Lethal White

{{short description|2018 detective novel by J. K. Rowling}} {{for|the horse disease|Lethal white syndrome}} {{Use British English|date=October 2018}} {{use dmy dates|date=January 2020}} {{Infobox book  | name = Lethal White | image = Lethal White UK.jpg | image_size = | border = | caption = | alt = Lethal White UK cover. Colour scheme is white, black and green. The [[Big Ben|Elizabeth Tower]] is in the background and the back of two figures, one male and one female, are in the foreground on the right. | author = [[Robert Galbraith (author)|Robert Galbraith]] | title_orig = | translator = | illustrator = | cover_artist = | country = [[United Kingdom]] | language = English | subject = | genre = [[Crime fiction]] | publisher = [[Sphere Books]]<br />([[Little, Brown and Company]]) | publisher2 = | pub_date = 18 September 2018 (United Kingdom) | english_pub_date = | media_type = | pages = 656 | awards = | isbn = 0751572853 | dewey = | congress = | preceded_by = [[Career of Evil]] | preceded_by_quotation_marks = | followed_by = [[Troubled Blood]] | followed_by_quotation_marks = | wikisource = }}

'''''Lethal White''''' is a [[Crime fiction|crime novel]] written by British author [[J. K. Rowling]], published under the [[pseudonym]] Robert Galbraith.<ref name="metro">{{Cite news|url=http://metro.co.uk/2018/03/26/jk-rowling-finishes-new-strike-book-lethal-white-7416835/|title=JK Rowling finishes new Strike book Lethal White|first=Sam|last=Moore|date=2018-03-26|work=[[Metro (British newspaper)|Metro]]|access-date=2018-05-12}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://strikefans.com/everything-we-know-about-lethal-white-so-far|title=Everything We Know About Lethal White So Far|website=strikefans.com|access-date=2018-05-12}}</ref><ref name="huffpost">{{Cite news|url=https://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/04/24/robert-galbraith-career-of-evil-jk-rowling_n_7135338.html|title=JK Rowling Will Release Another Book, 'Career Of Evil,' As Robert Galbraith|last=Goodman|first=Jessica|date=2015-04-24|work=[[HuffPost]]|access-date=2018-05-12|language=en-AU}}</ref> It is the fourth novel in the ''[[Cormoran Strike]]'' series, and was published on 18 September 2018.<ref name=BBCnews>{{Cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-44779006|title=Lethal White: JK Rowling reveals Strike release date|date=2018-07-10|work=[[BBC News]]|access-date=2018-07-11}}</ref>

== Background == ''Lethal White'' is preceded by ''[[The Cuckoo's Calling]]'', ''[[The Silkworm]]'', and ''[[Career of Evil]]'';<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://robert-galbraith.com/writing/|title=The Strike Series – Robert Galbraith|website=robert-galbraith.com|access-date=2018-05-12}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.sundaypost.com/fp/jk-goes-fourth-as-she-announces-crime-novel-is-finished/|title=JK Rowling goes fourth as she announces crime novel is finished|work=[[The Sunday Post]]|access-date=2018-05-12}}</ref><ref name=huffpost/><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/mediacentre/latestnews/2017/strike-career-of-evil|title=Tom Burke and Holliday Grainger to return in Strike - Career Of Evil in 2018|work=BBC Media Centre|date=17 September 2017|access-date=2018-05-12}}</ref> there are tentative plans to follow it with at least five more stories.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://ew.com/article/2014/02/24/j-k-rowling-has-seven-books-planned-for-cormoran-strike-series/|title=J.K. Rowling has seven books planned for Cormoran Strike series|work=[[Entertainment Weekly]]|first=JoJo|last=Marshall|date=24 February 2014|access-date=2018-05-12}}</ref><ref>{{Cite magazine|url=https://time.com/3013543/jk-rowling-cormoran-strike-novels/|title=J.K. Rowling to Write a Lot More Cormoran Strike Novels|magazine=[[Time (magazine)|Time]]|first=Nolan|last=Feeney|date=21 July 2014|access-date=2018-05-12}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.hypable.com/jk-rowling-crime-novel-series-number-of-books|title=J.K. Rowling may write up to 7 Cormoran Strike books|date=2014-02-24|work=Hypable|first=Andrew|last=Sims|access-date=2018-05-12}}{{Dead link|date=August 2025 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.hypable.com/jk-rowling-cormoran-strike-number-of-books-planned|title=J.K. Rowling teases Cormoran Strike Book #3's plot, says 6 more coming|first=Andrew|last=Sims|date=2014-07-18|work=Hypable|access-date=2018-05-12}}{{Dead link|date=August 2025 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> Rowling announced the completion of the manuscript on 23 March 2018, after approximately two years of writing,<ref name=metro/><ref name=hypable>{{Cite news|url=https://www.hypable.com/cormoran-strike-book-4-release-date/|title=Cormoran Strike Book 4 'Lethal White' release date, cover revealed|first=Andrew|last=Sim|date=2018-07-10|work=Hypable|access-date=2018-05-12|archive-date=8 June 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180608224022/https://www.hypable.com/cormoran-strike-book-4-release-date/|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.radiotimes.com/news/tv/2018-03-25/jk-rowling-has-completed-the-next-strike-novel/|title=JK Rowling has completed the next Strike novel|work=[[Radio Times]]|first=Huw|last=Fullerton|date=25 March 2018|access-date=2018-05-12}}</ref> and the book was released on 18 September 2018.<ref name=BBCnews/> ''Lethal White'' follows the private detective Cormoran Strike and his partner Robin Ellacott.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.dailydot.com/parsec/jk-rowling-color-coded-charts-lethal-white|title=J.K. Rowling used a color-coding system to map out her next novel|date=2018-01-31|work=[[The Daily Dot]]|first=Michelle|last=Jaworski|access-date=2018-05-12}}</ref><ref name=hypable/> The story begins with a prologue following immediately after the conclusion of ''Career of Evil'' detailing events taking place at Robin's wedding reception.

==Plot== At Robin Ellacott's wedding to Matthew Cunliffe, Cormoran Strike's capture of the Shacklewell Ripper the night before is widely known, except by Robin. She realises Matthew has surreptitiously blocked Strike's number on her phone, which results in a row between the new spouses. Before Strike leaves the wedding, Robin accepts his offer of working as a salaried partner in the detective agency.

One year later, Strike has grown his detective agency to the point where he needs to hire more investigators. He receives an unsolicited visit from Billy Knight, a young man with a history of [[mental illness]] who claims to have witnessed a child's murder and the burial of the body in woodland some years before, but is unable to provide any details before he runs out of Strike's office. While trying to establish Billy's identity, Strike meets Billy's older brother Jimmy and Jimmy's girlfriend Flick, [[Far-left politics|radical left]]-wing activists who claim that Billy is unstable and unreliable.

Strike's meeting with Jimmy draws the attention of Jasper Chiswell, the Minister for Culture, whom Strike knew of from investigating the combat death of his son Freddie. Chiswell has been [[blackmail]]ed by Jimmy and hires Strike to investigate; he identifies Geraint Winn, the husband of a political enemy, as Jimmy's likely partner. Chiswell does not reveal what he is accused of, but claims that what he did was legal "at the time". Robin goes undercover in Chiswell's office to carry out surveillance on Winn, who has a neighbouring office, and whose wife is a government minister. The undercover assignment places more strain on Robin's marriage. She meets Chiswell's daughter Izzy, who manages his office, his illegitimate son Raphael, who also works there, and his second wife Kinvara. By bugging Winn's office, Robin discovers that Winn has been [[embezzlement|embezzling]] money from his and his wife's charity, and Chiswell uses this knowledge to stop Winn's blackmail.

Chiswell summons Strike and Robin to a house that he keeps in the city for business, but on arrival, they find Chiswell's body, apparently dead from suffocation and an overdose of [[anti-depressant]]s. The [[Metropolitan Police]] rule his death a suicide, but Izzy is convinced that Kinvara is responsible, again hiring Strike to investigate. Strike believes that the mysterious blackmail is connected to Chiswell's death and eventually learns that Chiswell and Jack Knight, Jimmy and Billy's late father, built [[gallows]] for export before the [[European Union]] [[Torture trade#Regulations|banned the export of torture and execution equipment]] from member states. Two sets of these gallows were sold to [[Zimbabwe]], where one set was stolen by rebels and used in the murder of a British student. The gallows could be traced to Chiswell because Billy had carved the nearby [[White Horse of Uffington]] into it.

Meanwhile, Robin continues to struggle with [[post-traumatic stress disorder]] a year after her encounter with the Shacklewell Ripper, while Matthew continues to interfere with her work. She finally [[marital separation|separates]] from Matthew and moves out when she finds proof that he has been having an affair with Sarah Shadlock — the same woman he cheated on Robin with at university. Strike's ex-girlfriend Charlotte Ross née Campbell, now pregnant, reappears and unsuccessfully pursues Strike.

Strike learns that Chiswell had transferred title of his property to his grandson before his death. In a document accompanying his [[will and testament|will]], however, he wrote Kinvara could keep anything in their country house and live on the family estate for the rest of her life. Strike and Robin notice the country house contains a painting titled ''Mare Mourning'' and realise that it may be a lost [[George Stubbs]] artwork depicting a mare mourning a foal that died of [[lethal white syndrome]]. If its [[provenance]] were to be established, it would probably be worth over £20 million. Strike identifies Chiswell's killer: Raphael, who had never been accepted by the family but had worked for an art dealer. Raphael had tipped off Flick about a cleaning job at Chiswell's, expecting that she would find out about the gallows sales and tell Jimmy, who then demanded half of the profits. Raphael also seduced and conspired with Kinvara to kill Chiswell, intending to persuade Kinvara to make him the beneficiary of the wealth she'd receive from the painting.

Kinvara confesses on being interrogated by police, but Raphael sends Robin texts purporting to be from Matthew, luring her into a trap. He keeps her alive to interrogate her about the investigation; Robin stalls for time by outlining everything in detail and Raphael realises that there is too much evidence against him. Strike realises Raphael's duplicity when he notices that the text messages to Robin came from a phone number similar to the burner phone numbers used in the blackmail case. He learns from Izzy that Raphael had a girlfriend with a [[houseboat]] and manages to arrive at the houseboat with police just as Raphael is about to kill Robin and then himself.

In the aftermath, Strike, Robin, and Izzy meet Billy to discuss the "murder" he witnessed as a child. Izzy reveals that Billy actually saw Freddie choke a young Raphael until he passed out, followed by the burial of a small horse that Freddie had killed in a separate act of cruelty. Strike and Robin then leave together.

==Characters==

* '''Cormoran Strike''' – A war veteran who was honourably discharged after losing half of his leg in a bomb attack. He has since become a private detective. He is a minor celebrity, thanks in part to his rock star father and his solving of high-profile murders. * '''Robin Ellacott''' – Strike's former secretary, who completed a course in criminal investigation, paid for by Strike, and became his business partner while at her wedding. She is a survivor of a rape and attempted murder and is extremely sensitive regarding sex crimes. * '''Matthew Cunliffe''' – Robin's long-time boyfriend and new husband. * '''Charlotte Campbell Ross''' – Strike's ex-girlfriend who is currently married and expecting. * '''Nick Herbert''' – An old friend of Strike's, with whom he occasionally stays to avoid publicity. * '''Ilsa Herbert''' – An old classmate of Strike's, now married to Nick. * '''Billy Knight''' – A young man who claims to have witnessed a murder some years prior. * '''Jimmy Knight''' – Billy's brother, a left-wing activist. * '''Flick Purdue''' – Jimmy Knight's girlfriend and fellow activist. * '''Jasper Chiswell''' – A mercurial and scandal-plagued [[Member of Parliament (United Kingdom)|Member of Parliament]] serving as the Minister for Culture. * '''Freddie Chiswell''' – Jasper's late son, whose death in combat was investigated by Strike. * '''Izzy Chiswell''' – Jasper's hard-working but under-appreciated daughter. * '''Raphael''' – Jasper's illegitimate son, who was recently released from prison after killing a woman while [[driving under the influence]]. * '''Kinvara Chiswell''' – Jasper Chiswell's young, unstable, [[Histrionic personality disorder|histrionic]] second wife. * '''Geraint Winn''' – The husband of Minister for Sport Della Winn, and one of Jasper Chiswell's political enemies. * '''Vanessa Ekwensi''' – A police detective who is friends with Robin.

==In other media== {{main|Strike (TV series)}}

''Lethal White'' was adapted as part of the television series starring [[Tom Burke (actor)|Tom Burke]] as Cormoran Strike and [[Holliday Grainger]] as Robin Ellacott.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.radiotimes.com/news/tv/2018-03-20/strike-lethal-white-bbc-tv-novel-jk-rowling|work=Radio Times|title=JK Rowling confirms the next Strike book WILL be adapted for TV|first=Huw|last=Fullerton|date=20 March 2018|accessdate=7 January 2020}}</ref> Filming began in September 2019. The first episode was broadcast on 30th August 2020.

==References== {{reflist|30em}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lethal White}} [[Category:2018 British novels]] [[Category:2018 English-language novels]] [[Category:Cormoran Strike series]] [[Category:Sphere Books books]] [[Category:British novels adapted into television shows]]