‘I seen a kid killed . . . He strangled it, up by the horse.’

When Billy, a troubled young man, comes to private eye Cormoran Strike’s office for his help investigating a crime he thinks he witnessed as a child, Strike is left deeply unsettled. While Billy is obviously mentally distressed, and cannot remember concrete detrails, there is something sincere about him and his story. But before Strike cam question further, Billy bolts in panic.

Trying to get tot the bottom of Billy’s story, Strike and Robin Ellacott – once his assistant, now a partner in the agency – set off on a twisting trail that leads them through the backstreets of London, into a secretive inner sanctum within Parliment, and to a beautiful but sinister manor house deep in the countryside.

And during this labyrinthine investrigation, Strike’s own life is far from straightforward: his newfound fame as a private eye means he can no longer operate behind the scenes as he once did. Plus, his relationship with his former assistant is more fraught than it has ever been – Robin is now invaluable to Strike in the business, but their personal relationship is much, much more tricky than that . . .

The most epic Robert Galbraith novel yet, Lethal White is both a gripping mystery and a page-turning next installment in the ongoing story of Cormoran Strike and Robin Ellacott.

Series: Cormoran Strike 4
Genre: Crime, Detective Novel, Mystery
Publisher: Sphere (18th September 2018)
Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (4 stars

Lethal White is the fourth book in Robert Galbraith’s brilliant Cormoran Strike Novel series.  It continues on from the ending of Career of Evil, as if no time has passed between books, before there is a time jump. Business is going well for Cormoran and Robin, and their agency has a lot of work. A troubled young man called Billy turns up at their office wanting to talk to Strike, he wants them to investigate a crime he thinks he witnessed as a child. The encounter unsettled Strike, and then Billy goes missing leaving them with a lot of unanswered questions. Trying to unravel the mystery, Strike and Robin end up taking a job that brings them to Parliament.

I really enjoyed the first three books in this series. They always keep me guessing, and I love the way that ‘real life’ is mixed in with the mystery of whatever case Strike and Robin are on. I have to confess I didn’t know that there was going to be a fourth book in this series until I saw it on the shelves in my local bookstore. I might be a few months late, in terms of the publication date at least, but I didn’t know a lot going into this book other than the blurb which, I think, worked in my favour.

Lethal White was everything I was expecting from a novel in the Cormoran Strike Novel series. The balance between the main case of the novel and Strike’s and Robin’s private lives was brilliantly maintained; neither section took away from the other. It is a huge tome and there is a lot going on and a lot of momentum to the story, which is great in my opinion. Billy’s story is compelling, and it kept me guessing – long time readers of the blog will know that I’m not great at guessing who did it, and this book is not an exception to that.

I did find Lethal White a little slow going, especially at the beginning. I don’t think that was the novels fault per se, I just ended up mega frustrated with one of the characters and the (unfortunately believable) choice they made. This unfortunately impacted on my reading, and this book was a case of a little at time for me until about the middle of the book I think. That being said, I did enjoy the book and how tangled the plot is. Fans of the series will definitely enjoy this addition to the series.