The Cuckoo’s Calling is the first book in the Cormoran Strike series by best-selling British author, J K Rowling, writing as Robert Galbraith. The author gathers together two interesting protagonists: an intelligent, if irreverent, ex-Army Special Investigations Branch RMP, Cormoran Strike, an Afghanistan war amputee who has set up a not-very-successful Private Detective business; and Robin Ellacott, the young woman who is, initially, his temporary secretary, resourceful, smart, enthusiastic, and showing plenty of initiative.
Their investigation into what has been deemed a celebrity suicide by the police
…more introduces a cast of characters who are often not what they first seem.
Initially feeling a little guilty for accepting a fee for a foregone conclusion in what looks like a fairly straight-forward case, Strike nonetheless goes diligently through the motions, being quite thorough. He manages to get access to everyone who was even tangentially connected to the case, uncovers a few turns and soon enough believes his client is right: Lula Landry didn’t throw herself off her balcony. Getting the police to agree…
Galbraith paints a very realistic picture of the fashion industry, show business, and the attendant paparazzi common to both. Private adoption, inheritance, grief and consuming greed also feature. There is a lot more humour, some of it quite black, than might be expected from the blurb, with the inner monologues contributing significantly, and an excellent twist at the end. To date, there are seven further instalments, some quite hefty tomes, for readers who enjoy this cast and setting. Page-turner crime fiction. (less)