Cormoran Strike is set to return in 2017, both in the fourth book of J.K. Rowling‘s (a.k.a. Robert Galbraith) detective series and in non-book form on HBO. It’s a lucky break for Rowling, who only has Fantastic Beasts and Harry Potter follow-ups to keep her busy when she’s not trying to burrow out from beneath her massive, well-earned pile of cash.
Naturally, fans are anxious to find out the new book’s title (a tradition dating back to the earliest Harry Potter days), and Rowling was obliging enough to drive us even crazier. When asked about the new title on Twitter on Tuesday morning, she offered this maddening clue:
_ _ _ H _ _ _ H _ _ _ https://t.co/fa0rJRKnCS
— J.K. Rowling (@jk_rowling) March 14, 2017
So, instead of guessing wildly, I wanted to turn to a trusted friend: a crossword puzzle solving program. According to my automated pal, the only known phrases are
- Anchor Chain
- Chochin China
So it’s either got a nautical theme or prominently features an “Asian breed of large fowl with dense plumage and feathered legs.”
Of course, when we split up the words the crossword solver offers a whole host of fun possibles:
- Alohas Thigh
- Egghot Chant
- Gothic Shark
- Kosher Chaff
- Carhop Theta
- Rachet Shade
- Zephyr Rhyme
- Heehaw Ghana
- Siphon Whale
- Within Sheep
- Mishap Phage
These all seem highly plausible.
Either the new Strike novel is a version of Jaws set in 14th century France, a mystery about a virus that eats accidents, a thriller about a donkey set in Western Africa, or I’ve just supplied a Captcha program with eleven new ways to prove someone isn’t a robot.
Fortunately, Rowling revealed the real title when it was correctly guessed: the fourth Cormoran Strike novel will be called Lethal White.
But there’s still time for it to change…
I want to see my editor’s face when I tell him I’ve changed the title to ‘Woohoo, chips!’ https://t.co/KTS1ys11i3
— J.K. Rowling (@jk_rowling) March 14, 2017
What do you think of the new title? Let us know in the comments section.
Image: BBC
Now that we’ve cracked that case, unwind with our Beauty and the Beast hip hop parody, “Belle and Boujee”
