8 Reasons to Read Bad Blood - Robert Galbraith's New Detective About Cormoran Strike

2024 Author: Malcolm Clapton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:44

The books of the series about Cormoran Strike were loved by readers even before clever lawyers found out that the author is the alter ego of J. K. Rowling. Together with the Azbuka-Atticus publishing house and the book blogger Evgenia Lisitsyna, we are finding out what secret ingredients are in the recipe for the popularity of the series and why the new detective story is interesting.

Who is Cormoran Strike

The protagonist of the books of the detective cycle is a former British military police officer who lost his leg in a hot spot. Drawing on his past experience, good memory and disruptive nature, he works as a private detective in London. Cormoran has a difficult relationship with talented assistant Robin Ellacott. And yet - he is trying to prove to the whole world that he is an independent person, and not another illegitimate son of a rock star. He just does not know his father, he is not spoiled by attention and money, but he received an unusual name from his mysteriously deceased mother. Now in the cycle there are five books: "Call of the Cuckoo", "Silkworm", "In the Service of Evil", "Deadly White" and the newly published "".

What interesting unites the books of the cycle

Fans of the work of Robert Galbraith note that all the novels in the series have common features that create the very recognizable author's atmosphere. "Bad Blood" is no exception, because all these techniques are time-tested and approved by readers.

1. Dark storylines

Most of the characters in the Cormoran Strike series have a dark side. And this applies to the main characters, not to mention the murderers, maniacs and perverts that appear in every novel. Even the brightest person has psychological scars. Cormoran Strike is incredulous and has what modern psychologists would call an attachment disorder. His hippie mother constantly moved from place to place, and his father did not want to know the accidental son at all. Post-traumatic stress disorder, which appeared after the war, and the loss of a leg add tragic nuances to the image of an already gloomy giant.

His assistant Robin has survived several attacks. The worst of them happened in the distant past, but in real time, the girl is constantly in danger. After being attacked by a maniac, which is described in the novel "In the Service of Evil", Robin is working on panic attacks. But in Deadly Whiteness and Bad Blood, she fails to deal with it because her personal life and work keep her under stress. In "" the murderer also suffers from an unusual mental disorder. Each book in the series can be said to be partly a psychological thriller.

2. Ordinary people as detectives

Cormoran Strike and Robin Ellacott have a good memory, quick wit and an analytical mind. But they do not have any superpowers or extraordinary author's techniques for solving detective problems. They act just like real detectives and sleuths. Namely: together with us, the readers, they talk with witnesses, examine the crime scene, conduct surveillance, try to cut off unnecessary details and find subtle ones. We are on the same plane with them, with the same data. The whole solution of problems is in the text and can be deduced almost mathematically.

In order not to get confused, the author each time draws up detailed tables with all the details of the dialogues, evidence, trifles and facts. Nothing should contradict each other, information should not be too much or too little, it should not be unambiguous or hidden from us. We can solve the problem in parallel with the detective couple. For example, write out all the limited number of suspects from "In the Service of Evil" and systematically make notes about each. Robert Galbraith never introduces as the killer someone who does not appear in the frame and is not particularly significant to the investigation. In Bad Blood, readers' detective work is also possible. True, the plot is twisted quite tightly and specifically contains a number of distracting tricks.

3. Atmosphere and detail

Robert Galbraith can write in the same way as J. K. Rowling. Brilliant language, detailed descriptions and detailed structure of each scene are available to him. The atmosphere of London at the beginning of the tenth years (the action of "Bad Blood" takes place in 2013–2014, and each previous novel, respectively, a year earlier), according to the assurances of the locals, is conveyed very accurately. Pubs and cabs, crowded streets and gloomy gateways, holiday bustle and even small-town dialects - all this is a living reality of the British capital. The timeless deep-fried fish and fries and an English breakfast are also included. In Bad Blood, Strike and Ellacott investigate an old hangman from the late seventies. Thanks to this, we will get an idea not only of the beating of life in modern Britain, but also of the atmosphere of chaos and uncertainty of that time.

4. Use of symbolism and quotations

The name certainly resonates with several lines at once in the novel - both in the main one and in the so-called relational one. For example, Deadly Whiteness in the previous book talks about a very specific syndrome of the birth of white foals who do not survive despite all the efforts. And also - about the rider of the Apocalypse of Death on a pale horse, and death is almost always present in a detective story. All the events of the novel may seem scattered, but the title and symbols bring them together. "Bad blood" refers to the main villain, and to the detective himself, who does not want to return to the bosom of the family, and even to some methods of murder. But you yourself will learn about them while reading.

What's New and Notable in Bad Blood

In the new detective story, the author is faithful to his own traditions. But it is impossible to write good books by stamping them according to one template. From novel to novel, Galbraith introduces new techniques that make reading even more interesting and varied.

1. Characters in development

The world of heroes from novel to novel is not static, as in The Simpsons. They fall in love and disperse, learn something new, events take place around them that change their whole life. The investigator and assistant slowly grow closer throughout the cycle, but both of them are hampered by their own injuries and fears. Robin is transformed from a happy bride in the first book into a divorced girl, tortured by the courts. Cormoran Strike is torn between misplaced jealousy and fear of a new relationship. A good half of the book is devoted to their careful movements around each other. But in life, not all relationships follow clear-cut patterns. In Bad Blood, Robin's relationship with her husband ends in an unusual way. And Cormoran cannot devote enough time to her due to the terrible illness of a close relative. Obviously, in the next novel, we will observe the development of relations between the main characters.

2. Updated genre

The direction of each subsequent novel changes. It can be a classic investigation or a story with a bloody bandit showdown. And there can be psychological or literary games. The more experience the author has, the more complex, non-classical, but no less exciting detective stories become. In Serving Evil, Galbraith explores themes from real-life crime stories. In "Bad Blood" there are fragments of real incidents and images of existing maniacs. In addition, Galbraith enters Dan Brown's territory, introducing astrology, the zodiac, and horoscopes into the narrative. All this with retro elements: after all, the investigation begins 40 years after the crime was committed.

3. Unexpected volume

Rowling closely monitors reviews of books and goes to meet fans. Most readers note that, along with a detective riddle, they like to read about the private life of characters and emotional experiences. This is probably why, with each book, the percentage of "personal" in relation to detective stories and the volume of the novel as a whole grows. The first and second detective stories - 480 pages, the third - 544 pages, the fourth - 800 pages. But "Bad Blood" in Russian translation is as much as 960 pages.

4. Large-scale and important topic

In the plot of all the books of the cycle, in addition to the traditional detective plot, there is some kind of large-scale conflict, always different. It can be a confrontation between the proletarian masses and the aristocratic elite, as in Deadly Whiteness. Or the struggle between evil and good within each person, as in the novel In the Service of Evil. Or the isolation and quarrelsomeness of the literary-intellectual bohemia in The Silkworm.

Bad blood concerns the national and local identity of every Briton and self-determination within a fragmented society. Just don't be fooled by the recent Rowling scandals! There is no transphobia or hints of it in the novel. The image of a maniac who disguised himself in women's clothes is copied from a real criminal. And this dressing up does not play such an important role in the novel. By the way, the reader met the transgender person in the "Silkworm" and nothing negative was connected with her.

Each next novel in the series absorbs all the best and characteristic from the previous books. If you liked at least one piece from the cycle, then there is a great chance that Bad Blood will be cute too. The author is constantly growing above himself in terms of writing skills, and in the complication of topics, and in approaching high literature. If Call of the Cuckoo was once too easy for you, it might be worth giving the popular detective series a second chance now.