The Cuckoo's Calling

Title: The Cuckoo’s Calling

Author: Robert Galbraith (JK Rowling)

Publisher: Mulholland Books

Publication Date: April 30^th, 2013

Length: 455 pages (in Hardcover)

Genre: Adult Crime Fiction

Format and Source: Hardcover, from the library.

Summary from Goodreads: [This will be spoiler free, but the actual review below will not]. 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.

Review: [Reminder: Spoilers]. This book reminded me why I fell in love with JK Rowling’s writing. It shouldn’t be a surprise that she’s a fantastic crime fiction author, the clues she dropped throughout the Harry Potter books should’ve been sign enough that she’s very good at mystery. The Cuckoo’s Calling was one of the best books I’ve read so far in 2014 because the characters were brilliant and the plot was tastefully mysterious.

Cormoran Strike is one of the most well-developed characters I’ve ever read about, and this definitely works in the story’s favour. He’s a very clever person and the scenes in which he interrogates a character are so exciting to see unfold. He’s a closed off character but the glimpses you get of his past are so deeply saddening – you would feel pity for him if you didn’t think he would kill you for it.

Robin was my second favourite character, and anyone who has read the book will know why she is so great. She’s well-organised, has a clear idea of what she wants and is a brilliant person to top it all off. Despite playing the role of a simple secretary, she ends up being much more and is extremely helpful in moving the case along.

The final thing I have to say about this book is how tastefully suspenseful it was. There is a very fine line in crime fiction between too little suspense and too much, and JK Rowling manages to sit herself right on that line. She gives you enough suspense that you’re flipping the pages eagerly, but not too much that it becomes more like a soap opera than a novel.

The Cuckoo’s Calling is a novel JK Rowling should be proud of. She broadcasts her talent as an author of many genres and this book definitely shows off that talent. The Silkworm is out now and I’ll be reading that as soon as I get my hands on it. It’s safe to assume that JK Rowling will dominate the crime fiction stands for some time yet.

Final Rating: A+. An extremely high rating for an extremely good book. Not only is it good through its interesting plot, but the writing itself is wonderful, and it would be a crime (pause for laughter) to rate it any lower. This book will keep you guessing throughout it, and I’m willing to bet that you won’t be able to guess the ending despite the subtle hints. It’s a fabulous display of Rowling’s writing and I highly recommend it.

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