The Cuckoo's Calling

The Cuckoo’s Calling by Robert Galbraith (J.K. Rowling)
Mystery
2013 Hachette Audio
Reader: Robert Glenister
Finished on 3/18/14
Rating: 4/5 (Very Good)



Publisher’s Blurb:

A brilliant debut mystery in a classic vein: Detective Cormoran Strike investigates a supermodel's suicide.

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, the legendary 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.

You may think you know detectives, but you've never met one quite like Strike. You may think you know about the wealthy and famous, but you've never seen them under an investigation like this.

Introducing Cormoran Strike, this is the acclaimed first crime novel by J.K. Rowling, writing under the pseudonym Robert Galbraith.

When The Cuckoo’s Calling was first published, I didn’t give it even a cursory glance. I’d never heard of Robert Galbraith nor had I heard anything good or bad about this new mystery. Once it was revealed that the book was written by J.K. Rowling, I still wasn’t interested. I enjoyed the first three of four books in the Harry Potter series, but I never did go any further and finish up with the remaining books. But, then I started reading positive reviews for this new book and decided to get a copy for my husband to try. He wound up loving it and thought I would, too. He also said he’d be interested in the next book once it’s released. So, I decided to give it a go. The audio version was available at my library, so I downloaded it to my Nano and spent the next three weeks listening to it while I worked or drove around town. As with most mystery series, I enjoy the character development almost as much as trying to solve the mystery and Rowling delivers in both areas. I came to care about Cormoran Strike, as well as his temporary assistant, Robin, and I never did figure out the whodunit part of the book! Well done, Ms. Rowling!

Final Thoughts:

I’m not sure why I’m so surprised that J.K. Rowling was able to write such a compelling mystery, but I am, and she did! The Cuckoo’s Calling is evenly paced and well-written, a very satisfying read. I can’t wait until June 19th when the second book in this series, entitled The Silkworm, is released. This time, I’m going to read it before my husband!