Troubled Blood by Robert Galbraith

 

As Cormoran Strike is visiting his aunt and uncle in Cornwall, he is approached on the street by a woman.  She explains that she has recognized him and wonders if he can help her.  Her mother, Margot Bamborough, disappeared forty years ago.  Strike thinks it is unlikely he can help but agrees to listen.

Margot was a doctor and left the practice after dark one evening to meet a friend for a drink.  For many years, the assumption of the police and everyone else was that Margot had been kidnapped off the street walking to the pub one night by the serial killer, Dennis Creed.  But there is no actual proof that Creed killed Margot and there are other suspects.  There is the husband with whom Margot is estranged at the time of her disappearance.  There is the ex-boyfriend who is back in the picture.  There is a receptionist at the practice whom Margot was helping to escape from her violent gangster boyfriend.  A recent patient seemed to have a crush on Margot and disappeared after she did.  A man with mental issues talked about doing magic that killed Margot.  Any of these individuals could have been involved but who was?

The book spans the year that Strike and his partner Robin work on the case.  Robin is still in the throes of her divorce from her husband, Matthew but the feelings between Robin and Strike are getting stronger.  Cormoran's aunt, who along with his uncle, raised him for long periods of his childhood, is dying of cancer and he needs to divide his time between taking care of her and his practice.  Many associated with the case have died over forty years and others claim to know nothing about it.  The leading detective had a mental breakdown as he investigated the case but his ravings in his private journal supply some clues which have to be interpreted.  The ending is a surprise but fits well in the story.  This book is recommended for mystery readers.