Review of The Cuckoo's Calling by Robert Galbraith

The Cuckoo’s Calling, by Robert Galbraith

(Robert Galbraith is a pseudonym of JK Rowling)

This was a delightful find. On the surface, a classic gumshoe procedural, digging up secrets and doggedly pursuing every lead. Yet the book sidesteps cliché, takes a new angle on traditional tropes and creates some of the most endearingly likeable characters in the genre.

It’s got all the features of a golden age classic, but is set during the last decade. The insights into the lives of London’s wealthy and famous are seen through a man whose creditors are closing in. Cormoran Strike is dishevelled, partly due to the breakdown of his relationship and the difficulties of losing half his leg on a military campaign in Afghanistan.

His ‘temp’, Robin, who finds the world of a PI romantic, is no daffy Bridget Jones, but a competent, clever associate, who we desperately want to stay. The author avoids an office romance, creating a relationship which is believable, awkward and far more emotionally affecting.

The plot twists & turns kept me completely absorbed and as a good detective novel should, it takes an unpredictable turn towards the end.

One of the features I particularly liked was the use of the London setting. Keen observations about the city’s rich/poor divide gave me pause on several occasions.

I finished this with a mixture of satisfaction and loss. Delighted by an entertaining and atmospheric novel but sorry to leave this world. Thrilled to discover Cormoran will be back. I really want to spend more time with these characters.

By JJ Marsh – author, reader, Triskelite, journalist, Nuancer, reviewer and blogger. Likes: pugs, Werner Herzog and anchovies. Dislikes: meat, chocolate and institutionalised sexism.