This book is for CBR Bingo Birthday square- I had to look up the birthdays of several authors before I figured out which review hit which square.
Lethal White picks up hours after the events of Career of Evil– Robin Elacott is married and struggling through her own wedding reception as she comes to terms with her realization that she not only loves her job in Cormoran Strike’s private investigations firm, but that she may also have some feelings for Strike himself. She also discovers that her new husband, Matthew, has been hiding messages from Strike because he disapproves of Robin’s chosen career. Robin and Strike reconcile the disagreement of the previous book and Robin heads off on her honeymoon only to save face for her parents.
On her return, things have changed. Strike is more aware of his own feelings for Robin and neither of them is completely comfortable with the other. They are busier than ever at the agency and have hired several new investigators to take some of the caseload. Strike is approached by a mentally unwell man named Billy who asks him to investigate a murder he saw as a child. Strike is uncharacteristically touched by the young man’s distress and decides to look further in to the matter.
In the meanwhile, Strike is hired by a government official to investigate his opponents. This involves Robin going undercover in Parliament and both of the agency’s partners becoming entangled in an investigation with disparate, yet connected, parts.
It’s a LONG book, but a quick read. Much of this book focused on Robin’s unhappy marriage, and I’m not sure that there needed to be such a plethora of examples of Matthew being awful and Robin just rolling over for it. The writing was on the wall very clearly from the beginning, the reader knows where this is headed, and there isn’t much suspense in multiple descriptions of Matthew huffing loudly or Robin swallowing her words. Other than the drawn-out relationship drama, this is a well-paced story with a satisfying knot to untie. One qualm I have, though, is that Robin is repeatedly threatened sexually in these books. There is her initial trauma from the past, and in this book she deals with a lecherous old man and a playboy who tries to kill her. We get it, Jo, she’s attractive. Please let the next book just involve Robin being competent at her job without having to deal with the other BS.