I feel like at this stage you've either already read it cos it's Rowling and gotta read her, or else you're in the "what is Rowling doing, this isn't HP" camp and you're not going to read this. I was in the middle. I wasn't going to rush out for it (obviously, given I just read it) but I also wasn't avoiding it. I didn't expect it to be HP like, not only because obviously the story is much different, but I also wasn't expecting to have the same connection to the characters or world. And I didn't. Which is fine cos I still had a good time with the story.
Overall I liked the story. I wanted to know what happened next, which is always key for a mystery. The characters were fun and well drawn and I wanted to spend time with them.
Cormoran Strike is a private investigator and in the mold of typical PI's he has his troubled past and his tumultuous love life and his connections and his ways of conducting his investigations that aren't necessarily by-the-book. There's also his temporary assistant, Robin, who has been placed with him because he forgot to cancel his work with the temp agency. He really can't afford an assistant right now (add to list of PI tropes), but keeps her on when an old friend shows up with a job. His sister, super model and general famous person Lulu Landry, is dead. Her death, a fall from the balcony of her apartment, is ruled a suicide but John Bristow believes otherwise and wants Strike to prove what happened.
This gives Rowling a case to do what Rowling does best, which is come up with lots of characters for Strike to meet. There are clues and epiphanies and red herrings and false starts and suspects and people with lots of secrets.
I won't give away more cos, you know, mystery. It wasn't a particularly profound story but it kept me guessing and I had a good time with it. And I'll probably pick up the other Cormoran books in the series.
Gif rating:
Galbraith, Robert. The Cuckoo's Calling. Mulholland Books, 2013. Kindle
