Review: LETHAL WHITE, Robert Galbraith

• format: Kindle (Amazon)
• File Size: 1480 KB
• Print Length: 656 pages
• Publisher: Sphere (September 18, 2018)
• Publication Date: September 18, 2018
• Sold by: Hachette Book Group
• Language: English
• ASIN: B07FD8PFJM
• #4 in the Cormoran Strike series

Synopsis (Amazon)

When Billy, a troubled young man, comes to private eye Cormoran Strike's office to ask 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 many concrete details, there is something sincere about him and his story. But before Strike can question him further, Billy bolts from his office in a panic.

Trying to get to 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 Parliament, and to a beautiful but sinister manor house deep in the countryside.

And during this labyrinthine investigation, 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 ever has 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 instalment in the ongoing story of Cormoran Strike and Robin Ellacott.

My Take

Cormoran Strike is approached by a Cabinet Minister who says he is being blackmailed, whose wife says there are trespassers in the woods on their property. And then Billy turns up saying he has witnessed a murder. Coincidentally Billy's father used to work for the Cabinet Minister.

The Cabinet Minister believes that the blackmail threat is coming from another Cabinet Minister's office so Robin, Strike's colleague, is installed in the Parliamentary office undercover.

That is just the beginning of the first theme of the story. The book is quite large, with complex intertwining themes, a large number of characters and incidents to keep track of.

But it was so well written that it just kept me reading. There is considerable development in the personal background for both Strike and Robin. The action takes place over a period of over a year.

I look forward to the next in the series.

My rating: 4.7

I've also read
5.0, THE CUCKOO'S CALLING #1 
4.5, THE SILKWORM  #2
4.6, A CAREER OF EVIL  #3