Georgia Kostopoulou
“Lethal White” is the fourth installment in the Cormoran Strike series and the lengthier so far! That being said, it is my favorite in the series and the reason is that even though this was such a complicated mystery, I managed to find the bad guy! Yeap, I did! And also, something else happened, that had me saying “it was about time”, but I’m not going to give you any spoilers!
The previous book, “Career of Evil” left us with a cliffhanger. Robin was getting married to Matthew when Strike swept in to the church, bringing the flowers down and catching everyone’s attention. Robin said “I do” to Matthew with a smile on her face, while she was looking at Strike. Matthew was not the only one to notice… Anyway, the wedding ceremony is over and after the new weds pose for photographs, everyone is heading to the venue that the celebration will take place. Strike is there to offer Robin her job back, but that’s not the only thing that happens that day.
The two partners are back in business and the agency is thriving! About a year after Robin’s wedding, the couple has moved to another house, because the previous one was so full of bad memories and the feeling of not being safe, after the last case that cost Robin her job and a nasty knife scar on her arm. Strike is on a long term relationship, even though he’s not feeling much, but at least that feels normal and comfortable to him. A new temp is at the office and another employee is at the streets helping out on surveillance job.
This is when Billy Knight, a mentally unstable young man comes to Strike’s office to ask him to investigate on a crime he witnessed when he was a boy. He cannot remember much and he is not sure that any of this actually happened, but he claims to have seen someone strangling a child and burying it. Strike is alarmed and he promises Billy that he will look into it. However, he doesn’t have that much time, because on top of his other cases, the Minister of Culture, Jasper Chiswell, hires him to investigate on the blackmail that takes place against the minister. As time goes by and the investigation proceeds, many new evidence comes to life, making visible that the Minister’s blackmail case and Billy’s presumable strangling eye witness are somehow interconnected.
Even though the relationship between the two partners is not the one they used to have two years ago, they are in kind of friendly terms but so much colder. Robin believes that she has to prove herself to Strike every single day, which adds to her anxiety. Matthew’s feelings about her job have not changed and this doesn’t make things any easier for Robin. So when she gets to work undercover on the minister’s working environment, she does her best to gather as much intel as she can for their case. Given that neither her nor Strike are made aware of the object of the blackmail, her job is even more difficult and it is addressed on two fronts. To do the job the minister has hired them for and to find out what this is all about. Only then will they be able to solve the mystery.
And as if this is not enough, on a morning meeting that Robin is sure they are going to get sacked by the Minister, she is the first to arrive at the Minister’s house, only to find him dead. After which point, when thing go pear-shaped, their main concern is to find who killed the Minister on top of their previous investigation. All the work they had done so far is connected and all the have to do is to find the end of the thread that will lead the to the beginning.
The plot is amazing, in case you haven’t noticed from what I’ve already written above! So many different characters get involved and create a story that could make a mess of your head. But if you pay attention to the details, you will be able to connect at least a few dots. This story is so representative of Galbraith’s writing style that creates so many loose threads that are eventually connected in a very specific way. It’s a puzzle for the strong players and it’s one I loved! Now I cannot wait long enough for the new book coming out on September!
Thank you Little, Brown Book for my gifted copy! I enjoyed this one most of all!
