The Cuckoo's Calling by Robert Galbraith

The Cuckoo's Calling (Cormoran Strike, #1)

by Robert Galbraith

When a troubled model falls to her death from a snow-covered Mayfair balcony, it is assumed that she has committed suicide. However, her brother has his doubts, and calls in private investigator Cormoran Strike to look into the case.

Strike is a war veteran - wounded both physically and psychologically - and his life is in disarray. The case gives him a financial lifeline, but it comes at a personal cost: the more he delves into the young model's complex world, the darker things get - and the closer he gets to terrible danger . . .

A gripping, elegant mystery steeped in the atmosphere of London - from the hushed streets of Mayfair to the backstreet pubs of the East End to the bustle of Soho - The Cuckoo's Calling is a remarkable book. Introducing Cormoran Strike, this is the acclaimed first crime novel by J.K. Rowling, writing under the pseudonym Robert Galbraith.

Reviewed by brokentune on

3 of 5 stars

Share
This review was first posted on BookLikes: http://brokentune.booklikes.com/post/978934/the-cuckoo-s-calling

Just a short ramble:

To me the obvious question reading this book was whether knowing who wrote it made a difference to my enjoyment of The Cuckoo's Calling.

I really liked the writing. The dialogues were crisp, the descriptions to the point. There were some marvelous scenes that just really came to live reading them. Based on the writing, I should have enjoyed the book much more than I did.

Where it fell down for me was with the story. I just couldn't get into it at the start, and once the story did develop I couldn't care about the who-dunnit part - which for a crime novel is a not a good sign in my book.

To come back to my original point of whether knowing that JKR wrote it made a difference: I guess I was slightly disappointed because The Casual Vacancy had more bite than this one, but then this is a different genre. However, it is unlikely that I would have picked up The Cuckoo's Calling if I had not known that it was written by JKR.

Last modified on

Reading updates

  • Started reading
  • 11 September, 2014: Finished reading
  • 11 September, 2014: Reviewed