Sunday, January 20, 2019

9. Lethal White by Robert Galbraith

Cormoran Strike #4 (J. K. Rowling pseudonym)
listened to on audio - from TPPL
read by Robert Glenister
2018, Sphere
656 pgs.
Adult Mystery
Finished 1/20/2019 (Ashley's 17th birthday)
Goodreads rating:  4.30 -- 43,301 ratings
My rating: 4
Setting:  In and around London, contemporary time

First line/s:  "If only the swans would swim side by side on the dark green lake, this picture might turn out to be the crowning achievement of the wedding photographer's career."

My comments:  I love listening to Robert Glenister read Cormoran Strike.  I can even tell when he uses different accents for different places in England!  This was a l-o-n-g mystery, but quite a bit of it told the story of Robyn's wedding, first anniversary, and all the turmoil and activity surrounding these events, which definitely fit really well into the telling of the story.  We have such an investment in Cormoran and Robyn, and it's always interesting to see where this goes, or might be headed, in each subsequent book.  The mystery is engaging and complicated, very complicated, but it's pretty easy to not get confused.  Every single tiny little detail is examined, discussed, and fits in like a puzzle piece.  A little too long, a few too many minute details repeated, but otherwise a very interesting, thought-provoking mystery.

Goodreads synopsis:  “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.

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