Book Review: The Cuckoo's Calling by Robert Galbraith aka JK Rowling

JK Rowling’s latest novel The Cuckoo’s Calling is a crime thriller, written using the pseudonym of Robert Galbraith. As a die-hard Harry Potter fan, I can understand why she would want to do that. After The Casual Vacancy, which wasn’t that well-received critically, the reaction of many readers may be, “But there’s no magic here, so why should I read it?” Not that the pseudonym helped, because it was revealed early on that Galbraith was actually Rowling. So much for that.

The Cuckoo’s Calling is a completely different genre from the magical lives of Harry and his Friends. And yes, Rowling knows how to write a crime thriller. It’s a good ‘masala read’. The Harry Potter series is ample proof of her ability to tell a story and keep readers engrossed and this new book just adds to that reputation. If you don’t believe me, The Cuckoo’s Calling is the number one seller as of 12 August on Apple’s iBooks store and  number three on NYT’s bestselling list.

The books deals with the death of a young model Lula Landry and it is assumed that her death is a suicide by all but her brother who calls in a private detective named Cormoran Strike to investigate the case.

When reading a crime thriller, there are few crucial points that I look for: the plot, the pace of the novel and the characters.

Her protagonist Cormoran Strike isn’t your regular private detective. He is the underdog and one that you are unlikely to root for. He’s not good looking, has one leg, lives alone and is the illegitimate child of a famous rockstar. He isn’t doing too well with his agency either. Cormoran, in fact, seems destined to fail. It’s a clever trope by Rowling since you don’t get overwhelmed by the hero. So when he does get it right, you’re actually quite astounded.

In addition, there’s Cormoran’s temporary secretary, Robin, who eventually grows on you as a character. Though she’s quite useful as a secretary, you can’t help but feel annoyed with her because Rowling keeps referring to how her boyfriend isn’t too pleased with Robin doing this job.

Rowling delivers on plot and characters but the pace is a little trying. I kept wishing Rowling would get on with the story, instead of talking about the protagonist’s girlfriend or giving lengthy descriptions of London.  For instance, we don’t learn why Cormoran broke up with his girlfriend, Charlotte, but that they did break up is dangled before us every now and then.

There’s no predicting the end of The Cuckoo’s Calling, which is the book’s greatest strength since it is, after all, a thriller. Cormoran’s investigation seems long drawn at times and frequently, we detour into Cormoran’s past. The fact that Cormoran himself isn’t convinced about the fact that Lula was murdered, at least not in the beginning, adds to the suspense as well and even after 200 pages, the novel doesn’t give much evidence of a murder and you wonder, is this just a wild goose chase?

Rowling has also chosen to weave in the problem of the prying paparazzi , the hacking scandal in the Britain. She ties this in with her description of Lula’s life: the fact that the model didn’t trust anyone, used someone else’s phone because she knew her own phone had been hacked by the press. It’s a subtle comment on the voyeuristic nature of the press in Britain. Remember, Rowling too had testified as before the commission, set up to investigate the hacking scandal trial in Britain. The book makes it evident that Rowling isn’t a fan of the paparazzi.

The way Rowling ends the novel, you can see that she’s probably going to write a sequel with Cormoran and Robin back as detective and sidekick. After Harry Potter, this could be her second chance at making a successful book series. In short, if you’re a fan of crime thrillers, I’d definitely give this one a read.