Lethal White - Robert Galbraith

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 trickier than that.

Blurb taken from Goodreads 

✼

I'll admit it: as well as being a huge fan of crime fiction, I also love the Harry Potter books. So when I heard that Robert Galbraith was actually a pseudonym for J.K. Rowling, I obviously had to check the books out. The Cuckoo's Calling didn't disappoint, with a lot of drama and a great crime-solving duo. The Silkworm and Career of Evil were even better, and I was so excited to get my hands on Lethal White. 

Rowling continues to meet my high expectations, with just the right balance of time given to the actual mystery, and the relationship between Cormoran Strike and his partner, Robin. You can't help but admire the precision that must have gone into the planning of this book, because there is so much going on, and yet it all ends up very neatly tied together. It does become a little over-complicated in places, but the vibrant characters and gritty storyline carry it off, and it works. 

If you like your crime fiction complex and sharp, and your characters a little rough around the edges, this is definitely one to look out for.

Rating: ✫✫✫✫

*spoiler alert*

Relationships

It had been quite a while since I had finished Career of Evil when I picked this book up, so I was really pleased to see that the story actually picked up immediately after the last instalment had left off. It made it so easy to jump back into Cormoran's world, and his relationship with Robin is one of the biggest parts of this. To dive straight back into her wedding day was to open back up all of the unresolved feelings that hung between the two; it really felt like no time had passed at all.

The prologue continues with the wedding day, but then we jump forward a year, to the present day, to the latest case. And to the awkwardness that hangs between the two. This plot was not only about the crime; it was also about Strike's relationship with Robin and how the two worked their way back together.

It's so frustrating that they finally admit their feelings only to miss each other. Strike thinks Robin doesn't care for him romantically because she still chose to go on her honeymoon with Matthew, not knowing she was going to ask for an annulment. Robin thinks Strike doesn't match her feelings because when she called, he was with another woman, not knowing he had been upset that she had gone ahead with her honeymoon. This is the fourth book in the series, and as a reader, I am fully invested in their relationship, and so my frustration hit the roof when I found out that, a year after the wedding, the pair were merely being civil with each other.

Robin stayed with Matthew out of:

"cowardice disguised as compassion"

When he fell ill abroad, she made the decision to stay with him, and this quote sums up her decision perfectly. Later, when she realises that she took the easy way out, it's heartbreaking. Matthew is just awful, and as a reader, this realisation has been building more and more strongly since The Cuckoo's Calling. Her dignity when she finally left him was in equal parts impressive and satisfying. Go girl.

The reintroduction of Charlotte also adds to the drama. I'm still undecided as to whether or not her reappearance was an unnecessary complication, but I do think she provides a stark contrast to Robin. Her manipulative and cold personality against Robin, who has proved consistently to be caring and warm-hearted. 

As much as I love crime fiction, it's the 'will they, won't they' relationship between these two characters that really captures the heart and attention of the reader in this book; or at least, it did mine. Rowling knows just how to build the suspense so that it is exciting, but not too frustrating. And I really appreciated that nothing happened between them in this book. This was about the cutting of ties between Robin and Matthew, and the realisation on Strike's behalf that he felt more for Robin that he had previously admitted. The rest can come later, naturally. I waited with baited breath for every scene the two were in, because they brought the story to life in a way that wasn't managed by the rest of the plot. 

The Case

Falling almost secondary to the relationship between our two beloved characters is the actual mystery. 

This was a confusing plot to get my head around. We first meet Billy, who is unsettled and volatile. Somehow, from here, a Cabinet Minister is roped in, and Robin ends up going undercover in his office. It becomes very difficult to connect these two, very separate, elements of the plot, and I'm not sure this was ever successfully achieved to the necessary level. I'm also finding it very difficult to write anything meaningful about the case, because it all felt like a little bit of a mess, if I'm truthful. There were too many different components, too many unnecessary complications, and it all became quite a blur. 

Nonetheless, there were lots of aspects to the story that I really did like, and as an overall story it was very enjoyable. Robin's stint as an undercover agent in the Minster's office is a subtle step in the right direction for her career. She's clearly found her feet since her first case with Strike, and it's nice to see the continuous character development, even if it isn't the focus of the story. Her personal struggles throughout the story really stand out, and her anxiety is an interesting added dimension. Watching her overcome these little elements makes her much more relatable, and real.

I also appreciated how things got a lot more sinister, the further through the story we progressed. I particularly loved the scene where they are at Kinvara's late, and Robin realises that there is somebody moving around upstairs. I found it so tense to read how Robin attempted to creep after them. I was on tenterhooks! I was also very shocked and unsettled to learn that Raff was involved! I really didn't expect it, and had spent the whole book liking him more and more! He was so perceptive, noticing that Robin's glasses were fake; I suppose that should have been a sign! I liked him an awful lot, so it gave such a shock factor to find out that he was the culprit.

However, aside from these elements that do stand out, very little else is memorable. The plot as a whole is too complicated to really write about here, and I've struggled to pick out the important bits to review. I take pride in paying close attention to the little details of a book like this, but even for me, a lot of it went over my head. Not a clue. Yet, impressively, I still enjoyed it. How is that possible? There were still enough really great moments for me to feel positive about the book, but it did need to be a little more relaxed. 

Verdict

I have praise and criticism for Rowling's style in equal measure. It's so complex and fussy, and that is great in some ways. I am exactly the kind of person to appreciate that; the little details that all connect together, the multitude of characters that seem to have very little to do with each other until the last moment. But it's just too much. It's impossible to keep track of all the characters, and the plots are a little, dare I say it, laborious. Nonetheless, the twists and turns are intriguing, and the bursts of drama help to keep the plot worth continuing with. It's by no means a bad plot, but it should have been dialled back slightly for the reader to fully appreciate this fictional world.

What really stands out is the relationship between the characters, and this does a lot to make up for the flaws. In many ways, their story becomes the story, with the crimes the agency solves fading into the background. Strike and Robin are animated, and leap off the page, and I think that's the real beauty of Rowling's books. She knows how to create personalities that we come to adore, and that we want to follow. There was very little that happened between Strike and Robin in Lethal White, and yet I still closed the book feeling satisfied with their story. And it takes pretty powerful writing to do that.