the first half of this post contains a modest review. The second half contains many spoilers. If you plan on reading Lethal White or the Strike series, avoid this post.

Review

It wasn’t that long ago that I was counting down the days until the release of Lethal White by Robert Galbraith. After reading Career of Evil last summer, it has been an arduous wait to find out what happens next in both Robin’s and Strike’s stories, respectively.

Well, Lethal White picks up exactly where Career of Evil left off. Literally, the very next scene. It was a most satisfying wrap up to that intense moment at the end of Career of Evil when we believed Robin was making the biggest mistake of her life.

The crime Strike and Robin investigate this time around was one of the most complicated ones yet. The first person to approach them claims he’s seen a murder, but he is a mentally unstable young person whose family are quick to say that he doesn’t know what he’s talking about. Still, Strike is intrigued and determined to take him seriously until he can prove otherwise.

The mystery they get tangled up in leads them to anti-government protests set against the 2012 London Olympics. Robin once again adopts a new identity or two, and spends time working undercover. Those had to be some of my favorite chapters by far. The suspense was unbelievable and once again, I am impressed by her quick-thinking and bravery, not to mention her ability to pick up and drop accents at a moment’s notice.

A satisfying ending, with a most intense lead-up, concluded this over-six-hundred-page book. Right after I finished I thought: when should I go back and re-read the whole series?

Review With Spoilers

There were too many jaw-dropping moments for me in this book, that I’ve compiled a list of some of my favorite ones below:

• I thought that picking up where Career of Evil left off would be a great way to start the story. Imagine my shock (which I’m sure many readers shared) when I turned the page of the Prologue only to see the words “One Year Later” – what? I normally dislike big time jumps, but in this case I can see how it worked in favor of the story. It definitely made those first few chapters ultra critical to pay attention to.
• The entire book I couldn’t help but wonder how Robin and Matthew managed to go a full year of marriage. What did that year look like? I think I would have read an entire book just about their marriage in order to better understand the both of them.
• When Robin finally stood up to Matthew and told him it was over, I thought I would be thrilled on her behalf. Instead, I was dreading what would come next. Sure enough, leaving in the middle of the night with nowhere to go, lying to Strike and her mom about everything being fine, she started to have panic attacks once again. I wish Matthew had been the one to leave the house, but then again, Robin had never liked it anyway so it made sense. I just hate that (so far) she has been the only one to suffer.
• The breakthrough Strike and Robin have while pulled over on the side of the highway was an amazing scene. He was as understanding and supportive of her as I knew he would be, and I could almost feel the relief washing over Robin when she finally told him the truth about everything that was going on in her life.
• The “digging in the dell” chapter had me on the edge of my seat. I’ll admit I scanned the pages ahead to make sure what they found buried in the ground wasn’t what I thought it was, and thank goodness it wasn’t.
• Once again, I had no idea who was behind it all. I never do, and I never try to figure it out either – I like the surprise!

And with that, finishing this book brought me to completion of my Goodreads reading goal for this year: 50 books total so far, and counting!