The next book in J.K. Rowling/Robert Galbraith’s Cormoran Strike series has been a long time coming (especially compared to the waits for the earlier sequels). Details have been scarce, but today we learned the Book 4’s title.
On Tuesday morning Rowling decided to please a fan who asked for a hint about the next Cormoran Strike book:
She eliminated a few possibilities a few minutes later:
And a winner has been found! The title of the Cormoran Strike book will be…Lethal White! The lucky winner will receive a signed copy of J.K. Rowling/Robert Galbraith’s Cormoran Strike new book.
Being curious by nature I went to search more about Lethal White. This is what I found out: What is Lethal white syndrome?
Lethal white syndrome (LWS), also called overo lethal white syndrome (OLWS), lethal white overo (LWO), and overo lethal white foal syndrome (OLWFS), is an autosomal genetic disorder most prevalent in the American Paint Horse. Affected foals are born after the full 11-month gestation and externally appear normal, though they have all-white or nearly all-white coats and blue eyes. However, internally, these foals have a nonfunctioning colon. Within a few hours, signs of colic appear; affected foals die within a few days. Because the death is often painful, such foals often are humanely euthanized once identified. The disease is particularly devastating because foals are born seemingly healthy after being carried to full term. The disease has a similar etiology to Hirschsprung's disease in humans. A mutation in the middle of the endothelin receptor type B (EDNRB) gene causes lethal white syndrome when homozygous. Carriers, who are heterozygous—that is, have one copy of the mutated allele, but themselves are healthy—can now be reliably identified with a DNA test. Both parents must be carriers of one copy of the LWS allele in order for an affected foal to be born. Horses that are heterozygous for the gene that causes lethal white syndrome often exhibit a spotted coat color pattern commonly known as "frame" or "frame overo". Coat color alone does not always indicate the presence of LWS or carrier status, however. The frame pattern may be minimally expressed or masked by other spotting patterns. There also are different genetic mechanisms which produce healthy white foals and have no connection to LWS; another reason for genetic testing of potential breeding stock. Some confusion also occurs because the term overo is used to describe a number of other non-tobiano spotting patterns besides the frame pattern. Though there is no treatment or cure for LWS foals, a white foal without LWS that appears ill may have a treatable condition. Cormoran Strike book's names aren't the main focus of the book story but they're references used in the storyline but the "death is often painful", "humanely euthanized once identified", "Coat color alone does not always indicate the presence of LWS or carrier status" and "The frame pattern may be minimally expressed or masked by other spotting patterns" got my attention.
What is the Cormoran Strike's series?
Cormoran Strike is a series of crime fiction books written by J. K. Rowling, published under the pseudonym Robert Galbraith. The story chronicles the many cases of private investigator Strike and his assistant Robin Ellacott.
Plot In 2010, Cormoran Strike—private investigator, ex-SIB investigator and the illegitimate son of a famous rock star (by an affair with a notorious groupie) who lost part of a leg in a bombing in Afghanistan—is broke, and his birth father's business agent is calling in the loan that he gave to Strike to open his office. The Cuckoo's Calling The first book is about how Strike is hired by John Bristow, the adopted brother of supermodel Lula Landry, who had fallen from her balcony three months previously. Bristow wants Strike to investigate his sister's supposed suicide. Strike also meets Robin Ellacott, who has been sent to be his temporary secretary despite the fact he can barely afford her. Robin has just become engaged to her longtime boyfriend Matthew, with a wedding set later that year. Although Strike only hires her for one week, she turns out to be much more competent than he expected, and they end up extending her stay. The Silkworm The second book is about how Strike is approached by Leonora Quine with a plea to locate her husband, the notorious writer Owen Quine, who has disappeared without a trace. Quine, once hailed as one of the original literary rebels—presented as the literary world's version of music's punk rock scene—has struggled for years to recreate the success of his original novel and has fallen out of public view. Strike discovers that his disappearance coincides with the leak of the manuscript for his latest novel, Bombyx Mori. The London literary community considers Bombyx Mori to be unpublishable; an unpleasant mix of rape, sadomasochism, torture, necrophilia and cannibalism, the hero is eventually tricked and eaten alive by various characters who are thinly-veiled metaphors for people in Quine's life whom he considers responsible for the destruction of his career. Career of Evil The third book tells how Robin receives a package from a courier containing a woman's severed right leg. The package is accompanied by a note quoting from the Blue Öyster Cult song "Mistress of the Salmon Salt (Quicklime Girl)", a tattoo that Strike's mother, a famous groupie and BÖC fan, had above her crotch. Because of that link, Strike told the police that he believed that the package had been sent by someone from his own past with a grudge against him. Television adaption On 10 December 2014, it was announced that the novels would be adapted as an eponymous television series for BBC One. it was confirmed that the series will total seven episodes of sixty minutes, with shooting to begin in London in the autumn of 2016. Additional scenes were filmed at Barrow in Furness in Cumbria and a petrol station in Leyburn, North Yorkshire. Ben Richards will adapt The Cuckoo's Calling and Tom Edge will adapt both The Silkworm and Career of Evil. In late 2016, it was announced that Tom Burke and Holliday Grainger would lead the cast as Cormoran Strike and Robin Ellacott, respectively. In early 2017 it was announced that Logan Kerr would play Robin's fiancé Matthew.