Those who’ve fallen in love with J.K. Rowling’s mystery series “penned” by Robert Galbraith are eagerly awaiting Cormoran Strike Book 4. So what’s the Lethal White release date?

Update 3 (March 2019): Now that Lethal White is out and you’ve probably read it, it’s time to turn our attention to when Cormoran Strike Book 5 will be released! The new Robert Galbraith book appears to already be in development.

Update 2 (July 10): We finally know when Book 4 is coming out! On July 10, 2018 it was revealed that Lethal White’s release date is set for September 18, 2018. Order the book now! The cover was revealed today as well. Personally I think it looks very different from the other covers, so I’m not a big fan. Still, I can’t wait to dive inside!

According to Amazon and Little Brown, Lethal White’s page count clocks in at a whopping 656. If accurate, it’ll be the longest book in the series — the first two books were 450~ pages, while the third was 500 pages.

Cormoran Strike Book 4 ‘Lethal White’ Synopsis

“I seen a kid killed… he strangled it, up by the horse.”

When Billy, a troubled young man, comes to private eye Cormoran Strike’s office to ask for his help investigating a crime he thinks he witnessed as a child, Strike is left deeply unsettled. While Billy is obviously mentally distressed, and cannot remember many concrete details, there is something sincere about him and his story. But before Strike can question him further, Billy bolts from his office in a panic.

Trying to get to the bottom of Billy’s story, Strike and Robin Ellacott – once his assistant, now a partner in the agency – set off on a twisting trail that leads them through the backstreets of London, into a secretive inner sanctum within Parliament, and to a beautiful but sinister manor house deep in the countryside.

And during this labyrinthine investigation, Strike’s own life is far from straightforward: his newfound fame as a private eye means he can no longer operate behind the scenes as he once did. Plus, his relationship with his former assistant is more fraught than it ever has been – Robin is now invaluable to Strike in the business, but their personal relationship is much, much more tricky than that…

Update (April 28): In a tweet on April 26, 2018, Rowling said the book will be released “later in the year.”

The first three books (The Cuckoo’s Calling, The Silkworm, Career of Evil) were released in 2013, 2014, and 2015 respectively, so all of us are expecting Cormoran Strike Book 4 to debut any day now.

On March 23, 2018, J.K. Rowling finally shared some good news about the next installment! Lethal White has been finished after roughly two years of writing. The author made the announcement via Twitter, where she shared a photo of a thumb drive. Presumably her completed script is within this white horse:

Rowling did not share a release date, but maybe she’s holding that bit of news for Robert Galbraith to share. It’s not unrealistic to think that it’ll be published in summer or fall 2018.

Screenplays aside, this’ll be Rowling’s first new book since 2015 (Career of Evil).

In January 2018 Rowling offered a small explanation for why there’d been a delay in sharing a Lethal White release date. “Turns out the fourth in every one of my series has to be the longest,” she said on Twitter, referring to how Goblet of Fire had been her longest in the Harry Potter series at the same point.

The book appears to be her most advanced yet in the Cormoran Strike series. “This particular novel’s plan comprises a vast, complicated, colour-coded table showing all the suspects, with blue ink for clues and red ink for red herrings,” she said. “I had the idea for the plot in 2013, but its undergone huge revisions since then.”

The longer-than-usual wait for the next book in Rowling’s brilliant detective series is probably due to the Harry Potter author’s busy schedule. In the past couple years she’s professionally juggled the Fantastic Beasts film series, The Cursed Child play, writing the next Cormoran Strike book, and whatever other projects she’s secretly working on. Oh yeah, and then she presumably has a personal life.

Despite the wait, the good news is the author has made clear Cormoran Strike will be around for a while. In 2014 she said there could be as many as six more books following the detective and his assistant Robin.

Rowling originally published The Cuckoo’s Calling under a pseudonym so she could write and release a book without any fanfare. Unfortunately, tabloids let out her secret early.

If you haven’t read her detective series, now’s a good time to start. It’s really good.

The BBC created an adaptation of the books titled The Cormoran Strike Mysteries which is slated to air in America in 2018. Most of the series has already aired in the U.K., with more episodes coming later in 2018.