Right, did anyone else not know that this ‘Robert Galbraith’ is JK Rowling? Okay, just me then.
Not sure of the reasons behind the pseudonym; I’m guessing that she wanted her new stuff to be viewed on its merits, without folk comparing it to her previous work which is, of course, en- tirely different. In that regard, I guess I’m pretty well-suited to examing The Cuckoo’s Calling as I didn’t read the Harry Potter series.
So, as a book that stands on its own, The Cuckoo’s Calling is head and shoulders above much of the crime fiction I’ve come across in recent years. It’s an old-school detective story that follows the work and personal life of the unlikely-named Cormoran Strike, an ex-military policeman turned private detective, fighting to stay afloat in civilian London while trying to solve the mystery behind the death of supermodel.
As I said, it’s a great book; the author doesn’t mess around with wafty ex- positions; not a word is wasted; she flits around the characters thoughts and feeling with Woolf- like abandon, keeping the reader engaged with an enormous number of the Capital’s most unlikeable characters. Comoran himself is not a bad bloke; he’s a capable detective, though not superhumanly so – and I think that’s what keeps the interest alive, and the whole book just this side of believable. For me, the real star of the book was his secretary (but I shouldn’t say any more).
If I were to make one complaint then it would be that some of the peripheral characters came across as remarkably clichéd: fat, incompetent policemen with body odour; rich widows dying in their beds; painfully camp fashion designers… but I guess stereotypes are stereotypes for a reason. Still, an immensly enjoyable read.
If you like outstanding crime fiction then The Cuckoo’s Calling comes highly recommended – by me anyway … 🙂
