Robert Galbraith aka J.K. Rowling continues to be one of my very favorite authors. She is an amazingly prolific writer whose character development is beyond comparison. I think I have said this before too, but the deeper she gets into her characters, the longer her novels are as well! Lethal White is quite long for a mystery novel at 647 pages (hardcover). I could easily have read another 600 pages about Cormoran and Robin though. Unfortunately, I have to wait until September 2020 for the next installment.
Lethal White Syndrome is an autosomal (non-sex chromosome) genetic disorder found mostly in the American Paint Horse. The foals appear normal at birth and they are white, or nearly all white, with blue eyes. But they have a nonfunctioning colon and will die within days of birth. Since it's a painful death, the foals are often humanely euthanized. So, what does this explanation, and title of the book, have to do with this story? Well, I have spent some time thinking about it, and I'm not entirely sure. Certainly horses are prevalent in the story since the man who hires Cormoran, Jasper Chiswell, has a wife who owns nine horses; a significant painting in the story is of a mare and her dead foal; the skeleton of a dead pony is discovered; a young child is presumably strangled by "the horse" and buried in the dell.
While I was pondering the meaning of the title, I also wondered about the quotes that prefaced each chapter of the entire book. They were all quotes attributed to "Henrik Ibsen, Rosmersholm". So, I googled it since it was not familiar to me. Rosmersholm is actually a play written by the Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen. It was published in 1886. It is described as "one of Ibsen's most complex, subtle, multilayered and ambiguous plays...." It's a story about an ex-parson, Rosmer, a man of high ethical standards, and his housekeeper, a "free spirit". They are haunted by Rosmer's wife who died of suicide, due to the housekeeper's "subtle influence". These two people "contaminate" each other and the play ends in a double suicide.
So....keeping all of this in mind, Jasper Chiswell, who hires Cormoran because he is being blackmailed, ends up dead by presumed suicide. Cormoran and Robin believe it's murder, but it takes time to figure out who had both motive and the ability to pull it off. In addition to the murder mystery, Robin & Matthew's marriage is falling apart (after only one year); a pregnant Charlotte enters Cormoran's life again; Cormoran is involved with an incredibly lovely (and patient) woman named Lorelei; and then finally there are the unmentioned feelings between Cormoran and Robin. Seriously good storytelling!
J.K. Rowling is incredibly creative and intelligent. She is also British, so I enjoy reading her British terms and slang that I have no idea what they mean. Ha! As long as she is writing novels, no matter what the genre, I will be reading them.
Wendy's Rating: *****
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