Lethal White by Robert Galbraith

Lethal White by Robert Galbraith

Review of the novel Lethal White by Robert Galbraith

Published by Sphere

First Published: 18 September 2018

Dedication: To Di and Roger, and in memory of the lovely white Spike.

Cost: £8.99 (UK Paperback 2019)

ISBN: 978-0-7515-7287-2 (Paperback Edition - 774 pages)

This is the fourth Robert Galbraith novel, all have been very successful and enjoyed by fans of the author. This review will cover aspects of the story that will contain spoilers if you have not read the book or reviews on the story.

Lethal White is much longer than the previous books, however, the story and plot means the reader is given an in-depth insight into the murder investigation and the personal lives of the two detectives, throughout the story.

Lethal White describes a complex investigation taken on by Cormoran Strike and Robin Ellacott. The story picks up where the previous story ended, continuing the activities of the Private Detective agency. We discover that Robin has recently been made a partner in the firm and as a result is expected to take on more challenges that put her personal safety at risk.

However, the story begins with a Prologue. It’s Robin’s wedding reception following her marriage to her long-time boyfriend, Matthew.

He couldn’t remember when he had last been commissioned to photograph so handsome a couple. There was no need for tactful tricks with the new Mr and Mrs Matthew Cunliffe, no need to angle the lady so that rolls of back fat were hidden (she was, if anything, fractionally too slender, but that would photograph well). [.. . ] The only thing that needed concealing, and it could be retouched out of the final pictures, was the ugly scar running down the bride’s forearm: purple and livid, with the puncture marks of stitches still visible.

Things are not going well; with the photographer is trying to capture swans in the background of the bride and groom. The tension between Matthew and Robin get worse as the reception progresses and culminates in words of anger when Cormoran Strike eventually makes an appearance.

Chapter 1 takes up the story one year on from the wedding. Strike and Robin have shot to fame as a result of the capture of the Shackewell Ripper murder case, and although it brings some additional business to the detective agency, it’s a profile they could do without. Strike receives a call to return to his office where Billy Knight, a male with a history of mental illness, is terrorising his receptionist. As Strike interviews Billy, it seems that much of what Billy says is incoherent as he recalls the murder of a young girl. With the mention of the police, Billy storms off, leaving Strike with a curious belief in the murder story.

The plot that runs throughout the story has a number of aspects to it, but Strike begins to see a common link between them when Jasper Chiswell, Member of Parliament serving as the Minister for Culture, asks him to investigate a blackmail attempt on him. Robin is put to surveillance work in Chiswell’s office, at the House of Commons, where we are soon introduced to various members of the MP’s family; his under-appreciated daughter Isabella; his illegitimate son Raphael, and his young erratic wife Kinvara. Robin places a recording device in the office of the blackmailer and plays back the tape to Strike. The details of the recording provide further leads to investigate and expose further links to the Knight family, and the Chiswell family.

This is a complex story and alongside the investigation, the reader is exposed to the moments of anxiety and panic attacks that haunt Robin following the Shackewell Ripper murder case. We also discover more about the problems Strike has to cope with as a result of wearing a prosthetic leg. Added to this, Robin’s marriage goes through a tormenting time, to the extent that she leaves Matthew to live in a bedsit accommodation. Interwoven with the investigation, we also experience Strikes continuing girlfriend problems.

When Jasper Chiswell feels that the investigation work by Strike and Robin is getting nowhere, he calls them to his home to discuss terminating their contract. But when Strike is late for the appointment, Robin enters the house only to find Chiswell dead, ‘sitting in a Queen Anne chair, his legs splayed, his arms dangling, and he seemed to have a shiny grey turnip for a head’.

Keen to get paid for the lucrative job, Strike is fortunate that the family want to discover if Jasper’s death was suicide or a murder.

Finally, the investigations come to a close and the information Strike has given to the police, results in an arrest and a confession from Jason’s wife, Kinvara. But there is a twist at the end. When Robin receives a number of text messages, she agrees to meet up with the person sending them, only to realise too late, that it is a trap. With her kidnapper holding a gun to her head Robin tries to stall for time while she thinks of a way to escape. In response to questions, Robin goes through the investigation conclusions, a telling that covers twenty pages. As she nears the final solution, she can hear a police siren and sees blue flashing lights out of a nearby window, which is obscured from her kidnapper.

With a great splintering of wood, the door crashed open. [The kidnapper] spun around, pointing the gun at the large figure that had just fallen inside. Robin launched herself over the table to grab his arm, but [was] knocked backwards with an elbow and she felt blood spurt as her lip split.

[The kidnapper] stood up, stooped in the cramped space, the barrel of the gun in his mouth. Strike, who had shouldered in the door, stood panting feet away from him, and behind Strike was [a police officer].

Then there was a small, metallic click.

Although the case is solved, Strike feels there is one further aspect that needs to be resolved. He meets up with Billy Knight and reveals what the young boy actually saw on the night that has tormented him for years.

Galbraith weaves a captivating story, which includes the text messages on mobile phones belonging to various characters. The story is extremely well written and in places, it was difficult to put down, but 774 pages take a while to read to the conclusion, but it’s a real page-turner. Perhaps this is the best Strike Cormorant story so far – they keep getting better. It’s fluently written and the story is convincing and a great murder mystery. Rating 5 stars.

Dr Sheppard

15 May 2019

Ruin Beach by Kate Rhodes

Ruin Beach by Kate Rhodes

Review of the novel Ruin Beach by Kate Rhodes

Published by Simon & Schuster UK Ltd

First Published: 2018

Dedication: For the heroic staff and volunteers of the Royal National Lifeboat Institution.

Cost: £7.99 (UK Paperback 2019)

ISBN: 978-1-4711-6546-7 (Paperback Edition - 399 pages – starts on page 3)

This story is set around the Isles of Scilly with much of the action taking place on the Isle of Tresco. The Isles of Scilly form an archipelago lying 28 miles off Lands’ End, the South West tip of Cornwall, in the UK. There are five inhabited islands, but there are numerous other rocky islets (numbering about 140 in total). Tresco is the second-largest island with a population of 180 people (2001 census). Kate Rhodes provides a map of the isles and a larger one of Tresco, with a key setting out a number of the locations mentioned in the story. As we discover ‘there are no cars here, but the lanes are wide enough to accommodate local traffic, which consists of horse-drawn carts, bicycles and golf buggies for the elderly’.

The story is set over a ten-day period 11^th May to 20^th May and opens with:

It’s midnight when the woman begins her steep descent down Tregarthen Hill. Excitement washes through her system as she follows the rocky path, with the breeze warm against her skin. [….] When she drops down to the beach, she can feel someone’s eyes travel, across her skin, but the sensation must be imaginary; if she had been followed, she would have heard footsteps pursuing her through the dark.

The following day, as Detective Inspector Benesek Kitto ponders over a letter regarding his review meeting - which will decide if he can continue as Deputy Commander of the Isles of Scilly Police - he spots a traditional fishing smack heading from the isles of Tresco towards him on the quay on Bryher. The fisherman describes a body he has seen in the water at the entrance to a cave on the northernmost tip of Tresco. The boat turns around and with Kitto aboard, it’s not long before Piper’s Hole, a deep-water cave reveals its contents at the entrance; a body floating on the water is secured to the rocks by the oxygen tank attached to the corpse’s back. Tied to the body is a sealed bottle containing a poem.

The Isles have a been referred to as “the land that crime forgot”, but the body of a professional diver becomes serious business for the local police. As Kitto reflects, the islands’ population is so small he can almost name every inhabitant, but his knowledge of them is not sufficient for him to identify a likely suspect.

Having recently returned to the Isles of Scilly after a ten-year absence spent in London, as an undercover police officer, Kitto enjoys renewing his acquaintance with the local inhabitants. As the Detective Inspector walks from West to East and North to South, Kate Rhodes vividly describes the landscape of the island of Tresco, as the list of suspects could be any one of the local population. Kitto reflects on the situation: “The suspect would most likely have access to a sturdy boat that could be steered between the rocky crags and a capable captain that would more than likely have knowledge of the tides and beaches of the island”.

Three days have passed since Jude Trellon’s death, facts about her personality slowly emerging. She was a thrill-seeker who suppressed her love of danger once she had a child but may have found other risks to satisfy her thirst for excitement. I’m even more certain that whoever killed the young mother knew of her failings, and had no qualms about subjecting her to a terrifying death. It would take cold, intense rage to force an object into someone’s mouth then watch her drown. The killer’s method needs to be taken into account, as well as motivation. Whoever murdered Jude must have had access to a boat and strong sailing skills to escape the incoming tide, so every vessel that has visited Tresco recently needs to be searched.

There is no local police station on the island, so the manager of the New Inn Hotel offers up his attic as a temporary headquarters, and from here Kitto collates the pieces of the investigation. However, it is Kitto’s dog, Shadow, a sleek grey wolf-hound with glacial blue eyes that seems to have an intuition as to where his owner should be searching.

As the killer realises that in such a small community, almost anyone might know or have observed his behaviour, even though they might not have realised what they have seen. As further attempted murders occur, and further poems in bottles are found by Kitto, we discover a little about the rules and guidelines that all divers need to be aware of (PADI), however, a fuller insight would have added to the suspense implied in the story.

Vital to the investigation is the bitterness between various inhabitants that are being torn apart by the questions that DI Kitto asks, as he digs deeper into the history of the island and the notorious shipwrecks that surround the Isles of Scilly. It’s the victim’s husband, Ivar Larsson, a Swedish academic carrying out scientific research, that takes the brunt of the verbal attacks, and at one point, physically on his home and later on himself. To the islanders he will always be an outsider, not having been born on the isles.

Although the storyline follows the movements of DI Kitto, there is a second narrative told by the teenager Tom – the font and story descriptions noticeably change. Tom feels bound to the island as a result of the disability of his mother. Taught to dive by the murdered victim, the killer is convinced that Tom must know something about the movements of Jude, as they spent the previous summer driving off the northern coast of Tresco. They suspect the two of them were diving for treasure trove on one of the ancient shipwrecks, which is a theme behind the murder. Breaking up the Kitto investigation chapters, Kate Rhodes has Tom reveal his most anxious moments as he has concerns for his life. Tom is kidnapped and shut in the smelly hold of a local fisherman’s boat and when he reveals nothing to the killer, he is left to die in a cave as the incoming tide attempts to engulf him.

The story concludes with a bitter fight in the waters of Piper’s Hole, as DI Kitto struggles to overcome his attacker and at the same time haul an unconscious Ivar Larsson through a tight passage as the incoming tide nearly seals off their escape route.

The story is well written and captivating, but this is not a psychological thriller. Kate Rhodes breaks up the plot with side issues that try to convince the reader that DI Kitto is a man with issues; he has a love link with the owner of the local pub and has a difficult working relationship with his boss. However, for me there is one concern about the investigation and that is that Kitto, who has been on the island for the last three months, does not appear to know any of the local residents, although there are only about 180 people living on Tresco and I ask myself where he had been over the last three months. I enjoyed having the map of Tresco but found myself returning to it frequently and I thought the Rhodes should have described in more detail as to where Kitto was heading on the island. I must admit that I would certainly read further novels by the author, hoping they were just as captivating. Rating 4 stars.

Dr Sheppard

12 March 2019

My Recent Reading in 2019

My Recent reading: 23 in 2019

Date	Book Title	Author	Notes / Rating
25 November 2019	The Return of Sherlock Holmes	Arthur Conan Doyle	5 stars
28 October 2019	King of Kings	Wilbur Smith	4 stars
23 September 2019	Tombland	C.J. Sansom	4 stars
17 September 2019	A Wanted Man	Lee Child	5 stars
12 September 2019	Domino Island	Desmond Bagley	5 stars
3 September 2019	Shadow Tyrants	Clive Cussler	5 stars
20 August 2019	The Reckoning	John Grisham	4 stars
17 August 2019	Have You Eaten Grandma?	Gyles Brandreth	5 stars
27 July 2019	Dark Sacred Night	Michael Connelly	4 stars
5 July 2019	Heads You Win	Jeffrey Archer	5 stars
17 June 2019	Good Omens	Terry Pratchett & Neil Gaiman	5 stars
26 May 2019	Treveryan	Angela du Maurier	3 stars
20 May 2019	Past Tense	Lee Child	5 stars
1 May 2019	Broken Ground	Val McDermid	4stars
15 April 2019	Lethal White	Robert Galbraith	5 stars
1 April 2019	The Burning Chambers	Kate Mosse	5 stars
18 February 2019	Ruin Beach	Kate Rhodes	5 stars
11 February 2019	Arrowwood	Mick Finlay	4 stars
4 February 2019	Clouds of Witness	Dorothy L Sayers	3 stars
28 January 2019	Caliban’s War	James S A Corey	3 stars
21 January 2019	The ABC Murders	Agatha Christie	5 stars
14 January 2019	Blue Gold	Clive Cussler	5 stars
1 January 2019	The Solomon Curse	Clive Cussler	4 stars

The A B C Murders by Agatha Christie

The A B C Murders by Agatha Christie

Review of the novel The A B C Murders by Agatha Christie

Published by William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd

First Published: 6 January 1936

Dedication: To James Watts. One of my most sympathetic readers.

Cost: £2.50 (UK Paperback September 2017)

ISBN: 978-0-006-16724-2 (Paperback Edition - 224 pages – starts on page 9)

This is a Hercule Poirot story, narrated by Hastings, however, there are chapters which are written in the third person, which Hastings is able to vouch for the accuracy of the story. I must say up front that this review I will be discussing SPOILERS, as the nature of the plot makes it impossible to do otherwise.

When the story opens, we find that Hastings has just returned from his ranch in South America and is chatting to Poirot about his appearance, suggesting that he has not aged at all in the time they have been apart. After a while, Poirot produces a letter and asks Hastings, ‘What do you make of this?’.

Mr HERCULE POIROT, - You fancy yourself, don’t you, at solving mysteries that are too difficult for our poor thick-headed British police? Let us see, Mr Clever Poirot, just how clever you can be. Perhaps you’ll find this nut too hard to crack. Look out for Andover, on the 21st of the month.

Yours, etc.,

ABC.

And so begins a series of murders that Poirot has to understand, not solve. I say understand because in most murder mysteries there is one murder that the private investigator, or police officer, has to grasp why the victim was murdered and what is the motive. In this story there does not seems to be any reason to link the series of murders that take place or a motive for one person to have committed an individual crime.

Poirot shows the letter to his old friend, Chief Inspector Japp of Scotland Yard. Everyone waits patiently, as the 21st of June gets nearer, but as the day goes by there is nothing to report. It is on the 22nd of June that Japp contacts Poirot. The owner of a newsagent in Andover, a Mrs Ascher, has been struck down by a heavy blow to the head. There is also a Bradshaw railway guide at the scene of the crime, (which is also known as an A B C guide).

Hastings comments:

I think I can date my interest in the case from that first mention of the A B C railway guide. Up till then I had not been able to raise much enthusiasm. This sordid murder of an old woman in a back-street shop was so like the usual crime reported in the newspapers that it failed to strike a significant note. In my own mind I had put it down the anonymous letter with its mention of the 21st as a mere coincidence.

The thought that the murder of Mrs Ascher is an isolated case was a feeling reflected by all but Poirot. As further murders take place, he struggles to understand why he has become involved - drawn into the case by the letters from the murderer. As you would expect, this case is fully investigated by the local Andover police officer, an Inspector Glen, and for almost twenty pages, they are no nearer solving the crime.

Almost a month later a second letter arrives on the doorstep of Poirot’s home. A B C advises Poirot to focus on Bexhill-on-Sea on the 25th of July. Everyone involved in the investigation realises they have a possible serial killer on the loose that will challenge their ability to solve the crimes. On the 25th of July a young female waitress, called Elizabeth Barnard, has been found on the beach at Bexhill. The medical evidence gives the time of death between 11.30pm and 1 am, which raises the question of whether the murder is linked to A B C until a railway timetable is discovered under the body. Poirot asks himself why he is receiving the letters; sending them to the police or a national newspaper would get greater attention; there must be an underlying reason.

Just over a month later, a third letter arrives.

Poor Mr Poirot, - Not so good at these little criminal matters as you thought yourself, are you? Rather past your prime, perhaps? Let us see if you can do any better this time. This time it’s an easy one. Churston on the 30th. Do try and do something about it! It’s a bit dull having it all my own way, you know!

Good hunting. Ever yours. A B C

To everyone’s surprise, the letter was dated the 27th of August but was addressed to the wrong building, and was forwarded twice before being delivered to Poirot on the 30th August. Hastings and Poirot join Inspector Crome on a train heading down to Devon. However, as they leave London, the inspector receives a note informing him of the death of Sir Carmichael Clarke, a resident of Churston.

As a result of such a prominent figure having been murdered, the national newspapers run a story on the incident and with help from the police, link it to the series of murders under the heading of 'The ABC Murders'. Poirot and Hastings argue about the method Poirot is taking to solve the crimes as nothing seems to be happening. In defence Poirot explains his behaviour:

‘My force, Hastings, is in my brain, not in my feet! All the time, while I see you idle, I am reflecting.’

‘Reflecting?’ I cried. Is this a time for reflection?’

‘Yes, a thousand times yes.’

‘But what can you possibly gain by refection? You know the facts of the three cases by heart.’

‘It is not the facts I reflect upon – but the mind of the murderer.’

At this point in the narrative, Hastings introduces relatives of the victims as he and Poirot discuss possible motives for the crimes and the story takes a new turn as the brother of Sir Michael Clarke suggests they can assist the police by pooling their ideas together.

There is one other aspect of the narrative that Christie introduces into the tale that is important. At the very end of chapter two, there is a half-page introduction to an Alexander Bonaparte Cust, a travelling salesman. We next hear more about him in chapter sixteen, where the character is developed and again towards the end of the story, brief chapters describe his behaviour. Christie teases her readers with these insights about Cust and how he makes a living, and which towns he visits.

As a possible fourth murder is on the horizon, Poirot, Hastings and Inspector Crome (having replaced Inspector Japp in the story), begin to get frustrated, questioning each other’s interpretation of the evidence. However, when a fourth letter arrives, they begin to believe they will catch A B C before he commits the crime. The letter reads:

Still no success? Fie! Fie! What are you and the police doing? Well, well, isn’t this fun? And where shall we go next for honey?

Poor Poirot. I’m quite sorry for you.

If at first you don’t succeed, try, try, try again.

We’ve a long way to go still.

Tipperary? No – that comes further on, Letter T.

The next little incident will take place at Doncaster on September 11th.

So long. A B C.

The investigation appears to conclude very quickly; the police charge their murderer, only to have Poirot question their reasoning. In typical Christie fashion, Poirot gathers a list of possible suspects together and challenges them to explain their part in the unravelling story of the A B C murders. There were two aspects of the series of murders that have bothered Poirot throughout the investigation; the motive for each crime and the link between the victims. In his solution, he feels that he should have treated it as a one-person murder, but he was led astray by the impossible association between the individual murders.

Christie has presented her readers with a number of red herrings as the story unfolds and kept their interest in her characters, particularly Alexander Bonaparte Cust. She also provides hints and clues to other Poirot stories, which is amusing. This is the eleventh full-length Poirot story, but perhaps one which gives the reader a more detailed insight into his character, as he challenges himself to solve the series of murders. This is an excellent story, which has the reader guessing to the end, even though all the facts have been presented, the final solution still amazes the acute murder mystery reader. Rating: 5 stars.

Dr Sheppard

22 January 2019

The Book of Dust by Philip Pullman

The Book of Dust by Philip Pullman

Review of the novel The Book of Dust by Philip Pullman

Published by David Fickling Books.

Cost: £7.99 (UK Paperback October 2018)

ISBN: 978-0-241-36585-4 (Paperback Edition - 569 pages)

Dedication: To Jude

First Published: 19 October 2017 (1^st Volume)

The story is set twelve years before ‘The Northern Lights’, the first story in The Dark Materials Trilogy by Philip Pullman. There is more to tell about the characters in this story as it is Volume 1, as The Book of Dust is also planned to be a trilogy.

This tale is all about the journey of Lyra Belacqua, while she is still a baby. She is befriended by an eleven-year-old boy, Malcolm Polstead, the son of the local landlord of The Trout Inn, located on the outskirts of Oxford.

Like every child of an innkeeper, Malcolm had to work around the tavern, washing dishes and glasses, carrying plates of food or tankards of beer, retrieving them when they were empty.

Every so often the book has a picture to accompany the telling of the story and the first one is the view of The Trout Inn, sited on the river Thames - Page 5.

The story introduces the second major character early on in the story: Alice, who is a fifteen-year-old girl who helps with the washing of the dishes at the inn. Although Malcolm and Alice do not get on, there is a bond between them that enables them to complete a task of great danger.

Malcolm attends the local Elementary School and although he has friends, he is happiest on his own. His main interest is his canoe, which is called La Belle Sauvage, (the subtitle of the book).

If you are new to The Dark Materials Trilogy you may not be aware that all the characters in this series by Philip Pullman have a Dæmon. (A dæmon is defined as a physical manifestation of a person’s ‘inner being’, soul or spirit, which takes the form of a creature.) A dæmon is a creature that belongs to an individual and helps them with their daily life. In the case of young children, the dæmon has the ability to change form, but as an adult, the dæmon is permanently one type of creature. Malcolm’s dæmon is called Astra and she changes to anything from a mouse, to a kingfisher and to an owl.

One day while Malcolm is paddling his canoe through the reeds on the river, looking for great crested grebes, his attention is distracted by ‘a man in a raincoat and grey trilby hat, standing under an oak tree’. The man’s behaviour is suspicious, and between him and his cat dæmon, they appear to have lost something on the towpath. Unable to find it they move on. As you can imagine, Malcolm and Astra find the object. The story takes a new direction with Malcolm becoming involved in a secret organisation called ‘Oakley Street’ – their work was said to be important and on the side of Liberalism and freedom.

Across the river from The Trout Inn, is the priory of St Rosamund, which is accessed by a bridge near the inn. Malcolm likes to spend much of his free time at the priory, doing errands for the nuns. Although it is meant to be a secret, the nuns at the priory are tasked to take care of the baby Lyra Belacqua. Malcolm takes a liking to the baby, Lyra, and takes a keen interest in her well-being.

At Malcolm’s school, there are mysterious things going on. He and his friends are subject to a new authority cult, The League of St Alexander, where they are told to report on anything unusual to their teachers. It is believed that this organisation is linked to the CCD (the Consistorial Court of Discipline). Malcolm is aware of the CCD and the fear they put into the locals as they have previously visited the inn and caused trouble and he decides not to report anything to the League.

When Lyra’s father visits the priory, he is able to enjoy her company for a short time and comfort her, but his visit has not gone unnoticed by a member of the CCD. He escapes with Malcolm in the canoe but requests that he takes the canoe further downstream, leaving Malcolm to return to the inn on foot. When the canoe is returned a few weeks later, it has been repainted, repaired and modified.

‘She’s been through the hands of the finest boat-builder on English waters,’ said Coram van Texel. ‘Every inch of her has been looked at and strengthened and that paint on her now is a special anti-fouling paint that has another virtue too. She’ll be the slippiest vessel on the Thames, apart from the real gyptian boats. She’ll go through the water like a hot knife through butter.’

The man returning the canoe is a gyptian (a canal-faring nomad), who is very knowledgeable in predicting the weather. He warns Malcolm to be wary of a major flood that is about to occur, which will see the UK flooded in many parts.

Although none of the locals believe Malcolm when he tells the story of the expected flood, he finds himself at the priory a few days later when the river Thames breaks its banks resulting in the ground floor of the priory being swamped with rising water.

Now begins the Part Two of the story – Page 317. Malcolm and Alice must overcome numerous trials and tribulations as they journey towards London, aboard La Belle Sauvage, and what they hope will be the safety of Lyra’s father’s home. I'm not going to spoil the story for you, but if you’re already a fan of The Dark Materials series, you will find this story just as captivating. The language is ideal for young adults, but it will stretch their reading ability. I felt the story stopped too early in the tale, however, there are two more books in the series. This story made the assumption that the reader knew much of the subject covered in The Dark Materials trilogy, which may leave the reader left wondering about some of the topics covered, but it did not detract from the enjoyment of the tale. Rating: 4 stars.

Dr Sheppard

6 November 2018