And we haven’t even got to the murder yet. Strike quickly pegs Geraint Winn, husband of Minister for Sport Della Winn, as Jimmy’s likely partner, and sends Robin undercover to maintain surveillance on Winn. Billy is the brother of Jimmy Knight, who coincidentally is one of the people blackmailing the Minister for Culture, Jasper Chiswell - and Strike’s new client. Flash forward a year later - yep, those conflicted feelings remain! - and a mentally ill man named Billy shows up with a barely-coherent story about having witnessed something diabolical when he was a child. The prologue treads over familiar territory, which Galbraith continues to mine: Strike and Robin internally monologuing about their conflicted feelings toward each other, and their mutual determination to maintain the status quo for the sake of their business. Lethal White begins right where Career of Evil left us: Strike arriving late to Robin’s wedding, just after she says “I do” to Matthew, the fiancé everybody loves to hate - and for good reason. Rowling-writing under her Robert Galbraith pseudonym-overburdens her fourth Strike / Ellacott novel with too much focus on the (still) unresolved sexual tension between the pair of private detectives and their flailing relationships outside the office, which detracts from their labyrinthine investigation into the blackmailing of a high-ranking government official - that (eventually) turns into something far deadlier. There’s nothing wrong with a slow-burn mystery, but there are times when Lethal White barely sizzles.įorsaking any sense of urgency, J.K.
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