Lethal White is the fourth book in the Cormoran Strike series, and it’s the one I liked best besides the first. This series has, on the whole, been a bit of a letdown for me. I really liked Cuckoo’s Calling and got excited about the possibility of a new series to enjoy, but then The Silkworm and Career of Evil were both so gross that I really didn’t enjoy them much at all. I still wanted to give this one a try because I like the main characters so well, and I’m glad I did. Lethal White was scary and suspenseful, but didn’t make me feel sick to my stomach the way Career of Evil did.
The book starts at Robin Ellacott’s wedding to her longtime boyfriend, Matthew, before jumping forward in time a year. The central mystery surrounds a disturbed young man named Billy who walks into Cormoran Strike’s office one day and asks him to solve a murder that Billy witnessed years ago as a child, and which he’s always been told didn’t actually happen. This leads to a fairly convoluted plot involving a couple high-ranking government ministers, some dysfunctional rich people, horses, and a suicide-that-may-be-a-murder.
This series has tons of great characters. I really like both Cormoran and Robin, and many of the secondary characters are a lot of fun as well. I despise that little pustule Matthew, but I take great pleasure out of reading about how awful he is. I think if Lethal White had been as yucky and twisted as Career of Evil I probably would have had to call it quits with this series for my own mental health, but since it was a straightforward and enjoyable mystery with a minimum of gore, I’m back to looking forward to book five in the series.
I am delighted to hear that this is light on the gore. I was just recommending the series to someone but had to qualify it with, “…but ok, that last one was prrrrretty gross, so just be prepared for that.” I am going to start this one soon!
It was a huge relief for me. If it had been as gross as the last one I probably would have had to quit this series, and I would hate to do that as I love the characters so much!