Lethal White Chapters 7-14: A grey dress, lunch with the minister, the start to Venetia's mission and Strike's evolving view of Lucy.

Chapter 7:  The Housewarming. I hate that Robin wore the grey dress that didn't flatter her to please the Flobberworm. As we recall, she also hated her wedding dress. Between wearing her hair the same way and a dress she doesn't like, she must be having some very bad memories. Plus Sarah Shadlock, ugh.  When Strike and Robin finally get married, I am willing to bet that Robin will ban all roses and all stargazer lilies from the decor.

On the other hand, part of me is happy that she saved the Green Dress for Strike.  But what kind of husband says, "I like you pale?" We are told back in early Cuckoo's Calling that Robin "did not much like her own milkmaid's colouring" and in CoE we learn that one of Matthew's nicknames for her, that he does not use much anymore was "Rosy-Posy" The fact that he now says he likes her pale is another indicator of how much the relationship has changed. 

Tom Turvey is one of the more loathsome characters upon re-read. You could almost feel sorry for him, the way Sarah and Matthew gang up on him, but basic courtesy dictates that you do not comment on your hostess's ass. His "you ought to pay more attention at home" to Robin makes me think he is no happier than Robin is about Sarah and Matthew's flirty relationship and their regular lunches. Then you remember how he blamed Robin for Sarah and Matthew's affair in Troubled Blood and its harder to feel sympathy. 

The worst part of the party is that it seems to renew the awkwardness between Strike and Robin, as happens anytime her wedding or marriage comes up. Question is, if Robin had offered Strike her ticket to the Olympic boxing, would he have gone, even if it meant spending an evening with the Flobberworm?

Chapter 8 sees Robin returning to the office and it is clear they are much more comfortable with each other there, with her making perfect tea, and listening to Strike as he muses about possible connections between the Knight brothers and Chiswell. We also get a mention of Spanner, who hasn't turned up since CC and who we will see again in TIBH. It's amusing to see Strike offer Robin the chance to cover a conference with "hundred of stinking geeks in super-hero T-shirts." A foreshadowing of Comicon? 

Chapter 9: One thing I noticed in the lunch with Chiswell at Pratts. When Strike asks Chiswell why Geraint Winn wants  to force him out of office, Chiswell answers:

There's an enmity between us dating back many years--rooted in a wholly baseless-- but that's irrelevant. 

It's interesting that Strike doesn't press him  to find out more about the source of the grudge. He and Robin seem to proceed as though Winn's motivation to blackmail Chiswell was purely political differences. Not that it would have made any difference; I bet wild horses would not have dragged the secret of Freddie Chiswell abusing and photographing Rhiannon Winn from him. But, even after Chiswell is murdered and Winn becomes a suspect, he never goes back to Izzy to ask what the reason for this enmity is. I would think that is something he'd want to know, along with the other information that Izzy is so reluctant to give up. 

Chapter 10: Strike's chat with Robin in the Red Lion is fun for several reasons:

• Strike being chivalrous defending Robin against the Orange Juice Man.
• Strike being completely impassive when Sarah Shadlock moves in for a kiss.
• Robin's excitement about going undercover at the House of Commons, even if she's not crazy about the idea of bugging Winn's office. 
• Learning for the first time what a "prize sh*t" Freddie Chiswell was. 

One thing that has always disturbed me, though. Do colored contacts really make a difference when it comes to disguising a person. If you are recognizable primarily from newspapers, are the photos ever close-up enough to see an eye color?  I would think Robin's hair, face and figure would be a lot more recognizable than her eyes. 

Chapter 11: This is the chapter where we learn more about Lorelei, including how she and Strike met. I wonder if Lorelei and Coco made up after her relationship with Strike implodes?  Strike must have a lot of confidence in Barclay to trust him do an infiltration, after only a few days on the job. 

Strike's visit to Chiswell to pick up the bugs holds an interesting clue in retrospect. 

The Minister for Culture did not invite Strike inside when he opened the door to his house on Ebury Street. Chiswell seemed keen, in fact, for the detective to leave as quickly as possible. After taking the box of listening devices, he muttered, "Good, right, I'll make sure she gets them," and was at the point of closing the door when he suddenly called after Strike, "What's her name?"

When Strike last left him at Pratt's, he was friendlier, having "become less curmudgeonly and gnomic over coffee." And, while he remembers to ask for his new goddaughter's name, he forgets it when he sees her for the first time in his office. What has him so preoccupied and distracted?  Well, barely 48 hours ago he discovered his son was sleeping with his wife. 

Chapter 12: The Flobberworm is his usual jerky self over the weekend, not even letting Robin practice with her colored contacts. And comparing Strike and Robin's pub visit to his lunches with Sarah Shagsalot? Dude, Strike and Robin work together and have business to discuss. You and the Flowerbomb Floozie don't.  And also, you cheated with her! As Robin reviews the information Strike gave her, it becomes clear she is as adept as Strike in internet sleuthing; he provides her with "little she did not already know." In fact, Robin is the one who has  found out Izzy runs her father's office. Strike asks her to impress him and she clearly does.

Chapter 13: "Venetia's" first day undercover! But first we see Robin has a panic attack at home, triggered by a nightmare of being strangled--- and also see the sad fact that she has to hide her distress from Matthew. Recall, Robin was  having nightmares again at the end of TIBH, and then again after her escape from Chapman Farm. This sets up the possibility of Robin needing to address more mental health issues in The Hallmarked Man. Perhaps, as before, she will choose the "safe" boyfriend as a way of coping with the trauma.

Robin gets her first impressions of Izzy, Aamir and Geraint,  Interestingly, Aamir's name means, "prince, rich or cultivated," ironic for the working class young man. Geraint means "old man;" which suits him, especially if you put the word "dirty" in front of it. He is creepy enough that simply thinking about him triggers another panic attack. 

Chapter 14: Strike sets off to interview Jimmy Knight's ex. Strike spends the early part of the journey musing about Suki Lewis's disappearance, before his thoughts turn to Lucy and his chaotic childhood.  Re-reading this text after The Running Grave is quite interesting. Strike recalls "the teenage being literally whipped in a quasi-mystical commune in Norfolk (still, for Strike's money, the worst place Leda had ever taken them)." He considers Lucy to: 

represent the acme of all that was conventional and unimaginative, even though they had both grown up on intimate terms with the macabre, the dangerous and the frightening...That unpredictable and sometimes terrifying childhood had left Lucy with a craving for stability and conformity....Lucy needed to pretend that violence and strangeness had vanished into a past as dead as their mother; that with Leda gone, life was unshakably secure...

Nonetheless, he could not help comparing her with Robin.... Robin had grown up in what to Strike seemed like the very epitome of middle-class stability but she was courageous in a way that Lucy was not. Both women had been touched by violence and sadism. Lucy had reacted by burying herself where she hoped it would never reach her again; Robin, by facing it almost daily, investigating and resolving other crimes and traumas. 

Contrast this to TRG, when Strike finally learns the extent of Lucy's sexual abuse at the commune, and sees the brave face she puts on in front of her own, well-cared for boys.

For the very first time in their adult lives, it occurred to Strike that his sisters's determination to cling to stability and her notion of normality, her iron-clad refusal to dwell endlessly on the awful possibilities of human behaviour, was a form of extraordinary courage. 

A very nice Book 4-7 connection, per ring composition. And, most satisfyingly, it is Robin's willingness to investigate the horrors of Chapman Farm daily for four long months that wins justice for Lucy against one of her abusers. 

I'll be back on Monday with chapters 15-25. 

Comments welcome!  Though some find it easier on the Substack version of this blog.