Lethal White by Robert Galbraith (Review by Christiane Bark)
This is the fourth book in Robert Galbraith’s Cormoran Strike series and as a fan of the first three I couldn’t wait to get my hands on the latest instalment. As fellow fans of the series may remember, the third book ended with Robin and Cormoran no longer working together and Cormoran rushing to church to see Robin and Matthew married.
This is where the story picks up. We’ll get thrown right into the wedding party where Robin learns that her brandnew husband has done something unforgivable days before their wedding and Cormoran tries to convince Robin to come back to work with him.
Robin and Strike are reconciled and begin working together again after Robin returns from her honeymoon. Their relationship is somewhat strained and uncomfortable, with their friendship changed, Robin still suffering panic attacks and constantly worrying about whether she’ll be able to keep her job, her unhappy marriage causing her further distress and distraction.
A mentally ill young man claiming to have witnessed the murder of a child many years ago, blackmail and a powerful family with many delicate secrets to protect keep Strike and Robin too busy to examine their personal relationship too closely. Their new case involves a Member of Parliament, so Robin goes undercover in Westminster. We get an insight into English politics, the life of England’s high society and London at the time of the Olympics. And things get really interesting when someone is found dead and Strike begins to realise he may just prefer Robin’s company to that of his girlfriend…
With every piece of information Robin and Cormoran unearth during their investigation, we get one step closer to solving this intricately woven web of mystery. And we’re still rooting for Robin and Strike to finally realise they are meant to be together!
J K Rowling (the author behind the pen name Robert Galbraith) seems to relish the fact that she writes for adults now and doesn’t have to take limited vocabulary into account; she finds the perfect word for each description no matter how unknown it is. That attention to detail results in a beautifully written story well-worth the time you’ll have to invest in reading a 656-page nove