I highly recommend this book for those who’ve read Harry Potter as well as for those who had no inclination whatsoever to read Harry Potter. In short, Robert Galbraith (pseudonym of J.K. Rowling) is a master novelist and The Cuckoo’s Calling is on par with other mystery fiction in terms of plotting, and perhaps better than your average commercial novel in terms of description and world building.
Without getting too much into the specifics of the story, Rowling does a superb job portraying the world of celebrity elites and the dregs of society right where they meet on the crossroads of society. She tells a story that is perfect for the ‘rubber necking’ onlooker whom can’t look away from the hot messes both rich and poor portrayed in the novel.
Rowling’s writing is razor sharp in the descriptions she uses to characterize her larger than life characters as well as present the world which those characters inhabit. Her detective feels hard boiled enough, and the crime the main character investigates is also sufficiently terrible without reveling in the gruesome. For hardcore fans of the genre the turns may be wanting, but as I’m not a hardcore genre fan, I found this a solid and enjoyable story. Perhaps more importantly though, for those whom have a desire to write novels, one could learn much from how Rowling unfolds this immensely memorable story.
