The Grand Finale: Lethal White Read-along (Part 8 of 8)

Our heroes are now in the home stretch.  I’m glad to see them enjoy an afternoon at the races, even if Strike is being mean and refusing to tell Robin his theory, since they’ve got a tough road ahead. Brown Panther comes in second, and Strike wins money they can spend at the food tents, almost like a first date. Unlike the races with Charlotte, where he makes one small gamble that doesn’t pay off, this time he wins, even if it isn’t the grand prize (Robin) yet. 

With the abuse Strike gives his leg, first at the dell, then fighting off dogs, then walking Kinvara to the barn, I’m surprised he didn’t bugger his leg completely and wind up having to stay off it for a week. He recovered awfully quick, to be able to accompany Wardle to the barge to rescue Robin, including breaking through a door and helping to subdue Raff. 

Here’s another hint that Kinvara was envisioning inheriting the necklace, not getting it in the divorce. 

“Yes, he wanted to stop me doing a flit with the necklace, which, by the way, I’m perfectly entitled to do. It’s mine under the terms of the will. Jasper should have been a bit more bloody careful writing it if he didn’t want me to have it, shouldn’t he?”

Did you ever wonder how Raff explained moving the painting to Kinvara? Did he convince her that the trespassers trekking their way through the muddy woods were art thieves?

In any case, I love the suspense in these first few chapters, both in the uncovering and opening of the pink blanket and Robin’s trip upstairs to investigate the footsteps, and discover the hidden Mare Mourning. It’s also great to see Strike acknowledging his problems with his leg, admitting that digging might have been a mistake and asking for, not just grudgingly accepting, Robin’s help. 

We start wrapping the mystery up once our heroes are summoned to assist Scotland Yard Hopefully Roy Carver has retired, or he would be bursting a blood vessel over this. Even on my first reading, I thought there was something fishy about Kinvara giving to the homeless; she doesn’t seem like a very charitable person. There’s a lot of misdirection to make us think that Kinvara’s accomplice is Jimmy, including the appearance of Flick. But the best part, for me, is seeing Robin take pride in her contributions to the case. 

She is equally awesome when she has her strictly professional conversation with Sarah Shadlock; I only wish she had told Sarah that she was welcome to the Flobberworm. And please note that Strike and Robin stand shoulder-to-shoulder and jointly read an article that calls Strike “the illegitimate son of Jonny Rokeby.” Ergo she had no reason, in TB, to panic about suddenly giving away to Strike that she knew who his father was. 

Finally, we get to one of Robin's best scenes ever, on the barge, where she manages to keep her cool and keep Raff talking long enough for Strike and the police to come to her aid. Many readers have said that one thing they appreciated about COE was that Robin did not have to depend on someone else to rescue her from the Ripper; she rescued herself. The barge scene, given that we know she has been fighting panic attacks for the entire book, is a different type of heroism, as she carefully (and helpfully) reviews the case with Raff, For once, Robin gives us the final explanation, not Strike. In this case, Strike and Robin both emerge as heroes. 

The Epilogue, perhaps better than any in the series, ties the narrative up in a nice tidy bow. While hearing Izzy tell the full story in the restaurant certainly made for more enjoyable reading than Strike making a quick call to the hospital, it does seem that poor Billy was kept in suspense longer than necessary. I hope Strike at least got a message to him assuring him he did see something and he wasn't crazy. As for the tales of both Raff and Spotty, it's almost enough to convince you the world would have been a better place if someone had smothered Baby Freddie Chiswell in his crib. 

After the cliffhanger ending of COE, I appreciated the more definitive one here. We know Robin is safe in Nick and Ilsa's spare room (I guess Strike couldn't hide out there when the Chiswell story broke) and is going to be living in a much better place than her box room would have been. Their friendship is back on track, and they are checking up on each other's health concerns. They're even getting together for a takeaway curry meal at Nick and Ilsa's. The coziest book of the Strike series comes to a warm and fuzzy ending. 

Next week, Stacy will start us on Troubled Blood.