Lethal White. Finished 5-3-19, 4.5/5 stars, mystery, pub. 2018

Cormoran Strike #4  (1-The Cuckoo’s Calling, 2-The Silkworm, 3-Career of Evil)

Unabridged audio read expertly by Robert Galbraith.  This man has become Strike for me and I will continue with the audios of this series for as long as he’s reading them.  22+ hours of listening.

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.     from Goodreads

I love Cormoran Strike and Robin too, mainly because of his feelings for her.  At the end of the last book (my least favorite of the series) Robin marries the easiest man to hate I’ve come across in a while.  I understand that they’d been together a long time, but she knew, we all knew, that he was not for her.  The fact that this book took place a year later and they were still married was perplexing, but I think it took that long for Robin to be strong enough to admit her mistakes.  Anyway, it’s a year later and she’s married and Cormoran has a very nice girlfriend.

The thing I love about Rowling’s mysteries (is there anyone who still doesn’t know that Galbraith is JK Rowling?) is that they are all so layered and complicated.  Strike can pull clues from all around and eventually put them altogether with help from Robin, who managed to go undercover a few times in this go round.  Actually Robin’s undercover activities were some of my favorite parts of the book.  Eventually, we think we know what happened, but there’s more.  All major loose ends were handled and the book ended perfectly.

I’m glad to see this rebound.  I gave the first two in the series 4.5 stars but the third only 3.5, so she’s back on track with this one.  I can’t wait to see what the future has in store for Cormoran and Robin!