J. K. Rowling: Cuckoo's Calling (2013, Little Brown & Company)
464 pages
English language
Published Dec. 18, 2013 by Little Brown & Company.
After losing his leg to a land mine in Afghanistan, Cormoran Strike is barely scraping by as a private investigator. Strike is down to one client, and creditors are calling. He has also just broken up with his longtime girlfriend and is living in his office. Then John Bristow walks through his door with an amazing story: His sister, thelegendary supermodel Lula Landry, known to her friends as the Cuckoo, famously fell to her death a few months earlier. The police ruled it a suicide, but John refuses to believe that. The case plunges Strike into the world of multimillionaire beauties, rock-star boyfriends, and desperate designers, and it introduces him to every variety of pleasure, enticement, seduction, and delusion known to man.
Well-written, good character development, and not at all predictable. This is very much worth reading, and if Robin and Cormoran star in more detective novels, I may very well get into another genre.
Nearly a 5-star book. I've read so many mysteries this year that have come up short - either unsatisfying complications with the plot or poor character development - that I was pleased to enjoy both elements of The Cuckoo's Calling. It's a bit hard-boiled, but not nostalgic; the good guys are good but not cloying or two-dimensional, and that bad guys are not obvious. The mystery itself has a logical foundation and the solution isn't telegraphed from the first chapter.
I'm a little surprised I finished this. The beginning, pretty much until the middle of the book, is pretty slow and I had a hard time caring about anyone. Everything was pretty blah to me. And Robin's fiance continues to seem somewhat too controlling for my taste, and he's not even a part of the narrative! Small things...
He had hoped to spot the flickering shadow of a murderer as he turned the file's pages, but instead it was the ghost of Lula herself who emerged...
I rarely read murder mysteries and I think the problems I had with this book are related more to the genre than the writing. I must admit I only read this book when Rowling was outed as the author and she does another great job of creating unique characters inside their own world. However, that wasn't enough for me to get over the formulaic approach of these murder mystery books and this is why the book didn't rate a higher star rating.
Yep, very similar to an adult Harry Potter, good story, yet drawn out a d feelings bit long. The writing and story are good enough to keep you slogging to the end.
I love Harry Potter and I love mysteries, so when I found out that JK Rowling had written a mystery I was all over it.
I found the characters interesting and likable, the plot elegant, and the writing very good. Would definitely recommend it.
Unless you have been camping in the wilds of New Zealand you’ll have no doubt heard that The Cuckoo’s Calling, a solid and entertaining debut novel from Robert Galbraith, is in fact a new crime novel by novelist JK Rowling. It is interesting to note that prior to a leak outing Rowling as an author, that the reviews were largely positive, and sales modest. Cue the leak and a quick review of Amazon one star reviews and the book snobbishness and the Rowling hate is palpable.
A supermodel commits suicide, but her brother doubts the police findings.
Private Detective Cormoran Strike, homeless and having just dumped his manipulative girlfriend, is watching his business fall apart until John Bristow brother of Supermodel Lula Landry, comes asking for his help. It looks like an open and shut case but then the client is paying double.
But what about the book?
This is …
Unless you have been camping in the wilds of New Zealand you’ll have no doubt heard that The Cuckoo’s Calling, a solid and entertaining debut novel from Robert Galbraith, is in fact a new crime novel by novelist JK Rowling. It is interesting to note that prior to a leak outing Rowling as an author, that the reviews were largely positive, and sales modest. Cue the leak and a quick review of Amazon one star reviews and the book snobbishness and the Rowling hate is palpable.
A supermodel commits suicide, but her brother doubts the police findings.
Private Detective Cormoran Strike, homeless and having just dumped his manipulative girlfriend, is watching his business fall apart until John Bristow brother of Supermodel Lula Landry, comes asking for his help. It looks like an open and shut case but then the client is paying double.
But what about the book?
This is in fact the first Rowling I have read and on this experience alone I would read more in the Cormoran Strike series. If you are looking for a thriller paced mystery then The Cuckoo’s Calling isn’t for you. It’s a very British murder mystery, by which I mean it has that cynical slightly gloomy edge to it and it’s a methodical detective story. Its not without tension and suspense but if you are looking for high octane thrillers Childs or Eisler are your best bet.
Like all good mysteries it strikes just the right balance between giving the reader enough clues to go on and letting slip the reveal too early.
On typing this review I am struck by the similarities, or the similar backgrounds of Strike and Lee Childs’ Jack Reacher . On the one hand you have the all round, square jawed American hero and on the other you have Cormoran Strike. Strike is likable and believable as an ex-SIB investigator and I applaud Rowling’s decision to make him an amputee, slightly overweight and still saddled with the school yard moniker “pubehead”. Out of the two I find Strike more believable.
Robin, the temp secretary with an eye for detail and a secret desire, I think to be a detective, developed nicely into a competent sidekick. I can see and indeed I hope this turns into a more Watson and Holmes sort of relationship where she gets her hands dirty and develops her natural talents.
I must admit that I enjoyed the subtle digs that Rowling had at the press and the glitterati. These I possibly would have overlooked had I not known it was her writing the book.
I you like the slightly darker tone of British mystery writing and the logical unravelling of a conundrum then this is the type of book for you.
This book was provided at no cost by the publisher
This post first appeared on Adventures of a Bookonaut
