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Cormoran Strike #4
Witte dood
Goodreads Choice Award
Nominee for Readers' Favorite Mystery & Thriller (2018)Billy, een labiele jongen, denkt als kind een moord gezien te hebben. Hoewel hij zich geen concrete details kan herinneren, gaat hij toch met zijn verhaal naar privédetective Cormoran Strike. Die neemt hem direct serieus, maar voor hij verder kan vragen, ontvlucht Billy in paniek zijn kantoor.
Strike en Robin Ellacott – ooit zijn assistente, nu zijn partner bij het detectivebureau – proberen Billy’s verhaal tot op de bodem uit te zoeken. Het onderzoek leidt hen via de achterstraatjes van Londen naar de Houses of Parliament, en naar een fraai maar onheilspellend landhuis, ver weg op het platteland. Maar hun onderzoek verloopt verre van soepel: Strikes bekendheid als privédetective maakt het moeilijk om onopvallend te blijven werken, en zijn relatie met Robin staat onder hoogspanning.
Witte dood is zowel een fascinerend, op zichzelf staand mysterie, als het razendspannende volgende deel in het verhaal van Cormoran Strike en Robin Ellacott.
736 pages, ebook
First published September 18, 2018
14077 people are currently reading
80998 people want to read
About the author
Robert Galbraith
31 books32.7k followersThis is a pseudonym for J.K. Rowling, the author of the Harry Potter series and The Casual Vacancy, a novel for adults.
NOTE: There is more than one author with this name on Goodreads.
Rowling was born to Anne Rowling (née Volant) and Peter James Rowling, a Rolls-Royce aircraft engineer, on 31 July 1965 in Yate, Gloucestershire, England, 10 miles (16 km) northeast of Bristol. Her mother Anne was half-French and half-Scottish. Her parents first met on a train departing from King's Cross Station bound for Arbroath in 1964. They married on 14 March 1965. Her mother's maternal grandfather, Dugald Campbell, was born in Lamlash on the Isle of Arran. Her mother's paternal grandfather, Louis Volant, was awarded the Croix de Guerre for exceptional bravery in defending the village of Courcelles-le-Comte during the First World War.
Rowling's sister Dianne was born at their home when Rowling was 23 months old. The family moved to the nearby village Winterbourne when Rowling was four. She attended St Michael's Primary School, a school founded by abolitionist William Wilberforce and education reformer Hannah More. Her headmaster at St Michael's, Alfred Dunn, has been suggested as the inspiration for the Harry Potter headmaster Albus Dumbledore.
As a child, Rowling often wrote fantasy stories, which she would usually then read to her sister. She recalls that: "I can still remember me telling her a story in which she fell down a rabbit hole and was fed strawberries by the rabbit family inside it. Certainly the first story I ever wrote down (when I was five or six) was about a rabbit called Rabbit. He got the measles and was visited by his friends, including a giant bee called Miss Bee." At the age of nine, Rowling moved to Church Cottage in the Gloucestershire village of Tutshill, close to Chepstow, Wales. When she was a young teenager, her great aunt, who Rowling said "taught classics and approved of a thirst for knowledge, even of a questionable kind," gave her a very old copy of Jessica Mitford's autobiography, Hons and Rebels. Mitford became Rowling's heroine, and Rowling subsequently read all of her books.
Rowling has said of her teenage years, in an interview with The New Yorker, "I wasn’t particularly happy. I think it’s a dreadful time of life." She had a difficult homelife; her mother was ill and she had a difficult relationship with her father (she is no longer on speaking terms with him). She attended secondary school at Wyedean School and College, where her mother had worked as a technician in the science department. Rowling said of her adolescence, "Hermione [a bookish, know-it-all Harry Potter character] is loosely based on me. She's a caricature of me when I was eleven, which I'm not particularly proud of." Steve Eddy, who taught Rowling English when she first arrived, remembers her as "not exceptional" but "one of a group of girls who were bright, and quite good at English." Sean Harris, her best friend in the Upper Sixth owned a turquoise Ford Anglia, which she says inspired the one in her books.
NOTE: There is more than one author with this name on Goodreads.
Rowling was born to Anne Rowling (née Volant) and Peter James Rowling, a Rolls-Royce aircraft engineer, on 31 July 1965 in Yate, Gloucestershire, England, 10 miles (16 km) northeast of Bristol. Her mother Anne was half-French and half-Scottish. Her parents first met on a train departing from King's Cross Station bound for Arbroath in 1964. They married on 14 March 1965. Her mother's maternal grandfather, Dugald Campbell, was born in Lamlash on the Isle of Arran. Her mother's paternal grandfather, Louis Volant, was awarded the Croix de Guerre for exceptional bravery in defending the village of Courcelles-le-Comte during the First World War.
Rowling's sister Dianne was born at their home when Rowling was 23 months old. The family moved to the nearby village Winterbourne when Rowling was four. She attended St Michael's Primary School, a school founded by abolitionist William Wilberforce and education reformer Hannah More. Her headmaster at St Michael's, Alfred Dunn, has been suggested as the inspiration for the Harry Potter headmaster Albus Dumbledore.
As a child, Rowling often wrote fantasy stories, which she would usually then read to her sister. She recalls that: "I can still remember me telling her a story in which she fell down a rabbit hole and was fed strawberries by the rabbit family inside it. Certainly the first story I ever wrote down (when I was five or six) was about a rabbit called Rabbit. He got the measles and was visited by his friends, including a giant bee called Miss Bee." At the age of nine, Rowling moved to Church Cottage in the Gloucestershire village of Tutshill, close to Chepstow, Wales. When she was a young teenager, her great aunt, who Rowling said "taught classics and approved of a thirst for knowledge, even of a questionable kind," gave her a very old copy of Jessica Mitford's autobiography, Hons and Rebels. Mitford became Rowling's heroine, and Rowling subsequently read all of her books.
Rowling has said of her teenage years, in an interview with The New Yorker, "I wasn’t particularly happy. I think it’s a dreadful time of life." She had a difficult homelife; her mother was ill and she had a difficult relationship with her father (she is no longer on speaking terms with him). She attended secondary school at Wyedean School and College, where her mother had worked as a technician in the science department. Rowling said of her adolescence, "Hermione [a bookish, know-it-all Harry Potter character] is loosely based on me. She's a caricature of me when I was eleven, which I'm not particularly proud of." Steve Eddy, who taught Rowling English when she first arrived, remembers her as "not exceptional" but "one of a group of girls who were bright, and quite good at English." Sean Harris, her best friend in the Upper Sixth owned a turquoise Ford Anglia, which she says inspired the one in her books.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 13,701 reviews
December 18, 2023
(A-) 81% | Very Good
Notes: Wherein women cling devoted to manipulative men, and hugs, tea, missives, and accidental kisses stir illicit intrigue.
*Check out progress updates for detailed commentary:
Notes: Wherein women cling devoted to manipulative men, and hugs, tea, missives, and accidental kisses stir illicit intrigue.
*Check out progress updates for detailed commentary:
dnf
October 30, 2018K, I'm going to put this down. I read 25%, so I'm going to refrain from giving it a rating, as it's not fair. I didn't read enough. And maybe I'll pick it up again some day, but as of right now, I'm having a hard time stomaching it for its... politics.
It's a true reflection of Rowling's staunchly center-left politics, as she takes sharp digs at far leftists as well as the conservatives. That's fine. What bothered me was the incredible lack of nuance in the Israel-Palestine conversation Rowling seemed to be wanting to have. For a topic so sensitive and so relevant, Rowling took a clear side and seemed to be taking digs at anyone who is critical of Israel's position. And for someone like me who has an opinion on the issue, who does take this conflict rather seriously and personally, I simply don't feel like continuing.
The writing was as good as ever. The characters were still the same characters I grew so attached to, and I would love to read this book another time just to find out what happens with Robin and Cormoran, but... maybe another time.
I'd just like to say that for whatever reason, my review does show up near the top of the page, and I know it's visible and people will disagree with me. But please refrain from attacks in the comments. :)
It's a true reflection of Rowling's staunchly center-left politics, as she takes sharp digs at far leftists as well as the conservatives. That's fine. What bothered me was the incredible lack of nuance in the Israel-Palestine conversation Rowling seemed to be wanting to have. For a topic so sensitive and so relevant, Rowling took a clear side and seemed to be taking digs at anyone who is critical of Israel's position. And for someone like me who has an opinion on the issue, who does take this conflict rather seriously and personally, I simply don't feel like continuing.
The writing was as good as ever. The characters were still the same characters I grew so attached to, and I would love to read this book another time just to find out what happens with Robin and Cormoran, but... maybe another time.
I'd just like to say that for whatever reason, my review does show up near the top of the page, and I know it's visible and people will disagree with me. But please refrain from attacks in the comments. :)
September 24, 2018
Lethal White, the 4th volume in Cormoran Strike series, kept me at the edge of the seat/bed during the past 4 days. I think it is the best so far although some parts could have been trimmed by the editor. It starts to resemble the Harry Potter series, with each book longer and longer. If this one has 650 pages I hope the next will not have 800 or more. Rowling talent as a storyteller in so I was never bored but still, the plot could have been a bit more intense with a bit less filler.
The novel starts with the ending of A Career of Evil, namely the wedding between the Asshole and Robin. J.K. Rawling managed to create one of the most irritating characters I’ve ever read that it is hard for me to believe it can be found in real life. Anyways, after the drama at the wedding the plot moves one year forward when Cormoran’s services are sought by a young, psychotic boy who wants to hire the detective to uncover a hanging he thought he witnessed when he was very young. Although the boy was mentally ill, Cormoran’s instinct tells him that the story is not wholly invented and from the little he got from the youngster’s chaotic mind he manages to identify his brother, a dedicated socialist and activist. From here the plot gets more an more complicated, involving politics, blackmail, upper class dynamics and murder.
The plot is very complex, there are many threads in the plot that do not seem to be connected until the end, as it is written in the blurb it is very ambitious in scope. Off course, JKR added to this mix the personal lives of Cormoran and Robin who are even more tumultuous then in the previous books.
I love this series and the author so I can’t wait to read the next one. However, I hope it will be a bit shorter and more intense.
The novel starts with the ending of A Career of Evil, namely the wedding between the Asshole and Robin. J.K. Rawling managed to create one of the most irritating characters I’ve ever read that it is hard for me to believe it can be found in real life. Anyways, after the drama at the wedding the plot moves one year forward when Cormoran’s services are sought by a young, psychotic boy who wants to hire the detective to uncover a hanging he thought he witnessed when he was very young. Although the boy was mentally ill, Cormoran’s instinct tells him that the story is not wholly invented and from the little he got from the youngster’s chaotic mind he manages to identify his brother, a dedicated socialist and activist. From here the plot gets more an more complicated, involving politics, blackmail, upper class dynamics and murder.
The plot is very complex, there are many threads in the plot that do not seem to be connected until the end, as it is written in the blurb it is very ambitious in scope. Off course, JKR added to this mix the personal lives of Cormoran and Robin who are even more tumultuous then in the previous books.
I love this series and the author so I can’t wait to read the next one. However, I hope it will be a bit shorter and more intense.
September 22, 2018
650 PAGES IS TOO MANY PAGES FOR A MYSTERY NOVEL.
That being said, JKR puts together a damn good mystery and I loved all of the actual mystery parts of this story. She is the *best* at creating great and interesting and fun characters. (More Barclay in the next book, kthnx)
However, I think that JKR is pretty terrible at writing romance (don't @ me) and I very, very, very much do not love the whole Robin/Strike pairing and everything surrounding those parts of the story or anything dealing with Robin and Strike's separate relationships. They are a great partnership and the scenes with them solving crimes together are always fantastic, but I do not enjoy the romantic aspect that is super amped up in this one. (Although I know plenty of other people love them as a pairing so you'll probably enjoy those parts of the story)
TL;DR - Great mystery, but I will scream if the next book in this series is this long.
That being said, JKR puts together a damn good mystery and I loved all of the actual mystery parts of this story. She is the *best* at creating great and interesting and fun characters. (More Barclay in the next book, kthnx)
However, I think that JKR is pretty terrible at writing romance (don't @ me) and I very, very, very much do not love the whole Robin/Strike pairing and everything surrounding those parts of the story or anything dealing with Robin and Strike's separate relationships. They are a great partnership and the scenes with them solving crimes together are always fantastic, but I do not enjoy the romantic aspect that is super amped up in this one. (Although I know plenty of other people love them as a pairing so you'll probably enjoy those parts of the story)
TL;DR - Great mystery, but I will scream if the next book in this series is this long.
December 5, 2018
Roses r Red, Violets r Blue, the Cover's Green just to suite you.💚💚
Strike & Robin are back for their biggest case so far..
..case full of Red Herrings & White Horses.
Plus, more unexpected twists into the personal life of Strike & Robin..
Certainly I'll miss picturing Hugh & Emma as I used to since my first read, Oct.2013.
Lethal White is 2 Parts book, 2 Cases.. not totally separate but essentially different kind of investigations needed for each..
The story truly sprawling this time... the cases are very complicated with many things need to accomplished.. Thrilling, compelling , and with touch of romantic.
The Characters facing much harder times, both in their personal lives...and the professional ones due to the high political rank of the client this time.
The Places are even more important and unexpected to be in...
Starting right at the 'cliffhanger' the previous book left us at, with Robin wedding 'n all.
About 30 pages at the wedding that made my smile wide, heart warming, thrilled and tensed and happy all in the same time.
It was the conclusion that needed badly right after you finish book three, like..3 years ago!
Welcome back to 12 Bar Street
(More on that later…)
The Agency is getting much bigger now, more employees, new temp (unfortunately disappeared later), and more cases..
A mentally troubled young man, Billy ,arrive, reporting infanticide he witnessed years ago...and fleet paranoid they may arrest him.
Only curiosity, and few free hours, made Strike check the boy's older brother. Jimmy The revolutionary lefty, who make meetings to prepare marches against the imperialists Olympics that set in London at the time, June 2012..
And somehow that lead to a call from a new client...the most important one so far to Strike… A Minister..
Chiswell, The Minister for Culture…
His case is ; just digging dirt on 2 blackmailers threatening the Minister..one of them, the Minister for Sports’ husband...the other is Jimmy Knight...the mentally troubled kid’s brother.
What are they blackmailing him for is not Strike businesses, his client insists on just digging dirt on them..
What's more, Billy’s story concluded with the murdered child is buried in Chiswell’s horses farm borders.
And half way through, with risky undercover detective work, stressful personal life, and not much dirt to satisfy the client, or even us, the readers…
Then a huge turn of events happens, AND a gruesome murder...
and we move to ;
Not much a change to the characters, just different client of the same family… for a harder more serious case.. A Murder Case.
And it's faster now, still dense and tangled, but more thrilling and as classic crime novels as it gets …
Yeah, it's the biggest story for Strike & Robin so far, yet it's the most challenging one, I fast re-checked some parts after the twists, and oh man how it all fit...how every minor insignificant question served as a Red Herring has been answered..
Enough with the story, I won't try to spoil it for you. And let's catalogue the review this time as Mr. Strike does for his cases reviews
12 Bar St.
This vivid way ofRowling's Galbraith's writings makes Denmark Street as a place I've been living every single time I read this series since 2013...the background sounds, the music shops, the customers trying their potential buyings... God, I've missed this place since last book..
In this 4th book, there's a dreadful threatening that it may NOT be the place for Strike agency for long (which is really sad news).
It reminded me with the dreadful anticipation 5 years ago about will Robin stay for another book or not…
But the sad thing is, It's a real life actual address and building , and as today, 2018 it's already vacant building...
But this book is set in 2012 , London…. Rings a bill?
London 2012
It's the Olympiad year, held in London..
Lucky people those who have Rowling as their national author… she capture and preserve the atmosphere back then perfectly between the pages of the novel..
The English society complaining the difficulty of getting desired tickets… dreading unfortunate thing turning the coming opening ceremony lame.
But what's more relevant to the plot, is the protesters, against the Olympics as a face of Imperialism..that's because one of the Blackmailers are revolutionary lefty attacking The conservative party, the tory...like Strike’s client, The Minister
Too much politics? Well, there's more
The Palace of Westminster
The second blackmailer is working at the parliament, he's the Minister for Sport's husband..
Well, it required a risky job of going undercover in this extremely important place...which you will feel really getting inside every place there by the author ability of transporting you by her words as if you see the whole place from through professor Dumbledor office's Pensive…
It's really inside look there... also,
The Lancaster House
The big Paralympic reception ceremony at the Lancaster House witnessed a huge unexpected meeting for Strike..a personal life turn of event , as elegant as this house was really long waited since early book one..
It had also a significant impact at the plot, cause the day after the ceremony is where part one ends...and the second started..
The Horse of Uffington
When Billy came to pull the trigger of Strike’s curiosity, that led to 2 different cases, though both almost unrelated, it kept returning to this horse, the white horse of Uffington , it appears that's where the murder Billy claimed happened , which is also near Chiswell’s Horse farm..
Like many strange ancient sites, It had a myth related to dark magic...alas, mentioned but not used here though.
But still it's one of the many Horses that surround the characters..
Cormoran Srike
Despite his cute unacknowledged of various different names the high class distinguishing the horses according to the colours, I almost hated him here..
His relationship with a new girlfriend was so bad, so typical bastard ... I really hate what he did, all that cause of a harmless word of Love. He didn't even give her a better closure...
Well, we can relate that to his complicated feelings toward his newly wedded partner, Robin..
Mohammed Arabey
19 September 2018
For more on the amazing chemistry duos... the pre-reviews 2 years ago in the spoiler below..
Strike & Robin are back for their biggest case so far..
..case full of Red Herrings & White Horses.
A blackmailed Minister, Riot in the Olympics, Mysterious Murder..Goblet of Fire, 's that you?!LETHAL WHITE
Plus, more unexpected twists into the personal life of Strike & Robin..
Certainly I'll miss picturing Hugh & Emma as I used to since my first read, Oct.2013.
Lethal White is 2 Parts book, 2 Cases.. not totally separate but essentially different kind of investigations needed for each..
The story truly sprawling this time... the cases are very complicated with many things need to accomplished.. Thrilling, compelling , and with touch of romantic.
The Characters facing much harder times, both in their personal lives...and the professional ones due to the high political rank of the client this time.
The Places are even more important and unexpected to be in...
------------- The Story -------------
☆☆☆ How did it Start ☆☆☆
Starting right at the 'cliffhanger' the previous book left us at, with Robin wedding 'n all.
About 30 pages at the wedding that made my smile wide, heart warming, thrilled and tensed and happy all in the same time.
It was the conclusion that needed badly right after you finish book three, like..3 years ago!
But then,
☆☆☆ One Year Later ☆☆☆
First Case
Welcome back to 12 Bar Street
(More on that later…)
The Agency is getting much bigger now, more employees, new temp (unfortunately disappeared later), and more cases..
A mentally troubled young man, Billy ,arrive, reporting infanticide he witnessed years ago...and fleet paranoid they may arrest him.
Only curiosity, and few free hours, made Strike check the boy's older brother. Jimmy The revolutionary lefty, who make meetings to prepare marches against the imperialists Olympics that set in London at the time, June 2012..
And somehow that lead to a call from a new client...the most important one so far to Strike… A Minister..
Chiswell, The Minister for Culture…
His case is ; just digging dirt on 2 blackmailers threatening the Minister..one of them, the Minister for Sports’ husband...the other is Jimmy Knight...the mentally troubled kid’s brother.
What are they blackmailing him for is not Strike businesses, his client insists on just digging dirt on them..
What's more, Billy’s story concluded with the murdered child is buried in Chiswell’s horses farm borders.
And half way through, with risky undercover detective work, stressful personal life, and not much dirt to satisfy the client, or even us, the readers…
Then a huge turn of events happens, AND a gruesome murder...
and we move to ;
☆☆☆ Three Days Later ☆☆☆
Second Case
Not much a change to the characters, just different client of the same family… for a harder more serious case.. A Murder Case.
And it's faster now, still dense and tangled, but more thrilling and as classic crime novels as it gets …
Yeah, it's the biggest story for Strike & Robin so far, yet it's the most challenging one, I fast re-checked some parts after the twists, and oh man how it all fit...how every minor insignificant question served as a Red Herring has been answered..
Enough with the story, I won't try to spoil it for you. And let's catalogue the review this time as Mr. Strike does for his cases reviews
☆☆☆ The Places ☆☆☆
12 Bar St.
This vivid way of
In this 4th book, there's a dreadful threatening that it may NOT be the place for Strike agency for long (which is really sad news).
It reminded me with the dreadful anticipation 5 years ago about will Robin stay for another book or not…
But the sad thing is, It's a real life actual address and building , and as today, 2018 it's already vacant building...
But this book is set in 2012 , London…. Rings a bill?
London 2012
It's the Olympiad year, held in London..
Lucky people those who have Rowling as their national author… she capture and preserve the atmosphere back then perfectly between the pages of the novel..
The English society complaining the difficulty of getting desired tickets… dreading unfortunate thing turning the coming opening ceremony lame.
But what's more relevant to the plot, is the protesters, against the Olympics as a face of Imperialism..that's because one of the Blackmailers are revolutionary lefty attacking The conservative party, the tory...like Strike’s client, The Minister
Too much politics? Well, there's more
The Palace of Westminster
The second blackmailer is working at the parliament, he's the Minister for Sport's husband..
Well, it required a risky job of going undercover in this extremely important place...which you will feel really getting inside every place there by the author ability of transporting you by her words as if you see the whole place from through professor Dumbledor office's Pensive…
It's really inside look there... also,
The Lancaster House
The big Paralympic reception ceremony at the Lancaster House witnessed a huge unexpected meeting for Strike..a personal life turn of event , as elegant as this house was really long waited since early book one..
It had also a significant impact at the plot, cause the day after the ceremony is where part one ends...and the second started..
The Horse of Uffington
When Billy came to pull the trigger of Strike’s curiosity, that led to 2 different cases, though both almost unrelated, it kept returning to this horse, the white horse of Uffington , it appears that's where the murder Billy claimed happened , which is also near Chiswell’s Horse farm..
Like many strange ancient sites, It had a myth related to dark magic...alas, mentioned but not used here though.
But still it's one of the many Horses that surround the characters..
☆☆☆ The Characters ☆☆☆
Cormoran Srike
Despite his cute unacknowledged of various different names the high class distinguishing the horses according to the colours, I almost hated him here..
His relationship with a new girlfriend was so bad, so typical bastard ... I really hate what he did, all that cause of a harmless word of Love. He didn't even give her a better closure...
Well, we can relate that to his complicated feelings toward his newly wedded partner, Robin..
Mohammed Arabey
19 September 2018
For more on the amazing chemistry duos... the pre-reviews 2 years ago in the spoiler below..
October 14, 2018
A little too long and overly complicated mystery BUT still well worth the read!
Lethal White picks up shortly after where Career of Evil ends at Robin and Matthew's wedding. Then the plot fast-forwards to a year later when London is preparing to host the Olympics. Strike is now famous and business is flourishing. Robin, on the other hand, is suffering from PTSD and is living in a state of misery.
Two cases are at the forefront, while some side cases also get some attention. There is a lot going on, with many characters to keep track of. While the mysteries eventually come together, at times I was lost when trying to keep up. Characters from previous installments also pop up, including revolting Charlotte and idiotic Matthew. I also found the plot to be drawn out and the pacing, at times, to be rather slow. However, things do pick up in the second half.
I read this series because I love Strike and Robin’s characters, as well as their chemistry. They are both multidimensional and believable. It feels like there was finally some forward movement with their relationship, but it remains to be seen how things will progress.
While there are some flaws, all in all, I was so happy to read this and I CANNOT wait for the next book in the series!
Lethal White picks up shortly after where Career of Evil ends at Robin and Matthew's wedding. Then the plot fast-forwards to a year later when London is preparing to host the Olympics. Strike is now famous and business is flourishing. Robin, on the other hand, is suffering from PTSD and is living in a state of misery.
Two cases are at the forefront, while some side cases also get some attention. There is a lot going on, with many characters to keep track of. While the mysteries eventually come together, at times I was lost when trying to keep up. Characters from previous installments also pop up, including revolting Charlotte and idiotic Matthew. I also found the plot to be drawn out and the pacing, at times, to be rather slow. However, things do pick up in the second half.
I read this series because I love Strike and Robin’s characters, as well as their chemistry. They are both multidimensional and believable. It feels like there was finally some forward movement with their relationship, but it remains to be seen how things will progress.
While there are some flaws, all in all, I was so happy to read this and I CANNOT wait for the next book in the series!
July 21, 2020
This book really irritated me. The mysteries, involving blackmail and a possibly strangled child, are not very compelling until the last quarter of the book. There's an info dump in the last two chapters that sums everything up. However, my major problem is that the book is mostly filler, not mystery. That might be ok if I were really invested in the Strike/Robin relationship (or non-relationship), but I'm not. That whole will they or won't they thing is tiresome. Robin is just a complete idiot in a soap opera marriage. Strike is such a cad that it is amazing he keeps attracting women. I'm tired of these people, and their romantic drama is way too much of the book. I also no longer want to hear about the pain in Strike's stump. The Ibsen quotes that start each chapter are meaningless. I know that no one has the guts to edit Rowling, but 650 pages for a mystery is ridiculous. I skimmed heavily. Hopefully when this book is dramatized for the TV series it will be leaner and more interesting.
November 2, 2018
JK Rowling gives us her trademark intricate, tightly plotted, and complex crime fiction in this, the fourth of her engrossing Cormoran Strike series, set amidst the heady and euphoric background of the surprisingly successful 2012 London Olympics. It begins where Career of Evil left off, at Robin Ellacott's disastrous wedding to the sullen and resentful Matthew, with Robin over the moon at being reinstated at Strike's detective agency as partner. Strike is finding his fame is reducing his opportunities to work out in the field, and is forced into a more administrative and organising role as the agency becomes inundated with work. He brings in other operators with mixed results when a young manic and mentally disturbed young man, Billy, seeks him out to tell of a child murder of long ago in Oxfordshire. Billy is vague about details, and though very young himself, he had been drugged, and uncertain as to the veracity of the memories that have eaten away at his sanity through the years. Strike's interest is aroused, specifically with the detail of the pink blanket that lends an authenticity to the tale, but Billy becomes alarmed and runs away.
The narrative has a running motif of horses, Lethal White Syndrome is where a mare gives birth to a pure white foal that appears to be healthy, but is fatally afflicted with a defective bowel, impeding its ability to pass faeces, doomed to not survive. Strike gains a financially lucrative case that oddly enough has connections to Billy where a prominent politician is being blackmailed and needs to find dirt on the perpetrators. In a story set amidst the intrigue and political machinations within the Houses of Westminister, the close knit circles of the privileged classes and far left politics, Strike and Robin find themselves short on leads. They are on the scene of an apparent suicide, have emotionally fraught personal lives, and visit a dilapidated run down Manor House in Oxfordshire, home to the Chiswell family and their secrets. There are a host of suspects that the detectives have to sift through as they endeavour to connect means and motive in their search for the truth, unaware of just how much danger they are in.
This is a long read and I know this will make many readers unhappy, but for me I liked the length as I was thoroughly absorbed by this novel. A particular highlight is the depth of the wide range of diverse characters, and the state of marriage and relationships. Through the years, I have seen at close hand amidst my circles of family and friends, various permutations of the relationships outlined in Lethal White. Della Wynn, the blind Sports Minister makes the insightful observation "I think marriage is nearly always an unfathomable entity, even to the people inside". We see the soul destroying misery of Robin's marriage, Lorelei faced with an emotionally unavailable Cormoran who sees her little more than a convenience, the dysfunctional and destructive Charlotte Ross's marriage to Jago Ross, Jasper's problematic marriages and affairs, Flick and Jimmy's turbulent relationship, and Della forced to confront the reality of Geraint's behaviour. In personal relationships, emotions and the desire to avoid conflict can make it difficult to draw the necessary red lines, Rowling does a sterling job in exploring the nature of relationships in this book. This is hugely entertaining and intelligent crime fiction, and I look forward to reading the next in the series with eager anticipation. Highly recommended!
The narrative has a running motif of horses, Lethal White Syndrome is where a mare gives birth to a pure white foal that appears to be healthy, but is fatally afflicted with a defective bowel, impeding its ability to pass faeces, doomed to not survive. Strike gains a financially lucrative case that oddly enough has connections to Billy where a prominent politician is being blackmailed and needs to find dirt on the perpetrators. In a story set amidst the intrigue and political machinations within the Houses of Westminister, the close knit circles of the privileged classes and far left politics, Strike and Robin find themselves short on leads. They are on the scene of an apparent suicide, have emotionally fraught personal lives, and visit a dilapidated run down Manor House in Oxfordshire, home to the Chiswell family and their secrets. There are a host of suspects that the detectives have to sift through as they endeavour to connect means and motive in their search for the truth, unaware of just how much danger they are in.
This is a long read and I know this will make many readers unhappy, but for me I liked the length as I was thoroughly absorbed by this novel. A particular highlight is the depth of the wide range of diverse characters, and the state of marriage and relationships. Through the years, I have seen at close hand amidst my circles of family and friends, various permutations of the relationships outlined in Lethal White. Della Wynn, the blind Sports Minister makes the insightful observation "I think marriage is nearly always an unfathomable entity, even to the people inside". We see the soul destroying misery of Robin's marriage, Lorelei faced with an emotionally unavailable Cormoran who sees her little more than a convenience, the dysfunctional and destructive Charlotte Ross's marriage to Jago Ross, Jasper's problematic marriages and affairs, Flick and Jimmy's turbulent relationship, and Della forced to confront the reality of Geraint's behaviour. In personal relationships, emotions and the desire to avoid conflict can make it difficult to draw the necessary red lines, Rowling does a sterling job in exploring the nature of relationships in this book. This is hugely entertaining and intelligent crime fiction, and I look forward to reading the next in the series with eager anticipation. Highly recommended!
October 1, 2018
confession: there are times when i feel like i am an unreliable rater/reviewer. j.k. rowling practically gave me my childhood, so i feel like the least i could do to thank her is by reading and giving all of her books 5 stars. to say im biased would be an understatement. but in the case of this book, i can say, with good conscience, it deserves all 5 of those stars.
i was worried when JKR first began writing for adults, especially under the crime/mystery genre. but four books of this series have proven that she can write whatever she wants and it will be bloody brilliant. one thing i think she does really well, and with this book in particular, is how complex her stories are. no one could dare call her a lazy writer. the plot for this was so intricately crafted and it was absolutely remarkable how everything was woven together. the book blurb doesnt even scratch the surface of what this story entails - there was just so much, so many layers.
and i think because of that, the book did get to be a little lengthy. 650 pages is massive for a mystery/thriller novel. some parts did seem to drag and there was a lot that i felt could have been omitted. but regardless of length, this book always captured my attention. the last paragraph definitely hinted at the beginning of a new case, so i am very excited to see what robin and strike get up to in the next book. fingers crossed it wont be another three year wait to find out!
↠ 4.5 stars
i was worried when JKR first began writing for adults, especially under the crime/mystery genre. but four books of this series have proven that she can write whatever she wants and it will be bloody brilliant. one thing i think she does really well, and with this book in particular, is how complex her stories are. no one could dare call her a lazy writer. the plot for this was so intricately crafted and it was absolutely remarkable how everything was woven together. the book blurb doesnt even scratch the surface of what this story entails - there was just so much, so many layers.
and i think because of that, the book did get to be a little lengthy. 650 pages is massive for a mystery/thriller novel. some parts did seem to drag and there was a lot that i felt could have been omitted. but regardless of length, this book always captured my attention. the last paragraph definitely hinted at the beginning of a new case, so i am very excited to see what robin and strike get up to in the next book. fingers crossed it wont be another three year wait to find out!
↠ 4.5 stars
October 22, 2018
As I decided to read this book and only this one during the past week, it dawned upon me that indeed, this book has been written by Robert Galbraith, and it's J.K. Rowling who is the ghostly figure here. I don't fear being ostracized for my rating. But most of my friends have given this book higher ratings than me.
The denouement was not the balm that could assuage the page upon page of nothingness. The murderer's identity was moot. The damage was done. The bird has flown the coop. Though this was a thriller or a mystery rather, I felt fear while reading it. Fear for the time being wasted. Fear for my sanity...
I don't know if I will read the next book in the series. I honestly don't. This is a special one star that I've rated. The rating means my freedom of choice. My review means my gravitational enticement towards this series. I hope you understand.
The denouement was not the balm that could assuage the page upon page of nothingness. The murderer's identity was moot. The damage was done. The bird has flown the coop. Though this was a thriller or a mystery rather, I felt fear while reading it. Fear for the time being wasted. Fear for my sanity...
I don't know if I will read the next book in the series. I honestly don't. This is a special one star that I've rated. The rating means my freedom of choice. My review means my gravitational enticement towards this series. I hope you understand.
Want to read
February 10, 2016"J. K. Rowling is working on a 4th book in the series."
October 7, 2018
This was an okay crime story, but as I was reading “Lethal White” I couldn’t help but be frustrated by the fact that this book was TOO LONG! 600+ pages to tell a crime story is too long when the plot is so dense and the different storylines so intricate.
Interwoven with that we get the story of Robin’s and Strike’s continued partnership which was another thing that quite frustrated me: This book was a case of dumb decision-making based on misunderstandings that could have been solved if only the characters had communicated!
On the plus-side, though, this book gives you another story set in London, following Strike as he goes through painful experiences with his prothesis and late nights (yet again!), and Robin whose passion for her job is admiring. But in the end, this was a book I was reading just to finish it, not a book I was reading because I absolutely needed to know how things would end. That’s a shame, but at least I finished it and enjoyed my reading experience for the most part.
Interwoven with that we get the story of Robin’s and Strike’s continued partnership which was another thing that quite frustrated me: This book was a case of dumb decision-making based on misunderstandings that could have been solved if only the characters had communicated!
On the plus-side, though, this book gives you another story set in London, following Strike as he goes through painful experiences with his prothesis and late nights (yet again!), and Robin whose passion for her job is admiring. But in the end, this was a book I was reading just to finish it, not a book I was reading because I absolutely needed to know how things would end. That’s a shame, but at least I finished it and enjoyed my reading experience for the most part.
January 8, 2019
4 stars right on the nose. It is another decent mystery very much in the same vein as the previous Strike novels. If you have read those you know exactly what to expect here.
Lots of characters: Galbraith (Rowling) likes to fill her mysteries with characters. If you are a person that is easily confused if there are lots of characters, proceed with caution. I definitely have to stop and think about who is who from time to time.
A convoluted mystery: Another thing that keeps me stopping to think is that the Strike mysteries are never straightforward. There are lots of details, many interviews, tons of red herrings. These are not mysteries for the easily confused.
Personal conflict: If you are here for the tension between Robin and Cormoran, this will definitely be your jam. I think this book had the most story about their lives outside of the mystery of any of the previous novels. I would be willing to say that 1/3 to 1/2 is about their personal lives.
An enjoyable audio experience: I have done every book in this series on audio and it has the same narrator every time - Robert Glenister. It is always nice to listen to a British accent (even if sometimes he gets into dialects that are hard to understand). I can definitely feel the streets of London in his voice.
I recommend this book to any who have enjoyed the series so far. If you decide to read this out of order from the rest of the series be warned that some of the personal conflict I mention above will not make much sense to you, but shouldn’t detract from the main story.
Lots of characters: Galbraith (Rowling) likes to fill her mysteries with characters. If you are a person that is easily confused if there are lots of characters, proceed with caution. I definitely have to stop and think about who is who from time to time.
A convoluted mystery: Another thing that keeps me stopping to think is that the Strike mysteries are never straightforward. There are lots of details, many interviews, tons of red herrings. These are not mysteries for the easily confused.
Personal conflict: If you are here for the tension between Robin and Cormoran, this will definitely be your jam. I think this book had the most story about their lives outside of the mystery of any of the previous novels. I would be willing to say that 1/3 to 1/2 is about their personal lives.
An enjoyable audio experience: I have done every book in this series on audio and it has the same narrator every time - Robert Glenister. It is always nice to listen to a British accent (even if sometimes he gets into dialects that are hard to understand). I can definitely feel the streets of London in his voice.
I recommend this book to any who have enjoyed the series so far. If you decide to read this out of order from the rest of the series be warned that some of the personal conflict I mention above will not make much sense to you, but shouldn’t detract from the main story.
June 29, 2019
This novel I just liked, and only liked, and to be honest, I struggled to finish it ... I have been thinking why I did not enjoy Lethal White as much as the previous books in the series, and in my case, it was its length & the plot itself. I enjoy long reads, but this novel seems to have too many pages, and good editing might make it a truly thrilling read. The mystery that Cormoran and Robin want to solve this time was not engaging for me either. Besides, some character development, with regard to Robin, seemed too elaborate and I did not find all aspects of her actions and behaviour believable. I managed to finish this novel only thanks to perfect narration by Rober Glenister. His interpretation is top-notch!
February 3, 2019
Robert Galbraith’s Cormoran Strike is in no doubt my favorite private eye series. I love Strike’s relationship with his now parter, Robin Ellacott. The two work so well together. I started the series with an audiobook and have continued to do so. The narrator’s voice is striking and perfect for Cormoran’s tough guy persona. Strike likes intelligent women and treats them as his equal. Always a wonderful thing to come upon in a book. There is nothing like seeing a woman with a good mind given the chance to use it and being appreciated for it.
If you have been thinking about trying this series, do give it a go. It’s well worth your time.
5 out of 5 stars
If you have been thinking about trying this series, do give it a go. It’s well worth your time.
5 out of 5 stars
January 12, 2019
Liked and disliked it in equal measure.
I am tired of Robin and Matthew as a dysfunctional couple. At book four it feels like the author is milking a dead horse. A white horse, the book is infested with them. One more won't make any difference.
I am tired of Robin and Matthew as a dysfunctional couple. At book four it feels like the author is milking a dead horse. A white horse, the book is infested with them. One more won't make any difference.
October 14, 2018
JKR is one of the best authors of this century. It was longest book of the series but it was a total page-turner, captivating, remarkable novel. I even forgot to eat when I was reading and skipped my favorite Netflix series. It was so good. Can’t wait to read more Cormoran and Robin’s adventures. I wish fifth book comes sooner than we expected ( And yess I want to see them as couple but I think it took at least three books for them confronting each other about their feelings) !!!
October 30, 2018
After I finished, "Career of Evil," I could hardly wait for this next story. Perhaps my hopes and expectations were too high, as I found this disjointed and lots less than anticipated. I won't be so anxious for the next in this series if there is another. If there isn't, I won't mind that so much either. 2 of 10 stars
Read
May 23, 2023I can't even remember the last time I was so impatient for the next book in a series to be released.
UPDATE, June 2020: This is one of my most liked reviews for whatever reason, so I just want to take this opportunity to remind you all that TERFs huff dong.
UPDATE, June 2020: This is one of my most liked reviews for whatever reason, so I just want to take this opportunity to remind you all that TERFs huff dong.
October 15, 2018
This should have been a magnificent book, but in the end I am giving it four stars and saying it was very good indeed. The one star deduction is for the way the book began. At first it was just so slow - not a lot happened and Robin's endless monologues about whether she loved him or not ( and there are two possible hims there) went on and on. And on.
Then we started to get into the meat of the story and crimes were committed, people went undercover, some characters acted really badly, some had their lives threatened and it all became very entertaining. Rowling's greatest talent is in writing very involved and intricate plot lines which always come together so neatly in the end. She did it perfectly in Harry Potter and she does it again here. In fact, as the book ended, it was so good that I forgot my slight displeasure with the opening chapters.
But I keep notes and they reminded me so it is still four not five stars. It's a great book though and very much worth reading.
Then we started to get into the meat of the story and crimes were committed, people went undercover, some characters acted really badly, some had their lives threatened and it all became very entertaining. Rowling's greatest talent is in writing very involved and intricate plot lines which always come together so neatly in the end. She did it perfectly in Harry Potter and she does it again here. In fact, as the book ended, it was so good that I forgot my slight displeasure with the opening chapters.
But I keep notes and they reminded me so it is still four not five stars. It's a great book though and very much worth reading.
October 25, 2022
Though the mystery part was stretched out unnecessarily and a 3 star for me, it is the Strike-Robin duo that snatched that extra stra from me. They're imperfect in so many ways and yet fot perfectly together.
January 8, 2025
**4.5-stars**
Well done! Goodness, I love this series.
Cormoran and Robin impress yet again.
Lethal White, the fourth installment of the Cormoran Strike detective series, kicks off with a bang. A disturbed young man named, Billy, arrives at Strike's office with a fantastical story.
He claims that when he was just a kid, he witnessed a child's murder and the subsequent cover up. As in, he knows where the body is buried.
While it is clear that Billy is suffering from severe mental health issues, he seems sincerely distressed by the memories and Strike believes him.
Before he can get any concrete details however, Billy flees the office and thus begins Cormoran's fascination with Billy's story.
When Strike and Robin begin investigating a blackmail case for a high profile family, they are surprised to discover the two cases may actually be linked.
I love this series so much. Strike and Robin are the best. Currently my favorite detective duo. These books are extremely intricate and the plots never fail to astound me. How Rowling keeps all of the details straight and coherent whilst writing is beyond me.
While this one is not my favorite of the series, I can't deny how creative and well done this book is. It is really long. Like really, REALLY long and I had moments where I was confused and had to go back a few pages and reread but again, that didn't turn me off to the series at all.
I blame it more on the fact that I had a lot going on in my life when I was reading this than on any fault of the book.
I don't think I am spoiling anything by announcing here that I ultimately want Robin and Strike to fall in love, get married, have little detective babies and live happily ever after in a flat other than the office.
Will this ever happen? It's unclear but I feel like if I put it out there in the universe, there will be a better chance of it.
Overall, I really enjoyed being back in the twisted clutches of a Cormoran Strike investigation and am HIGHLY anticipating book #5!!!!
Well done! Goodness, I love this series.
Cormoran and Robin impress yet again.
Lethal White, the fourth installment of the Cormoran Strike detective series, kicks off with a bang. A disturbed young man named, Billy, arrives at Strike's office with a fantastical story.
He claims that when he was just a kid, he witnessed a child's murder and the subsequent cover up. As in, he knows where the body is buried.
While it is clear that Billy is suffering from severe mental health issues, he seems sincerely distressed by the memories and Strike believes him.
Before he can get any concrete details however, Billy flees the office and thus begins Cormoran's fascination with Billy's story.
When Strike and Robin begin investigating a blackmail case for a high profile family, they are surprised to discover the two cases may actually be linked.
I love this series so much. Strike and Robin are the best. Currently my favorite detective duo. These books are extremely intricate and the plots never fail to astound me. How Rowling keeps all of the details straight and coherent whilst writing is beyond me.
While this one is not my favorite of the series, I can't deny how creative and well done this book is. It is really long. Like really, REALLY long and I had moments where I was confused and had to go back a few pages and reread but again, that didn't turn me off to the series at all.
I blame it more on the fact that I had a lot going on in my life when I was reading this than on any fault of the book.
I don't think I am spoiling anything by announcing here that I ultimately want Robin and Strike to fall in love, get married, have little detective babies and live happily ever after in a flat other than the office.
Will this ever happen? It's unclear but I feel like if I put it out there in the universe, there will be a better chance of it.
Overall, I really enjoyed being back in the twisted clutches of a Cormoran Strike investigation and am HIGHLY anticipating book #5!!!!
October 5, 2018
Strike & Robin are back!
This is the fourth novel in the "Cormoran Strike" book series.
POLITICS & FAMILY DON'T MIX
Cormoran Strike has become a famous detective in London, thanks to his success of catching the fearsome "Shacklewell Ripper"; and after re-hiring Robin Ellacott as her main partner, now he has even had to sub-contract other people to be able to cope with all the cases that have come to his office.
But despite that apparent bonanza of work, nothing has prepared Cormoran Strike for his most bizarre case to date, starting with whom takes the case to him, it is certainly his strangest (and unreliable) "client" to date...
...and in this detective book series is saying a lot.
When Billy Knight, a troubled and paranoid young man, comes to Cormoran’s office to ask for his help investigating a murder he believes he witnessed as a child...
...however his testimony is hard to follow, and even worse when Billy escapes from Cormoran's office.
Cormoran finds out that Billy is part of the Chiswell family, powerful in the fields of money and political influence, so he suspects that something must be behind of the erratic comments of Billy about a murder.
Robin Ellacot is still emotionally dealing with her shock, in the previous novel, for not saying that her newly marriage is a quite shaky house of cards; but she must assume her new detective mission of going undercover in the viper's nest-like Chiswell manor.
Fresh blackmails about crimes that weren't illegal when done, in the middle of seeking political power, will turn upside down the Chiswell family...
...and never will be the same.
This is the fourth novel in the "Cormoran Strike" book series.
POLITICS & FAMILY DON'T MIX
Cormoran Strike has become a famous detective in London, thanks to his success of catching the fearsome "Shacklewell Ripper"; and after re-hiring Robin Ellacott as her main partner, now he has even had to sub-contract other people to be able to cope with all the cases that have come to his office.
But despite that apparent bonanza of work, nothing has prepared Cormoran Strike for his most bizarre case to date, starting with whom takes the case to him, it is certainly his strangest (and unreliable) "client" to date...
...and in this detective book series is saying a lot.
When Billy Knight, a troubled and paranoid young man, comes to Cormoran’s office to ask for his help investigating a murder he believes he witnessed as a child...
...however his testimony is hard to follow, and even worse when Billy escapes from Cormoran's office.
Cormoran finds out that Billy is part of the Chiswell family, powerful in the fields of money and political influence, so he suspects that something must be behind of the erratic comments of Billy about a murder.
Robin Ellacot is still emotionally dealing with her shock, in the previous novel, for not saying that her newly marriage is a quite shaky house of cards; but she must assume her new detective mission of going undercover in the viper's nest-like Chiswell manor.
Fresh blackmails about crimes that weren't illegal when done, in the middle of seeking political power, will turn upside down the Chiswell family...
...and never will be the same.
March 4, 2024
اخيرا وبعد طول انتظار وصلنا للكتاب الرابع من سلسلة كورموران سترايك 🤩🤩😍😍
روبرت غالبريث كما اختارت رولينج ان يكون اسم الكاتب المستعار لهذه السلسلة جعلتنا نتعلق من الكتاب الأول بسترايك وروبن ابطال هذه السلسلة وهذا ما نجحت فيه ببراعة من الكتاب الاول " نداء الكوكو " ، جعلتني أهتم بروبن وسترايك وحياتهم الشخصية ومتابعة تطور وشكل علاقتهم .
وبالمناسبة بجانب اسلوب السرد الممتع والرائع فرسم الشخصيات الرئيسية في السلسلة بهذا الشكل وانها ليست فقط روايات بوليسية هو احدأسباب حبي وإهتمامي بهذه السلسلة فأنا لست كما ذكرت من قبل في مراجعات اخري من محبي روايات الجريمة والتشويق والبحث وراء المجرم .
لكن المميز هنا بالنسبة لي ان رولينج لاتهتم فقط بتقديم جريمة وتجعلهم يبحثون ورائها لكنها أدخلت حياة الأبطال الشخصية في الأحداث لتجعلنا نهتم بهم ونترقب ما يحدث لهم اكثر من إهتمامنا بالجريمة نفسها.
يبدأ هذا الجزء في حفل زفاف روبن الذي لا اوافق عليه بالمناسبة لنتعرف على ما حدث معها هى وزوجها الغبي ماثيو . وما حدث أيضا مع سترايك . وكيف عادت روبن للعمل معه بعد ماحدث في الجزء السابق ؟ ونستكمل طوال الرواية أحداث حياتهم وما يحدث معهم . سواء علاقة سترايك الجديدة أو علاقة روبن وماثيو " الزوجين الجدد "
ثم تبدأ قصة الجريمة هنا مع شخص رث الهيئة يُدعى بيلي يبدو انه يهذي وحالته العقلية غير مستقرة يصل لمكتب سترايك ليخبره انه رأى منذ سنوات حين كان صغيراً " رأيت طفلة تُقتل خنقاً"وتم دفنها في الوادي قرب منزل والده ثم يلوذ بالفرار دون ان يترك معلومات كافية ليستخدمها سترايك.
لكن هل يمكن تصديق شخص فاقد لعقله ؟ هل يمكن ان يبحث محقق خاص عن جريمة مضى عليها سنوات بناء على كلمات مثل هذه؟
حسنا ، سترايك ليس مثل أى محقق ، فلديه حدس يجعله ربما يبحث وراء أشياء لا يهتم بها الآخرون .
يتلقي سترايك بعد بدأه البحث إتصال من جاسبر تشيزيل وزير الثقافة ليكتشف معرفته القديمة ببيلى وأخوه جيمي
"الآخوين نايت : جيمي الشخص الكاريزماتي ، الفصيح ، الوسيم، المتهور الارعن ، وبيلي ، الممسوس القذر، المريض بلا ريب الذي تعذبه ذكري قد لا تكون حقيقية إلا أنها فظيعة بالفعل "
ويخبره الوزير انه يتعرض للإبتزاز من جيمي ومن شخص آخر يدعي غيرينت وين وهو زوج لوزيرة الرياضة الذي يكرهه بشدة ويطلب من سترايك البحث ورائهم ويساعده ليستطيع التخلص من إبتزازهم .
فماذا سيفعل سترايك وروبن هنا في هذه القضية؟!
في الجزء الثاني من الرواية يموت شخص ما ، يُقال انه انتحر فهل انتحر حقاً !أم تم قتله ؟! وتم تدبير الأحداث لتظهر انها انتحار ؟؟
واذا تم قتله فما الدافع ؟!
" قد تكون الكراهية سبباً ، لكن القتل بدافع الغضب ينفذ بمطرقة او مصباح على الرأس ولا يكون انتحاراً مزيفاً خُطط له بدقة .إن كانت جريمة قتل بالفعل ، فهي أشبه بإعدام سريري مخطط له بكل تفاصيله . لماذا ؟ ماذا ربح القاتل من ذلك ؟
وماذا عن الوزير ولماذا كان يتعرض للإبتزاز ؟؟
وما صحة ما رآه بيلي وهو صغير ؟؟
وما الرابط بين الشخصيات وبعضها البعض ؟ ام لا يوجد رابط !!
" قد لا يكون هناك رابط بين الأمور. إنها الحياة، أليس كذلك ؟ لدينا مجموعة من الأشخاص لكل منهم محنته وأسراره الشخصية ."
يارب يترجموا الجزء الخامس قريب 🤲🤩
٦ / ٢ / ٢٠٢٢
: الجزء الاول :نداء الكوكو
: الجزء الثاني :دودة الحرير
: الجزء الثالث : مهنة الشر
روبرت غالبريث كما اختارت رولينج ان يكون اسم الكاتب المستعار لهذه السلسلة جعلتنا نتعلق من الكتاب الأول بسترايك وروبن ابطال هذه السلسلة وهذا ما نجحت فيه ببراعة من الكتاب الاول " نداء الكوكو " ، جعلتني أهتم بروبن وسترايك وحياتهم الشخصية ومتابعة تطور وشكل علاقتهم .
وبالمناسبة بجانب اسلوب السرد الممتع والرائع فرسم الشخصيات الرئيسية في السلسلة بهذا الشكل وانها ليست فقط روايات بوليسية هو احدأسباب حبي وإهتمامي بهذه السلسلة فأنا لست كما ذكرت من قبل في مراجعات اخري من محبي روايات الجريمة والتشويق والبحث وراء المجرم .
لكن المميز هنا بالنسبة لي ان رولينج لاتهتم فقط بتقديم جريمة وتجعلهم يبحثون ورائها لكنها أدخلت حياة الأبطال الشخصية في الأحداث لتجعلنا نهتم بهم ونترقب ما يحدث لهم اكثر من إهتمامنا بالجريمة نفسها.
يبدأ هذا الجزء في حفل زفاف روبن الذي لا اوافق عليه بالمناسبة لنتعرف على ما حدث معها هى وزوجها الغبي ماثيو . وما حدث أيضا مع سترايك . وكيف عادت روبن للعمل معه بعد ماحدث في الجزء السابق ؟ ونستكمل طوال الرواية أحداث حياتهم وما يحدث معهم . سواء علاقة سترايك الجديدة أو علاقة روبن وماثيو " الزوجين الجدد "
ثم تبدأ قصة الجريمة هنا مع شخص رث الهيئة يُدعى بيلي يبدو انه يهذي وحالته العقلية غير مستقرة يصل لمكتب سترايك ليخبره انه رأى منذ سنوات حين كان صغيراً " رأيت طفلة تُقتل خنقاً"وتم دفنها في الوادي قرب منزل والده ثم يلوذ بالفرار دون ان يترك معلومات كافية ليستخدمها سترايك.
لكن هل يمكن تصديق شخص فاقد لعقله ؟ هل يمكن ان يبحث محقق خاص عن جريمة مضى عليها سنوات بناء على كلمات مثل هذه؟
حسنا ، سترايك ليس مثل أى محقق ، فلديه حدس يجعله ربما يبحث وراء أشياء لا يهتم بها الآخرون .
يتلقي سترايك بعد بدأه البحث إتصال من جاسبر تشيزيل وزير الثقافة ليكتشف معرفته القديمة ببيلى وأخوه جيمي
"الآخوين نايت : جيمي الشخص الكاريزماتي ، الفصيح ، الوسيم، المتهور الارعن ، وبيلي ، الممسوس القذر، المريض بلا ريب الذي تعذبه ذكري قد لا تكون حقيقية إلا أنها فظيعة بالفعل "
ويخبره الوزير انه يتعرض للإبتزاز من جيمي ومن شخص آخر يدعي غيرينت وين وهو زوج لوزيرة الرياضة الذي يكرهه بشدة ويطلب من سترايك البحث ورائهم ويساعده ليستطيع التخلص من إبتزازهم .
فماذا سيفعل سترايك وروبن هنا في هذه القضية؟!
في الجزء الثاني من الرواية يموت شخص ما ، يُقال انه انتحر فهل انتحر حقاً !أم تم قتله ؟! وتم تدبير الأحداث لتظهر انها انتحار ؟؟
واذا تم قتله فما الدافع ؟!
" قد تكون الكراهية سبباً ، لكن القتل بدافع الغضب ينفذ بمطرقة او مصباح على الرأس ولا يكون انتحاراً مزيفاً خُطط له بدقة .إن كانت جريمة قتل بالفعل ، فهي أشبه بإعدام سريري مخطط له بكل تفاصيله . لماذا ؟ ماذا ربح القاتل من ذلك ؟
وماذا عن الوزير ولماذا كان يتعرض للإبتزاز ؟؟
وما صحة ما رآه بيلي وهو صغير ؟؟
وما الرابط بين الشخصيات وبعضها البعض ؟ ام لا يوجد رابط !!
" قد لا يكون هناك رابط بين الأمور. إنها الحياة، أليس كذلك ؟ لدينا مجموعة من الأشخاص لكل منهم محنته وأسراره الشخصية ."
يارب يترجموا الجزء الخامس قريب 🤲🤩
٦ / ٢ / ٢٠٢٢
: الجزء الاول :نداء الكوكو
: الجزء الثاني :دودة الحرير
: الجزء الثالث : مهنة الشر
July 1, 2022
I really love the Cormoran Strike series. That is why I am so excited for the next book in the series. Lethal White has been the longest we have to wait so far.
To satiate my excitement I have created fan-made covers for both US and UK Editions.
US Edition
UK Edition
To satiate my excitement I have created fan-made covers for both US and UK Editions.
US Edition
UK Edition
August 28, 2025
Excellent writing
Galbraith’s books are for those who love long whodunits of Horowitz, Jónasson, Nesbø and Larsson.
She focuses on her well-built characters and their private lives as much as the main mystery itself. She introduces bits and pieces of Christie-esque clues here and there and trusts you to put the pieces together.
If you expect twists and turns at the ending of each chapter or you don’t care about Robin and Strike’s private lives, this book isn’t for you.
This is the fourth novel in Strike series and starts where the third book ended.
A disturbed young man barges in Strike’s office and tells him that years ago he has witnessed a child being killed and buried near his house in the grounds belonging to the now a conservative Minister. He asks for Strike’s help and vanishes into thin air.
Is the young man telling the truth or is he delusional?
Some days later Strike is approached by the same Minister, telling him he is being blackmailed. He knows the blackmailers and wants Strike to find dirt on them.
Are the two cases connected?
This excerpt is for those who like me are emotionally invested and believe in Robin and Strike’s exceptionally real chemistry.
They were holding each other tightly before they knew what had happened, Robin’s chin on Strike’s shoulder, his face in her hair. He smelled of sweat, beer and surgical spirits, she, of roses and the faint perfume that he had missed when she was no longer in the office. The feel of her was both new and familiar, as though he had held her a long time ago, as though he had missed it without knowing it for years.
Galbraith’s books are for those who love long whodunits of Horowitz, Jónasson, Nesbø and Larsson.
She focuses on her well-built characters and their private lives as much as the main mystery itself. She introduces bits and pieces of Christie-esque clues here and there and trusts you to put the pieces together.
If you expect twists and turns at the ending of each chapter or you don’t care about Robin and Strike’s private lives, this book isn’t for you.
This is the fourth novel in Strike series and starts where the third book ended.
A disturbed young man barges in Strike’s office and tells him that years ago he has witnessed a child being killed and buried near his house in the grounds belonging to the now a conservative Minister. He asks for Strike’s help and vanishes into thin air.
Is the young man telling the truth or is he delusional?
Some days later Strike is approached by the same Minister, telling him he is being blackmailed. He knows the blackmailers and wants Strike to find dirt on them.
Are the two cases connected?
This excerpt is for those who like me are emotionally invested and believe in Robin and Strike’s exceptionally real chemistry.
They were holding each other tightly before they knew what had happened, Robin’s chin on Strike’s shoulder, his face in her hair. He smelled of sweat, beer and surgical spirits, she, of roses and the faint perfume that he had missed when she was no longer in the office. The feel of her was both new and familiar, as though he had held her a long time ago, as though he had missed it without knowing it for years.
October 26, 2018
UPD: This is how I find out?! From a newsletter on Bookdepository?!! Release date: 18th September 2018. Could I BE any more excited??
Yes, I'm stooping that low! I'm using GIFs now because there are no words to express how much I'm waiting for this book, I need more of Robin and Cormoran and their unusual relationship. I'm sure that so many things are going to go down in the next one because I can't stand suspense any longer... aaaah!
Yes, I'm stooping that low! I'm using GIFs now because there are no words to express how much I'm waiting for this book, I need more of Robin and Cormoran and their unusual relationship. I'm sure that so many things are going to go down in the next one because I can't stand suspense any longer... aaaah!
June 19, 2024
I’m not a big Harry Potter fan, and though I have seen all the films I’ve yet to turn a page of any of the books. I’m just not into magic spells and all that malarkey. But I do admire the cleverness J. K. Rowling shows in developing a set of stories – a whole world, in fact – that has gripped so many people. My son is one of them; he’s also the reason I’ve watched the films - and played the spin-off video games, too. But all of that aside, I admire Rowling most for having the versatility, the imagination, and the wit to write crime fiction of this standard. She does so, of course, under the pseudonym of Robert Galbraith.
The first and third books in this series are outstanding (for some reason I’ve so far managed to skip book two), and this tale is as well told and as riveting as the others. London based private detective Cormoran Strike is visited by a very fidgety and distressed man who tells him that as a boy, he witnessed a young girl being strangled and buried. Almost as soon as he’s blurted this out, he runs out of strike’s office, but not before he provides a cryptic clue as the the child’s burial site. So begins this complex but highly engaging story.
At first, Strike seemed to me to be an unlikely front man - partially disabled and ex-army his demeanour seemingly set semi-permanently to gruff – but I quickly warmed to him. He is tough, as you’d expect, but has a soft side, and he brings humour to the party, too. The only slightly odd element here is that despite his physical setbacks, he seems to attract a stream of beautiful woman. An ongoing sub-plot here is the mutual attraction between Strike and his female assistant, Robin. And this time around, their non-relationship is a central part of the book, with the will they, won’t they debate raging on throughout.
I won’t go into the detail of what happens but suffice to say there’s a left wing versus right-wing political theme knocking around amidst a tangled web of intrigue Agatha Christie would have been proud of. It’s a long book, but I didn’t mind that. I’d have been happy to plough on for quite a few more chapters, such was my enjoyment. Strike really is up there, now, with Ian Rankin’s John Rebus as the top crime stopper Britain has to offer. Now I really must go and search out book two.
The first and third books in this series are outstanding (for some reason I’ve so far managed to skip book two), and this tale is as well told and as riveting as the others. London based private detective Cormoran Strike is visited by a very fidgety and distressed man who tells him that as a boy, he witnessed a young girl being strangled and buried. Almost as soon as he’s blurted this out, he runs out of strike’s office, but not before he provides a cryptic clue as the the child’s burial site. So begins this complex but highly engaging story.
At first, Strike seemed to me to be an unlikely front man - partially disabled and ex-army his demeanour seemingly set semi-permanently to gruff – but I quickly warmed to him. He is tough, as you’d expect, but has a soft side, and he brings humour to the party, too. The only slightly odd element here is that despite his physical setbacks, he seems to attract a stream of beautiful woman. An ongoing sub-plot here is the mutual attraction between Strike and his female assistant, Robin. And this time around, their non-relationship is a central part of the book, with the will they, won’t they debate raging on throughout.
I won’t go into the detail of what happens but suffice to say there’s a left wing versus right-wing political theme knocking around amidst a tangled web of intrigue Agatha Christie would have been proud of. It’s a long book, but I didn’t mind that. I’d have been happy to plough on for quite a few more chapters, such was my enjoyment. Strike really is up there, now, with Ian Rankin’s John Rebus as the top crime stopper Britain has to offer. Now I really must go and search out book two.
June 26, 2024
EXCERPT: Relaxing to the degree that was ever possible behind the wheel these days, Strike wound down the window to admit the fine, fresh summer's day and allowed his thought to return to Billy and the missing Suki Lewis.
'She wouldn't let me dig,' he had said in the office, compulsively tapping his nose and his chest, 'but she'd let you.'
Who, Strike wondered, was 'she'? Perhaps the new owner of Steda Cottage? They might well object to Billy asking to dig up flower beds in search of bodies.
After feeling around with his left hand inside the provisions bag, extracting and ripping open a bag of crisps with his teeth, Strike reminded himself for the umpteenth time that Billy's whole story might be a chimera. Suki Lewis could be anywhere. Not every lost child was dead. Perhaps Suki, too, had been stolen away by an errant parent. Twenty years previously, in the infancy of the internet, imperfect communications between regional police forces could be exploited by those wishing to reinvent themselves or others. And even if Suki was no longer alive, there was nothing to suggest she had been strangled, let alone that Billy Knight had witnessed it. Most people would surely conclude that this was a case of much smoke, but no fire.
ABOUT 'LETHAL WHITE': “I seen a kid killed…He strangled it, up by the horse.”
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.
MY THOUGHTS: I love this series - it's definitely in my top five. I love the non-relationship between Robin and Strike. It's excruciating watching them dance around one another, neither willing nor able to reveal their true feelings.
Robin's husband Matthew is a character who sets my teeth on edge - that man really loves himself and feels that everything and everyone should revolve around him. I had my fingers crossed in the previous book that Robin was going to run off from the altar with Strike, but that was just wishful thinking. There are other obnoxious characters in Lethal White too; handsy older men in positions of power who think young, pretty girls should be grateful to be groped by them. I could quite imagine Matthew becoming one of them.
Billy is beautifully depicted, and my heart broke for this poor young man who has many cruelties inflicted on him.
Lethal White is marked by many dysfunctional relationships: Robin and Matthew; Strike and Lorelei; Jasper and Kinvara to name but a few. "I think marriage is nearly always an unfathomable entity, even to the people inside" is one of the more profound quotes from this read.
This is a long book at 600+ pages, but I was kept invested and entertained throughout. The plot is complex with many diverse threads, yet easy to follow. I read the final third of the book in one sitting. While not as intense as the previous books, I found Lethal White still to be unputdownable.
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
#LethalWhite
THE AUTHOR: As a child, Rowling often wrote fantasy stories, which she would usually then read to her sister. She recalls that: "I can still remember me telling her a story in which she fell down a rabbit hole and was fed strawberries by the rabbit family inside it. Certainly the first story I ever wrote down (when I was five or six) was about a rabbit called Rabbit. He got the measles and was visited by his friends, including a giant bee called Miss Bee." At the age of nine, Rowling moved to Church Cottage in the Gloucestershire village of Tutshill, close to Chepstow, Wales. When she was a young teenager, her great aunt, who Rowling said "taught classics and approved of a thirst for knowledge, even of a questionable kind," gave her a very old copy of Jessica Mitford's autobiography, Hons and Rebels. Mitford became Rowling's heroine, and Rowling subsequently read all of her books.
Rowling has said of her teenage years, in an interview with The New Yorker, "I wasn’t particularly happy. I think it’s a dreadful time of life." She had a difficult homelife; her mother was ill and she had a difficult relationship with her father (she is no longer on speaking terms with him). She attended secondary school at Wyedean School and College, where her mother had worked as a technician in the science department. Rowling said of her adolescence, "Hermione [a bookish, know-it-all Harry Potter character] is loosely based on me. She's a caricature of me when I was eleven, which I'm not particularly proud of." Steve Eddy, who taught Rowling English when she first arrived, remembers her as "not exceptional" but "one of a group of girls who were bright, and quite good at English." Sean Harris, her best friend in the Upper Sixth owned a turquoise Ford Anglia, which she says inspired the one in her books.
DISCLOSURE: I own my copy of Lethal White by J.K. Rowling writing as Robert Galbraith.
https://sandysbookaday.wordpress.com/...
'She wouldn't let me dig,' he had said in the office, compulsively tapping his nose and his chest, 'but she'd let you.'
Who, Strike wondered, was 'she'? Perhaps the new owner of Steda Cottage? They might well object to Billy asking to dig up flower beds in search of bodies.
After feeling around with his left hand inside the provisions bag, extracting and ripping open a bag of crisps with his teeth, Strike reminded himself for the umpteenth time that Billy's whole story might be a chimera. Suki Lewis could be anywhere. Not every lost child was dead. Perhaps Suki, too, had been stolen away by an errant parent. Twenty years previously, in the infancy of the internet, imperfect communications between regional police forces could be exploited by those wishing to reinvent themselves or others. And even if Suki was no longer alive, there was nothing to suggest she had been strangled, let alone that Billy Knight had witnessed it. Most people would surely conclude that this was a case of much smoke, but no fire.
ABOUT 'LETHAL WHITE': “I seen a kid killed…He strangled it, up by the horse.”
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.
MY THOUGHTS: I love this series - it's definitely in my top five. I love the non-relationship between Robin and Strike. It's excruciating watching them dance around one another, neither willing nor able to reveal their true feelings.
Robin's husband Matthew is a character who sets my teeth on edge - that man really loves himself and feels that everything and everyone should revolve around him. I had my fingers crossed in the previous book that Robin was going to run off from the altar with Strike, but that was just wishful thinking. There are other obnoxious characters in Lethal White too; handsy older men in positions of power who think young, pretty girls should be grateful to be groped by them. I could quite imagine Matthew becoming one of them.
Billy is beautifully depicted, and my heart broke for this poor young man who has many cruelties inflicted on him.
Lethal White is marked by many dysfunctional relationships: Robin and Matthew; Strike and Lorelei; Jasper and Kinvara to name but a few. "I think marriage is nearly always an unfathomable entity, even to the people inside" is one of the more profound quotes from this read.
This is a long book at 600+ pages, but I was kept invested and entertained throughout. The plot is complex with many diverse threads, yet easy to follow. I read the final third of the book in one sitting. While not as intense as the previous books, I found Lethal White still to be unputdownable.
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
#LethalWhite
THE AUTHOR: As a child, Rowling often wrote fantasy stories, which she would usually then read to her sister. She recalls that: "I can still remember me telling her a story in which she fell down a rabbit hole and was fed strawberries by the rabbit family inside it. Certainly the first story I ever wrote down (when I was five or six) was about a rabbit called Rabbit. He got the measles and was visited by his friends, including a giant bee called Miss Bee." At the age of nine, Rowling moved to Church Cottage in the Gloucestershire village of Tutshill, close to Chepstow, Wales. When she was a young teenager, her great aunt, who Rowling said "taught classics and approved of a thirst for knowledge, even of a questionable kind," gave her a very old copy of Jessica Mitford's autobiography, Hons and Rebels. Mitford became Rowling's heroine, and Rowling subsequently read all of her books.
Rowling has said of her teenage years, in an interview with The New Yorker, "I wasn’t particularly happy. I think it’s a dreadful time of life." She had a difficult homelife; her mother was ill and she had a difficult relationship with her father (she is no longer on speaking terms with him). She attended secondary school at Wyedean School and College, where her mother had worked as a technician in the science department. Rowling said of her adolescence, "Hermione [a bookish, know-it-all Harry Potter character] is loosely based on me. She's a caricature of me when I was eleven, which I'm not particularly proud of." Steve Eddy, who taught Rowling English when she first arrived, remembers her as "not exceptional" but "one of a group of girls who were bright, and quite good at English." Sean Harris, her best friend in the Upper Sixth owned a turquoise Ford Anglia, which she says inspired the one in her books.
DISCLOSURE: I own my copy of Lethal White by J.K. Rowling writing as Robert Galbraith.
https://sandysbookaday.wordpress.com/...
October 25, 2018
Lethal White is the fourth (4th) book in the “Cormoran Strike” series, written by Robert Galbraith (J. K. Rowling). The series primary characters are Cormoran Strike (Strike) a private detective in London and his clerk, turned investigator, turned partner Robin Ellacott.
The books are mysteries centered around the crime of murder. Strike is a veteran of the Afghanistan war where he lost a leg. He manages to get around on a prosthesis often stressing his stump to great pain and irritation. However, the series highlights Strike’s ability rather than his disability. In Lethal White there was also a blind woman who serve the UK as Minister for Sports. These are positive portrayals of persons with disabilities.
Strike and his organization start out investigating the attempted blackmailing of the Minister for Culture, Jasper Chiswell (Chiswell) who later was found dead in what was originally thought to be a suicide. The book centers around Chiswell’s dysfunctional family trying to find out what really happened their patriarch and and Strike trying to find out who was trying to blackmail him and why. The family knew about the reason behind the blackmail but failed to give this information to Strike. Strike and Robin both are good investigators. The plot is complex and the book is slow and too long, in my opinion.
Also, Strike’s and Robin’s relationship is weird. They seem to want more than a business relationship but are unable to get beyond this. Strike plays the field and Robin is unhappily married. I think this relationship is a major part of the story and it seems to keep people wanting to read more.
After waiting a long time for this book I was a little disappointed. I did not like this book as well as the others in the series. No doubt there will be a fifth (5th) book.
The books are mysteries centered around the crime of murder. Strike is a veteran of the Afghanistan war where he lost a leg. He manages to get around on a prosthesis often stressing his stump to great pain and irritation. However, the series highlights Strike’s ability rather than his disability. In Lethal White there was also a blind woman who serve the UK as Minister for Sports. These are positive portrayals of persons with disabilities.
Strike and his organization start out investigating the attempted blackmailing of the Minister for Culture, Jasper Chiswell (Chiswell) who later was found dead in what was originally thought to be a suicide. The book centers around Chiswell’s dysfunctional family trying to find out what really happened their patriarch and and Strike trying to find out who was trying to blackmail him and why. The family knew about the reason behind the blackmail but failed to give this information to Strike. Strike and Robin both are good investigators. The plot is complex and the book is slow and too long, in my opinion.
Also, Strike’s and Robin’s relationship is weird. They seem to want more than a business relationship but are unable to get beyond this. Strike plays the field and Robin is unhappily married. I think this relationship is a major part of the story and it seems to keep people wanting to read more.
After waiting a long time for this book I was a little disappointed. I did not like this book as well as the others in the series. No doubt there will be a fifth (5th) book.
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