The Cuckoo's Calling - Outside of a Dog

Paperback

English language

Published Nov. 10, 2014 by W F Howes Ltd.

ISBN:: 9781471250651

(1 review)

After losing his leg to a land mine in Afghanistan, Cormoran Strike is barely scraping by as a private investigator. Strike is down to one client, and creditors are calling. He has also just broken up with his longtime girlfriend and is living in his office. Then John Bristow walks through his door with an amazing story: His sister, thelegendary supermodel Lula Landry, known to her friends as the Cuckoo, famously fell to her death a few months earlier. The police ruled it a suicide, but John refuses to believe that. The case plunges Strike into the world of multimillionaire beauties, rock-star boyfriends, and desperate designers, and it introduces him to every variety of pleasure, enticement, seduction, and delusion known to man.

26 editions

Jonathan A reviewed Cuckoo's Calling by J. K. Rowling

Solid with some missteps

4 stars

Despite a few missteps, this was a solid opening book in the CB Strike series. I really enjoyed the set up, as a truly down in the dumps private detective hires a new temps secretary, who proves her worth several times over. Cormoran Strike is a fun character, with both good and bad habits. Robin is a clever character, as she has always wanted to be a private eye(!) and is a fun discovery as she works out her issues as well

The actual mystery of a big time model "committing suicide" wasn't all that interesting and there was far too much exposition. And Galbraith (Rowling) got away with too much hidden information, because it isn't a first person book. Strike would "know" things but wouldn't let the reader in on the secret. And his habit of looking at women as objects was a little overdone.

But like I said, …

Despite a few missteps, this was a solid opening book in the CB Strike series. I really enjoyed the set up, as a truly down in the dumps private detective hires a new temps secretary, who proves her worth several times over. Cormoran Strike is a fun character, with both good and bad habits. Robin is a clever character, as she has always wanted to be a private eye(!) and is a fun discovery as she works out her issues as well

The actual mystery of a big time model "committing suicide" wasn't all that interesting and there was far too much exposition. And Galbraith (Rowling) got away with too much hidden information, because it isn't a first person book. Strike would "know" things but wouldn't let the reader in on the secret. And his habit of looking at women as objects was a little overdone.

But like I said, the set up was great. And I'm looking forward to seeing how Robin and Strike work out their relationship. Robin is a great character, with lots of potential. Probably a 3.5 star book, but worth the round up.