Lethal White (Cormoran Strike #4)

After reading another autobiography, I felt I needed to read a suspense police procedural or thriller. Then, lo and behold, I found that a book I had pre-ordered appeared on my Kindle this morning. Launched into it several hours ago and found it to be better than some, but not quite hitting every note quite right for my desires in private eye stories. That, however, is getting ahead of the story.

Please let me first address some key points:

BLUSH FACTOR: It is no big secret that J. K. Rowling writes also as Robert Galbraith. Doing so is a smart move, as it signals that the story is fit more for adults than for kids. And, to be sure, the language and discussions within this epic novel is not the sort recommended for young ears or church prayer groups. There is sexual content but not graphic. Just intimate enough to titillate

The blush factor information is not provided as a complaint, nor as a cause for rating the book four stars instead of five. Rather, because it does so well portray the grittier side of life as I believe it to be for the sorts of characters depicted, I am tempted to raise the rating instead of lower it. Still, I am sure some readers will appreciate the caution.

SOUL: Yes, because Lethal White does get so deeply into the seedier side of life for the types of characters depicted, one could say it has soul.

POV: This story is told to us in third person.

THE WRITING FLOW: The flow though out Lethal White is easy to read. And faster reading than one might expect from a 600-plus page epic. Some reviewers are sure to complain about the length and the tendency to slow down the pace, but do not count me as one of them. I appreciate the pace-changing that kept me turning the pages. Further, the character development is better than I expected, making the story well worth reading.

Excerpt

Strike, who had spent large portions of his childhood living in squalor, found a disregard for hygiene hard to like, except in those people so unhappy or ill that cleanliness became an irrelevance.

Ex-army, arent you? she asked, but Jimmy spoke over her.

How did Billy know how to find you?

Directory inquiries? suggested Strike. I dont live in a bat cave.

Billy doesnt know how to use directory inquiries.

He managed to find my office OK.

Theres no dead kid, Jimmy said abruptly. Its all in his head. He goes on about it when hes having an episode. Didnt you see his tic?

Jimmy imitated, with brutal accuracy, the compulsive nose to chest movement of a twitching hand. Flick laughed.

Yeah, I saw that, said Strike, unsmiling. You dont know where he is, then?

Havent seen him since yesterday morning. What do you want him for?

Like I say, he didnt seem in any fit state to be wandering around on his own.

Very public spirited of you, said Jimmy. Rich and famous detective worrying about our Bill.

Strike said nothing.

Army, Flick repeated, werent you?

I was, said Strike, looking down at her. Hows that relevant?

Just saying. She had flushed a little in her righteous anger. Havent always been this worried about people getting hurt, have you?

Strike, who was familiar with people who shared Flicks views, said nothing. She would probably believe him if he told her he had joined the forces in the hope of bayoneting children.

Jimmy, who also seemed disinclined to hear more of Flicks opinions on the military, said:

Billyll be fine. He crashes at ours sometimes, then goes off. Does it all the time.

Where does he stay when hes not with you?

Friends, said Jimmy, shrugging. I dont know all their names. Then, contradicting himself, Ill ring around tonight, make sure hes OK.

Right you are, said Strike, downing his pint and handing the empty to a tattooed bar worker, who was marching through the forecourt, grabbing glasses from all who had finished with them. Strike took a last drag on his cigarette, dropped it to join the thousands of its brethren on the cracked forecourt, ground it out beneath his prosthetic foot, then

Galbraith, Robert. Lethal White (A Cormoran Strike Novel) (Kindle Locations 1162-1182). Little, Brown and Company. Kindle Edition.

BOTTOM LINE

Tough for me to settle on four stars or five stars. I think if there had been a little humor, even sarcasm, weaved in here and there, this might have touched all the bases for me. Still, I did enjoy the tale.

Four stars out of five.

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Disappointed… the last third of the book was pretty good, more like a 4. But in order to get to that you had to suffer over the whole ‘Matthew is mean’, ‘Matthew is a horrible husband.’ It got So Old. I hate Matthew. I don’t like him as a character, never have. I thought that the first 2/3 of the book focused far too much on the love triangle / rectangle of it all. Also, I thought that the overall plot was… bizarre. I recently watched the Strike TV show (you can get it through iTunes), and while I love the main characters, the plots themselves are so bizarre in general, but this I thought was the Worst of all the plots of the Cormoran Strike books and plots. They only mentioned what a ‘lethal white’ was once. I think it refers to the painting in question. I hope that the next book is far, far better. Less romance, no Matthew, and less ‘my achy leg’. I love the main characters, but this feels like a departure from the earlier books in so many ways. In the end J.K. Rowling says that this book was one of the most complicated and difficult she has ever written… really? This is probably my Least Favorite J.K. Rowling book… ever. All the Harry Potter books I loved – I was never very critical of them, just feasted on them. If this is the most difficult book you’ve ever written, maybe that’s because it wasn’t working? Spoilers – I figured out that the son and the mother-in-law were having an affair at least half way through the book, but the other pieces were basically impossible to guess, although I enjoyed the mystery. Also, I was extremely disappointed that the entire beginning of the story, Billy, ended up basically being pointless. I think a plot where the favorite son who died somehow popped up would’ve been so much better!

This book was a pre-order, set to load on my kindle two days before my birthday. The only complaint I can muster is that I read these books as soon as they are released and then have to wait a year+ for the next one. No spoilers here. I will say that I enjoyed this one just as much as the 1st installment “Cuckoo’s Calling”. None of the books in this series have been a disappointment but I do have my favorites, of course. I wish that I could write a lengthy review but I just finished reading Lethal White and I’m exhausted. I’m hooked on this series and probably more invested in the eventual outcome for Strike and Robin than I should be. Aaannd now I have to wait a year+ for the next installment.

I wanted to like this book–I had read other Cormoran series books and enjoyed those more but I found myself struggling to finish this one. I had a hard time getting engaged in the plot. The initial story about Billy, the mentally ill man who is struggling to grapple with a childhood trauma, his memory of a young girl being killed, is compelling enough but it is quickly overshadowed by the introduction of many characters, most of them quite detestable (which is not necessary a bad thing but none of them drew me in so that I would care what happened to them). The plot was sometimes hard to follow because of the many characters and very tedious plot details. But the biggest problem I have with the book is that I just find Strike to be so unlikeable that it’s hard to root for him–he is cold, withdrawn, rude and too emotionally repressed to show in any real way his feelings for Robin. It just causes things to drag to a point where the reader calls for action–any action–to relieve the tedium.

But I know I’m in a minority judging from the many five star reviews. I just was disappointed with this book especially because of Ms. Rowling’s reputation.

At last, JK Rowling, writing under the name Robert Galbraith gives us a new Cormoran Strike novel. Although a standalone novel as such, if you have read the other books in the series you will have a better understanding with regards to the main characters, Cormoran and Robin.

This opens with the wedding reception of Robin and Matthews wedding and thus we can follow their relationship, and then we are swept into 2012 as the preparations are nearing completion for the London Olympics. As we can see, the relationship between Cormoran and Robin has altered somewhat, and this thus properly gets under way with a person with mental illness presenting himself at the office asking for Strikes help. As a child he claimed he witnessed a murder and wants to know for definite if he really did, or whether it is part of his illness. Suddenly departing from the office Strike is then sought for help by a government minister who is being blackmailed.

Admittedly this book could have been a bit shorter, if the parts of Robin and Matthew and Cormoran Strikes relationships were excluded, but at the end of the day, lots of people want to know if they will ever be a couple. The actual mystery itself is complex and more than enough to engage your brain, with red herrings, manipulation, greed and death on the cards. Well plotted, the parts that are not really of the actual investigation slip in neatly between the inquiries carried out, and there is more than enough realism here with how long it can take to gather evidence, the amount of legwork and so on that goes on, not only with private investigations, but also with the police, as evidence has to be sifted and alibis checked out.

In all then this is another strong book in this series, with lots to keep you interested, and also despite its size is a relatively quick read that will more than satisfy fans. One thing I really liked here is how we see the capture of the killer in the last novel impacts on this, with the agency getting more clients, but also at the same time, with the interest in the press, so Strike has to be extra careful as he has become a much more recognised person. Also I liked the way that mental illness and PTSD were dealt with, as I suffer with depression and PTSD, in a sympathetic way by Robin and Cormoran.

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