The Cuckoo's Calling, by Robert Galraith (aka J.K. Rowling)

     I have to admit I only picked this book when I found out that J.K. Rowling was the real author.  I loved the Harry Potter books, although I did not read the last two in the series.  I had already seen the movies and I never like to read a book after seeing the movie.  I do enjoy her writing and understood that her adult novels would be very different but I anticipated good writing from her in anything she does.  I was not disappointed; I did enjoy the book, though it was much different from what I expected.

     The book begins with the death of a supermodel, Lula Landry, which was ruled a suicide.  Her brother, John,  hires a washed-up private detective (Comoran Strike) to prove her death was a homicide.  The writing is not akin to that of fast-paced mystery novels with multiple twists and turns that is is so popular today.  Instead, Galbraith/Rowling writes in an older style reminiscent of Sir Conan Doyle or Agatha Christie.  I often found myself having to stop and think about the meaning of certain terms that, although English, are not commonly used in the United States.  It slowed the pace of the reading, but the high interest level kept me moving.  The mystery did have many different angles and complications, but the ending reminded me of something out of a "Columbo" episode, where everything gets wrapped up completely and many details are saved for the conclusion.  

     What I liked most about this book was the style of character development.  Instead of developing the characters through the first part of the book, as many mystery writers tend to do, Galbraith/Rowling kept adding layers to each character throughout the book.  They began as one-dimensional characters, sort of "pegged" into their roles and stereotypes, but each character began more deep and complex throughout the novel.  As a result, I became more attached to the main characters, especially "Strike" and even the deceased "Lula" and her family, as the novel progressed.  I look forward to getting to know Comoran Strike even better in the next book.

Bottom Line:  A great British mystery novel by a masterful writer.

Overall Rating:  88