TROUBLED BLOOD
by Robert Galbraith – Winner

Other Nominees

A SONG FOR DARK TIMES by Ian Rankin
THE GUEST LIST by Lucy Foley
THE PATIENT MAN by Joy Ellis
THE SENTINEL by Lee Child and Andrew Child
THE THURSDAY MURDER CLUB by Richard Osman

Editor’s Note: I was glad to see TROUBLED BLOOD by Robert Galbraith (a.k.a. J. K. Rowling) win. I thought it was a terrific book — yes, all 927 pages of it. It was overlooked by some because of its length (they didn’t want to take the time to read it). It was on our long list of books considered for the Barry Awards, but didn’t make the cut (I suspect because not enough of the committee members had read it).

Larry Gandle is now in the process of listening to it (30-hour audio). I can’t wait to hear his grumbles about lack of editing. TROUBLED BLOOD is nominated for both the CWA Gold Dagger and the CWA Steel Dagger (Thriller), and Larry will be critiquing those lists in a future issue of DP. Here’s an update: Larry just texted me: “65% through this monster but it is quite good. She is a master of characterization.” I’m very tempted to say, “I told you it was good,” but I’m resisting.