"The Cuckoo's Calling" is filled with cliché's and genre staples, but despite that it was a surprisingly enjoyable read.

The central role of the 'flawed detective with a past and carrying much baggage' has been done to death, yet somehow Rowling managed to draw me in and make me interested in Cormoran Strike, his assistent Robin and his London.

I actually used to live around the corner from where Strike has his offices, and while I don't necessarily recognise his world as reality, it was real enough for me to care about it. The plot deals with race, adoption, wealth, poverty, greed, fame - its a good mix, particularly in view of the tensions in modern london and the western world in general, but unfortunately all of these areas are dealt with in a rather superficial way. This may be more to do with the target mass market readership, but was disappointing none-the-less.

The mystery itself is interesting enough, although Rowling does play some slightly unfair tricks on the reader to obscure the truth, such as withholding certain important facts or even allowing the detective to make some leaps too far in their deductions. And the final resolution, with the client being the perpetrator was ludicrous, particularly with the inevitable question about why the client would bother hiring the detective in the first place - this was poorly answered. But it's a credit to the book that despite this major flaw, I still enjoyed it and didn't regret reading it.

What Rowling does very well, as with her previous books, is write with a perfect pace and interesting enough characters and characterisations to draw the reader in. She is also easy to read, with a well judged balance between narrative and dialogue. I did feel like I was reading an ITV or BBC crime drama; that's not necessarily a bad thing but gives you an idea of who this book is aimed at. Regardless, I enjoyed it, and would likely make the time to read the sequel or her next book.