Lethal White

Lethal White by Robert Galbraith, 650 pages


This is the fourth book in the Cormoran Strike series. Strike is a former military police officer who has been building up his detective agency. His less experienced partner in the agency is Robin Ellacott.

The prologue picks up where the last book left off. Strike has come to talk to Robin at her wedding reception and something she finds out leads to a rocky start to her marriage.

Skip forward a year and a man named Billy comes to Strike's office seeking his help. He is obviously suffering from mental illness and says he saw someone killed but he leaves and Strike can't find him. Something about his story has a ring of truth and Strike can't let it go.

Meanwhile, a government Minister hires Strike to try to get some dirt on a couple of people who are blackmailing him so he can get them to back off. They are close to getting the information they need when things take a turn and their investigation must go in a different direction. Throughout, Strike is trying to track Billy down and figure out if the current case is related to what Billy saw.

Parts of Robin's and Strike's personal lives and their work relationship are woven into the plot and that is part of the reason I like this series.

I felt the last two books in the series were getting a little too formulaic so I thought they were good but could have been better. I would say this one departed from the formula somewhat and rate it as very good.

Career of Evil

Career of Evil by Robert Galbraith
497 Pages

"When a mysterious package is delivered to Robin Ellacott, she is horrified to discover that it contains a woman's severed leg. Her boss, private detective Cormoran Strike, is less surprised but no less alarmed. There are four people from his past who he thinks could be responsible--and Strike knows that any one of them is capable of sustained and unspeakable brutality. With the police focusing on the one suspect Strike is increasingly sure is not the perpetrator, he and Robin take matters into their own hands, and delve into the dark and twisted worlds of the other three men. But as more horrendous acts occur, time is running out for the two of them... Career of Evil is the third in the highly acclaimed series featuring private detective Cormoran Strike and his assistant Robin Ellacott. A fiendishly clever mystery with unexpected twists around every corner, it is also a gripping story of a man and a woman at a crossroads in their personal and professional lives."

The series continues to develop the characters of Robin and Cormoran as well as tell a mystery story that is engaging.  I enjoyed the book and look forward to the next one.