The Cuckoo's Calling (Robert Galbraith)

In July earlier this year the world's media was shocked by revelations that J.K Rowling had written her debut crime novel "The Cuckoo's Calling" under the pseudonym of one Robert Galbraith. It was later announced that the author's guise was an opportunity for Rowling to receive feedback on her work without the bias of the press and the pressure her fans.


When I received my copy of "The Cuckoo's Calling" through the post, I must admit that if it were not for my knowledge of the author's true identity, I may have never even ordered the book. Nevertheless I devoured the first 50 pages of the novel and found myself being dragged deeper and deeper into the plot, a credit to Rowling's incredible character-building ability and found myself for the first time in my life enjoying a crime novel.

The detective Strike is instantly likeable and a wealth of backstory is used to build a multi-layered puzzle that is yearning to be placed together. From the offset, Lula Landry's death is explored before reliving her life through the eyes of her family and friends to answer the one all-important question: was her death suicide or murder?

Together, Strike and his Temporary Solutions secretary Robin are united in their employment and later friendship to answer the many questions that were left unanswered by the police and relatives. I recommend this book to any reader who is new to crime fiction as I was prior to reading "The Cuckoo's Calling" as J.K Rowling will take you on a mysterious literary journey that you will want to devour until the very last page has turned.