “The Faire Queen.”

Chapter 1

This book begins in Cornwall on David Polworth’s 39th birthday and Strike is bored, maybe even slightly annoyed. Chum just can’t let go of the idea that the mostly peripatetic Strike would dare identify as anything other than Cornish. Strike notes two women by the bar and attempts to act distracted on his phone so as to avoid conversations about his Aunt Joan.  Funny enough it is Polworth's use of the nickname Diddy that softens Strikes’ mood towards him and honestly makes me a bit fond of him. He is, if nothing, a walking contradiction. He demands that Strike is Cornish by birth but says that “It’s identity- what you feel here” (4). He says Strike is Cornish but Diddy is from Didicoy, a Cornish word for gypsy. This brings about one of the few memories of Strike’s early childhood. He recalls meeting Dave who is described as being a “fighter whose viciousness was inversely proportional to his height” (6), and yet again he is fighting to defend the young boy with the funny name and accent. We are told that even though Joan is very ill, she insisted that Strike get a pint with Little Davey. And then comes one of my favorite lines by Polworth “Joanie reckons you’re gonna end up with your business partner. That Robin girl.” Strike attempts to  brush him off but apparently it is not just Joanie. Ted and Lucy also think Robin would be perfect for Strike. (Not to mention a very significant chunk of the readers of this series). Polworth tries to argue that Robin will leave eventually because she is a woman and so will want children and then gives a charming story about how a drunk man in a bar used Anna Karenina’s characters Mazankov, and Krupov to convince Polworth to ask Penny to marry him. In the charming fashion that is Dave Polworth he simply sums it up for Strike this way; “If you get married you can get regular blow jobs and sex without the hassle of trying to convince a girl to do you.” What a charmer! 

Chapter 2

Strike leaves the Victory, and we find out that Luke is an asshole. Like a major asshole. If I were Lucy he would have been grounded for breaking Strike’s headphones and would be made to buy a new pair and don’t even get me on stealing his prosthetic. Sorry… anyway we get some big dad energy in how Strike handles Luke and an adorable moment where he, with no examination, recognizes that when he is alone, bored, or low spirited he wants nothing more than to hear Robin’s voice. (someone get me smelling salts I may swoon). But before he can play, if I text her about this minor business detail, maybe she will call me game. He is interrupted by a woman we come to know as Anna Phipps.  Anna was told she would get a lead on her mother’s disappearance and when she saw Strike she couldn’t resist. Here is where we get the bare minimum of the case. Margot Bamborough left her medical practice in 1974 to visit a friend at a pub and was never seen again. Strike agrees to meet with them even though he feels like he shouldn’t  and does a brief google search. It seems Margot disappeared around the same time as serial killer Dennis Creed was murdering women and the DI who originally handled the case thought she was killed by him. 

Chapter 3

Robin is now on day 20 of working with no break in sight. She is currently watching a man they call Tufty eating pizza with his family. Robin is, for the first time, acting like a true detective; complete with multiple ids, snacks for the car ride and hair in need of a wash. The poor girl. But there are two things that are leaving her particularly low. Twatthew, I mean Matthew, is holding out on the divorce and trying to place all of the blame on Robin.  The second reason is not that she had to converse with the new subcontractor, Saul Morris, even though he seems like an awful human being. No it is that Charlotte Campbell called. Oye, when will these two just get on with it? We learn that Ilsa is also on Team Strellacott, and has been trying to arrange double dates with them. A task, Robin is afraid, that Strike is aware of. However, it is Ilsa’s tale of all the Charlotte drama that has Robin listening and fretting. I don’t know about you but with titles like those (The Night of the Bread Knife, The Incident of the Black Lace Dress etc.) I need to know these stories. They are so Sherlockian in feel that I desperately need JK to spill the tea on those stories.  But before that can happen Strike texts then calls and here is where we find out that Tufty is a very very busy man with two wives, one mistress, 4 children and one on the way. Strike tells Robin about Margot Bamborough and how he knows he shouldn’t take the case but he wants to know more and Robin offers to meet him in Falmouth. A suggestion that Strike adds to by saying they will work the case together. Awwwww. 

Chapter 4

This is the first real glimpse into family Strike and boy does it pack a punch. I think the biggest take away from it is how much trauma training Strike has had that he is able to recognize Lucy’s grief as just that, grief. That said, even I was ready to throttle her at points, knowing full well that she was picking fights with Strike because there was no fight she could start against the ovarian cancer Joan was facing.  By the end of the chapter I was left feeling like Strike is more of a parent to his nephews than Lucy is because we now know that he is the one reminding them about the consequences of stepping out of line. Ok, reminding Luke of this. Strike recognizes the “pain of divided loyalties, of being battleground and prize…” as he hugs Joan goodbye. Again reminding me that he, like all humans, will deny who they are with every breath they take. After all he isn’t a totally committed family man. He is not the marrying type and doesn’t commit… except actions will always speak louder than words. 

Chapter 5

Robin spends a night at what sounds like the Happiness Hotel from The Great Muppet Caper.  We also have our first mention of perfume in this book, as she picks up a cheap perfume and tries to “make herself presentable”. She is content to think of joining Strike at the end of her car ride and surprised to see palm trees as she drives. When she finally does see Strike at the cafe he is  in full grump mode. The reason being he fell and the boatman who was helping him revealed his lack of a lower leg to everyone, not that he tells Robin that. The only comfort here being that though they are oblivious still us readers can see that they are true partners as they even affect each other’s moods. 

Chapter 6

Kim is still very hesitant about doing more than an exploratory meeting and Robin is amazing at being what the couple needs in that first moment. They both meet with Anna and Strike gets loved up by a rag doll cat, a scene I wish was included in the show. Anna reveals her history. Including the fact that she didn’t even know that Cynthia was not her mom until she was 11. It is such a sad history and yet I don’t know that Roy or Cynthia was totally  wrong in how they handled it. How do you let a child have a happy childhood and the truth when the truth is their mother disappeared when they were still a baby? This chapter really speaks to the terribleness of grief. Roy threw out all of her pictures because he couldn’t handle it, which I get. But thank God Cyn had the peace of mind to hide some. There are not a lot more details in this chapter but Strike, as usual, is honest with them. Kim can’t help but be impressed because of that honesty. The chances of them solving this case are very, very, slim. It would not be in their best interest to hire them. But if they are determined then Strike and Ellacott are the best for this job.
Chapter 7

Strike is relieved to be in the car with Robin at the start of this chapter. Though Robin thinks it has more to do with the possibility of a new case.  Strike attempts to get Robin’s feelings on Saul Morris but Robin feels having another subcontractor is more important than causing any waves by saying she doesn’t like him.  Strike did notice Morris’ special tone of voice that he uses on Robin but has so much going on that he doesn’t fully push the issue. Robin also uses Pat as a distraction. Here we get introduced to one of my favorite characters. Pat Chauncey, a 56 year old who should be dead with how much she smokes. She is the new office manager and has no qualms at all about  voicing her opinion on everything. Her only negative quality is that she has terrible taste in men as she is constantly looking for Strike to do something wrong and at the same time loves Morris.  There is then a rundown of the agency’s clients. Tufty was solved, but they still have Two-Times, Twinkle Toes, Postcard, and Shifty. All nicknames to ensure client confidentiality. At this point it almost feels like Two-Times needs to be a client in order for it to be a Strike book. The others, however, are new. Twinkle Toes is a dancer in love with an older divorcee who is constantly in the public eye. Postcard is a person who seems to be stalking a local weatherman, and finally  Shifty is a man who is blackmailing one of his employers in order to get a higher position in the investing firm they work at. Strike says he skipped breakfast, thus adding another must in the Strike novels, Strike explaining how calories and or food does not count. I wonder how that will change now that he is working on becoming healthy. He finally tells Robin that he got into an argument with Lucy and what he really feels about his nephews.  Unfortunately, just as they hit the road and Robin describes the merits of Social Identity Theory, Strike falls asleep.  When he does wake up, Robin sums up the theory and they debate talking to Dennis Creed before they get a phone call. Anna and Kim have decided to hire them to look for Margot and Strike and Robin bet a fiver whether they will get more than a year or not. 

As this is where part 1 ends I think I will leave you for today. On Thursday there will be one more post from me with the next 9 chapters and Part 2: Autumn.