Book Review | The Cuckoo's Calling

The Cuckoo's Calling is the first in the Cormoran Strike detective series. Written by J.K. Rowling under the pseudonym Robert Galbraith, this cozy mystery was full of suspense, celebrity drama, and a quirky private detective who doesn't always seem to have it together.

Cormoran Strike is recently single and a former British army detective who was dismissed after a serious injury in Afghanistan. While he's trying to regain his footing and pay his business's bills in London, the famous model, Lula Landry, falls from her balcony and is smashed on the pavement outside her flat. Rendered a suicide, the police seemingly prove without a doubt that Lula must've jumped. Her adoptive brother hires Strike to privately investigate her death - a death that her brother believes was murder.

The story follows the investigation, but it peppers in moments of Strike's time deployed and how that has affected him as well as details about his personal life. We get to know Strike and his detective strategies in this book and can see how it is setting up for more books in the series.

With a bit of suspense, clever gumshoeing, and a trip into the world of fame, The Cuckoo's Calling delivers a great story that will have you wanting more.