The Cuckoo's Lethal Grave: Connections between Strike Books 1, 4 and 7.

 Ring Structure predicts that the first and last books of a seven book series. John Grnager has written extensively on within- and between book rings in Harry Potter, producing an entire book on the topic.  Given that is clear that Cormoran Strike is a parallel series to Harry Potter,  Ring structure has also been an analytic tool for Strike and Robin's adventures. This post will collect links to Cuckoo's Calling and Lethal White, with a bonus section for three-way parallels. Spoilers in blue. 

Cuckoo's Calling Echoes

1. Lady Yvette Bristow and Lady Sally Edensor are both wealthy family matriarchs with three children, Both mothers die (or are close to death) of cancer. 
1. Both of them had middle sons who had fatal/near-fatal accidents. 
2. Lady Yvette has pictures of two of her children by her beside; Lady Sally's dying wish was to see her youngest son. 
2. Tony Landry and James Edensor are both disparaging to their siblings, and specifically complain about them bringing unsuitable children into the family. 
3. Tony Landry also has an analog in Nicholas Delauney, an angry uncle who (with his wife) does not want his dead niece's death investigated.
1. Strike has great snappy comebacks to them both. 
4. The first mention of Prudence as Rokeby's other illegitimate child is in CC, we meet her in TRG. 
5. Robin gets to try on expensive clothes she could never afford and is surprised to be given some  as gifts.
6. Former foster daughters/runaways (Rochelle, Cherie) die within hours of an agency interview.
1.  In Rochelle's case, Carver accuses Strike of driving her to suicide; in Cherie's case Robin feels guilty, fearing that they have done just that. 
2. In both cases, someone else bears far more responsibility for the death. 
7. Charlotte probably lied about being pregnant with Strike's baby in CC;  she probably lied about having cancer in TRG. In both cases. Strike responds that such lies would be unforgiveable. 
1. With her death, we will likely never know the truth about either condition. 
8. Charlotte assaults Strike in CC and assaults Landon in TRG. Landon has the good sense to have her arrested. 
9. A woman is murdered by drowning (Rochelle, Deidre).
10. Both Daiyu and John Bristow are described as rabbity-looking. 
11. Pat mentions difficulty getting a client to pay at the start of TRG. Strike had that problem at hte start of CC. 
12. Alexander Graves had "manic-depression" which his sister said probably had a new name by now. It does, bipolar disorder, which was Lula's diagnosis.
13. Someone calls Strike Monkey Boy when he leaves a message in the office during Robin's first week. Nicholas Delauney calls Strike a monkey in TRG. 
14. This one may be a stretch, but Robin glimpses Strike's coconut-matting belly in CC.  She finds herself wondering if a different (ahem!) part is hairy in TRG. 
15. We meet Lucy and hear her nag Strike about his lack of marriage first in CC.  At the end of TRG she promises never to do that again. 

Lethal White Echoes

1. Kevin Pirbright is a Billy Knight echo at the start of book, thinking he was drugged as a child and having doubts about whether horrors he had witnessed were real. 
2. The writing on Kevin Pirbright's wall, and the part that was gouged out is a reminder of Billy's carving the White Horse on Aamir's bathroom. Both pieces of wall art feature farm animals (drawing of a horse, the word pigs). 
1. Strike searches the pockets of a bathrobe hanging up in a bathroom his his visiting (Aamir's, Jonathan Wace's).
3. Abigail Wace planned a more elaborate murder than Raphael Chiswell, and had three accomplices she sexually exploited, not just one. 
4. The eldest and youngest Edensor brothers (James, William) have the same names as the knight brothers (Jimmy, Billy). Hat tip to the Strike and Ellacott files. 
5. Sam Barclay clears away nettles in the wood under cover of night (Thanks to Strike and Ellacott Files pocdast.)
6. Mitch Patterson Inc. detective agency makes trouble for the good guys. 
7. Illegal bugging of high-level government-affiliated office (Minister's, QC's)  A bit ironic that Strike was happy to see Patterson go down for something he himself had done. 
1. Robin also recognizes a bug like the one she used in LW in the farmhouse. 
8. Robin automatically says "I love you" to a partner and doubts her own sincerity.
9. Investigative action is split between London and a more rural community.
10. There are a lot of Graves-Chiswell family echoes
1. Big manor house, though the Colonel's is in better repair. 
2. Horsey daughter/daughter-aged wife (Phillipa, Fizzy, Kinvara). 
3. Older brother whose criminal behavior is dismissed as "naughtiness."
1. Family pulls strings to get a criminal son a light sentence.
4. Family believes home and heirlooms should pass to male heirs. 
5. Big, lazy, Labrador dog (Badger, Gunga Din) 
1. Dog leaves large pile on lawn, like LW's other Lab, Gwynn (thank you, Zoesong).
6. Colonel and Izzy both mispronounce "marijuana" (at least in audiobook). 
7. Colonel hired detective to get dirt on Wace's, as Chiswell did for Winn and Knight. 
11. In both LW and TB, the agency is hired by an government official to find discrediting information about someone else, but wind up solving a murder. 
1. The agency is hired after Strike (or Strike and Robin) are taken to an exclusive club by a prominent government minister/civil servant.
12. In both books, Strike interviews a man named Henry, who works at a shop that sells things to the rich and famous.
1. Both Henrys know Charlotte.
2. Charlotte learns of the meeting and ambushes Strike immediately after the meeting and tries to force him to eat in an upscale establishment with her. 
13. Charlotte lies that she is meeting Amelia in Franco's. Strike finally dines with Amelia in TRG. 
14. The Doherty family is structured like the Chiswells: three older siblings favored by the father (or that Ralph at least liked enough to take with him when he left the cult) and a younger illegitimate half-sibling that he does not care about. 
1. The three oldest have proper English/Irish names presumably chosen by the father.  
2. Raphael's name is Italian, presumably his mother's choice, while Lin's is Chinese, chosen by "Mama" Mazu. 
3. Both Ralph and Jasper despise and speak hatefully of their wives after the wife is manipulated into sleeping with a much stronger personality. 
15. The mystery involves digging up bodies. 
16. Strike hires a new ex-Army subcontractor at the start of both books, though Barclay works out way better than Littlejohn. 
17. Sir Colin Edensor mentions that the agency came recommended by the Chiswells, from book 4.
1. He also apologizes for his sons' outbursts and Strike replies that they've seen worse. He is discreet enough not to tell them that the Chiswell family was among the worst they had seen.
18. Strike and Kevin Pirbright both have memories of teenagers being whipped at Forgeman/Chapman Farms. 
19. A yapping terrier (Rattenbury, Basil) is a hint to an important clue involving a picture. 
20. Both Robin and Becca are described as looking like Girl Guides. 
21. The Latin motto on the floor of the farmhouse, Stet fortuna domas, means "May the house fortune stand." I was reminded of the motto on Freddie Chiswell's money clip: Nec aspera terrent: "Difficulties be damned."
22. Dr. Zhou asks if Robin's scar is a suicide attempt, just as her wedding photographer wondered. 
23. Papa J's sermon in Chapter 34 about the deplorable state of the world thanks to capitalism is a lot like Jimmy Knight's. 
24. One of the epigraphs mentions a white horse, but as a hero, not an omen of death. 
25. Sir Colin does not eat his food at the Rules, prompting the waiter to ask about it. The same happened to Robin at her wedding
26. Strike initially ignored Lucy's calls when she called to tell him about Jack. He also ignores Michael Ellacott's calls when he calls to tell him about the accusations against Robin. 
27. While driving herself and Strike in the Land Rover, Robin has to pull over because of emotional distress. In LW, she has a full blown panic attack and Strike has to force her to the verge. In TRG he politely suggests it, she agrees and recovers quickly. 
28. Strike's relative lack of sympathy for Flora compared to Abigail is like what he says to Izzy about Billy versus Raff. He points out that Billy had terrible trauma, but only wanted justice for others and never hurt anyone. He is critical of Flora for not doing the same.
1. Billy and Flora both mention not being able to drink on their medications. 
29. At the closing gathering, Sir Colin uses Izzy's near-exact words about Raff when speaking about Abigail, saying she must be mentally disturbed and had a terrible childhood.
1. Strike replies almost exactly as he did to Izzy. 
30. Both James Edensor and an unnamed stranger in the Red Lion pub spill drinks on Robin, claim not to notice and are ordered by Strike to apologize. 
1. Robin and Strike meet at the Red lion in LW and the Golden Lion in TRG. (Hat tip to Strike and Ellacott files) 
31. A cop friend of Strike's arrives to arrest the killer, after a long near-monologue by Strike explaining the circumstances behind the crime. I'm counting Ryan as a cop friend, he came to the burger summit and Strike liked him fine before he started dating Robin. 
32. Strike is offered congratulations on solving his latest newsworthy case by Stephen at the wedding and by Ryan at the end of TRG. In both cases, Strike asks them what he's being congratulated for. 

1-4-7 Double Echoes

1. Mysteries involving long-ago murders of children are solved in all three books. In 1 and 7 the killer is identified, in 4 it turns out to be "only" an attempted murder, that a witness believed for years was real.  
1. In all three cases, the killer (or attempted killer) is an older adopted, half- or step-sibling of the victim. 
2. In all three cases, a parent either knew or had reason to suspect the older sibling, but chose to ignore, dismiss or cover up rather than take action. 
2. The murderer's motivation in all three books is greed and jealousy over siblings they think have usurped the parent's love or resources. In 1 and 7 the murderer is a sibling; in 4, a son. 
3. Suicide is a huge theme. The killers in LW and TRG try to push their victims into committing suicide, in TRG successfully.  And of course, John Bristow "pushed" two victims into what the police initially believed was a suicide. 
4. LW and TRG are the only two books where one of our detectives has been threatened with a gun. Robin faces a killer with a gun at the end of both books.  But, we can make this a three-way if we add little Jack shooting his uncle Corm in the stomach with his toy soldier birthday present in CC. Here's hoping that does not echo with a real weapon in Book 10. 
5. Someone comes into a windfall of money at the end of the book, but has mixed feelings about it. In CC, it was Jonah Agyeman inheriting the fortune of the murdered sister he has never met. In LW, it was Izzy now owning a potentially 28-million pound painting that triggered her father's murder and which she claims can go in the rubbish bin for all she cares. (I'm willing to bet, if the Stubbs is reall, she will force herself to bite the bullet, sell it and take the money after all). In TRG, Will Edensor is restored to his family, Prodigal Son-style, and presumably will benefit, along with his child and Lin, of the Edensor fortune, even if he thinks he does not deserve it.  Even a modest lifestyle will seem like luxury compared to the cult. 
6. Hidden hand-written notes are important to the case (Lula's will in purse, Chiswell's stolen note in LW, Robin and Strike's hidden correspondence). 
7. Book 1 opened with an engagement, Book 4 with a wedding, Book 7 with a christening. Could we have a funeral at the start of Book 10? 
8. Wardle is introduced and is the most helpful Met cop in Book 1. Vanessa is the most important in Book 4, both putting them in contact with Bargate for forensics and giving Robin her couch after she leaves the Flobberworm. Layborn is introduced in Book 4.  All three show up for Strike's burger summit in book 7. 
9. The kairos moment that Strike drunkenly confessed to Robin in CC is revisited by Charlotte and the "shared mythology" destroyed. Robin also destroys some of the mythology of her marriage from LW, finally telling Strike that she regretted it almost immediately and wanted to leave Matthew on the honeymoon.