Synopsis:
When a troubled supermodel falls to her death from the balcony of her London home, it is assumed that she has committed suicide. However, her brother has his doubts and calls in private detective Cormoran Strike to investigate.
Strike is a war veteran--wounded both physically and psychologically--and his private life is in disarray. The case gives him a financial lifeline, but it comes at a personal cost: the more he delves into the young model's world, the darker things get and the closer he comes to terrible danger.
Published to huge acclaim from readers, reviewers, and writers everywhere, The Cuckoo's Calling is a compulsively readable crime novel, the first in a series featuring private detective Cormoran Strike.
Review:
The Cuckoo's Calling reminds me why I fell in love with crime fiction in the first place (Val McDermid)
One of the most unique and compelling detectives I've come across in years (Mark Billingham)
One of the best crime novels I have ever read (Alex Gray)
Everytime I put this book down, I looked forward to reading more. Galbraith writes at a gentle pace, the pages rich with description and with characters that leap out of them. I loved it. He is a major new talent (Peter James)
Just once in a while a private detective emerges who captures the public imagination in a flash. And here is one who might well do that . . . There is no sign that this is Galbraith's first novel, only that he has a delightful touch for evoking London and capturing a new hero. An auspicious debut (Daily Mail)
In a rare feat, Galbraith combines a complex and compelling sleuth and an equally well-formed and unlikely assistant with a baffling crime in his stellar debut . . . Readers will hope to see a lot more of this memorable sleuthing team (Publishers Weekly, starred review)
Laden with plenty of twists and distractions, this debut ensures that readers will be puzzled and totally engrossed for quite a spell (Library Journal)
A scintillating debut novel . . . Galbraith delivers sparkling dialogue and a convincing portrayal of the emptiness of wealth and glamour (The Times, Saturday Review)
Utterly compelling . . . a team made in heaven and I can't wait for the next in the series (Saga Magazine)
The detective and his temp-agency assistant are both full and original characters and their debut case is a good, solid mystery (Morning Star)
The plot could have come from an Agatha Christie novel and yet The Cuckoo's Calling is absolutely of today, colourfully written and great fun (Bookoxygen.com)
Galbraith demonstrates superb flair as a mystery writer (Birmingham Post)
This debut is instantly absorbing, featuring a detective facing crumbling circumstances with resolve instead of clichéd self-destruction and a lovable sidekick with contagious enthusiasm for detection . . . Kate Atkinson's fans will appreciate his reliance on deduction and observation along with Galbraith's skilled storytelling (Booklist)
The most engaging British detective to emerge so far this year . . . An astonishingly mature debut from Galbraith, it marks the start of a fine crime career (Daily Mail online)
Rowling is a formidable storyteller . . . the plot is tightly moulded and told (Mark Lawson, The Guardian)
A sharply contemporary novel full of old-fashioned virtues . . . wonderfully fresh and funny. I hope this is the inauguration of a series that lasts long enough to make Harry Potter look like a flash in the pan (Jake Kerridge, The Daily Telegraph)
The appeal of The Cuckoo's Calling doesn't depend at all on Rowling's prior status. All credit to her: she has created a really good series here. Strike will be back (Evening Standard)
Rowling's descriptions of contemporary London are excellent (Mail on Sunday)
It should come as no surprise that her first foray into crime fiction is so accomplished . . . a brilliant depiction of London life . . . at heart it's an engrossing and well-crafted who-dunnit. Unsurprisingly excellent (Sunday Mirror)
It's probably best, for the moment, to forget Robert Galbraith's real identity; this is a very good book in its own right (Independent)
Her crime debut beguilingly shows that she can renounce magic and yet be magical (Sunday Times)
An accomplished piece that thoroughly deserves its retrospective success (Financial Times)
A gripping, finely crafted and atmospheric mystery, and its charismatic hero, ex-solder-turned-private-eye Cormoran Strike, is a brilliant creation (Sunday Business Post)
Beautifully written with a terrific plot ... It's a terrific read, gripping, original and funny ... Please, please give us more of Robert Galbraith and Cormoran Strike (Daily Express)
The work of a master storyteller . . . This is a sharply contemporary novel full of old-fashioned virtues (Telegraph)
Robert Galbraith has written a highly entertaining book ... Even better, he has introduced an appealing protagonist in Strike, who's sure to be the star of many sequels to come (New York Times)
The master is back. In The Cuckoo's Calling, a detective novel that Rowling published under the pseudonym of Robert Galbraith, she returns to the strengths that made Harry Potter - the beautiful sense of pacing, the deep but illusionless love for her characters - without sacrificing the expanded range of The Casual Vacancy. In doing so, she's written one of the books of the year (Charles Finch, USA Today)
Rowling moves through the polished world of fashion designers and rock stars with the same aplomb as she did when writing about wizards and witches (Vogue)
Rowling switches genres seamlessly ... A gritty, absorbing tale (Ellen Shapiro, People)
Cleverly plotted ... Rowling serves up a sushi platter of red herring, sprinkling clues along the way, before Strike draws a confession out of the killer in a climax straight out of Agatha Christie (Entertainment Weekly)
One of the great pleasures of The Cuckoo's Calling, as with most detective stories, is observing the gumshoe's Aha! moments, without being told what they are ... Money and general fabulousness does for The Cuckoo's Calling what magic did for Harry Potter, creating an extravagant, alien, fascinating world for its characters to explore ... The Cuckoo's Calling is fun (Slate Magazine)
It's terrific ... A brilliant achievement, mordantly funny and monumentally absorbing ... A masterful novel, the kind of big, noisy, busy, beautiful book in which it is so easy and so pleasurable to become enmeshed (Chicago Tribune)
I wasn't disappointed. Whether she's writing about Dementors or detectives, Rowling is a pro (Daily Beast)
The private eye novel is not dead. It was merely waiting for Robert Galbraith to give it a firm squeeze, goosing it back to bold, new life. Hardboiled crime fans are going to go cuckoo for this one. I haven't had this much fun with a detective novel in years (Duane Swierczynski, Shamus and Anthony Award-winning author)
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