The Cuckoo’s Calling, by Robert Galbraith aka JK Rowling

[xhanax315]

Well I changed my mind and I have started it.

[Mundungus Fletc]

Read it and enjoyed it - the denouement was very clever - I shall have to read it again to pick up on the clues that I missed.

[Spirit]

For some reason, I liked the second book, The Silkworm, better than The Cuckoo's Calling. I don't know if it's just because it's such a refreshing switch from reading textbooks to reading a book for fun, but either way, I thought it was really good.

I did see the killer coming though, because I know JK Rowling. Years of pouring over the Harry Potter books for clues has taught me well. If I didn't know JK Rowling, I'd have never saw it coming. If you want to know how I knew, look at the spoiler below.

Spoiler: show

I knew the killer was Elizabeth Tassel for a couple reasons. One was that she had breathing problems, so that makes you automatically categorize her as an unlikely suspect, which is exactly what JK Rowling wanted us to do. (It's tied up nicely at the end that the reason she's having issues breathing is because she inhaled the acid she used on the victim.) I didn't fall for it, JKR.

Second, we know JK Rowling likes to use name meanings when creating characters. "Robert Galbraith" even loosely translates to "famous stranger." The victim (Quine) was tied up shortly before he was murdered. "Tassel" translates to "cords, strings."

I also now ship Strike and Robin so bad it's not even funny, though it seems others who have read the first two books don't like the idea. I thought it was pretty heavily hinted at from start to finish, even from Robin's side a couple times, but I guess we're only on the second, and JK Rowling is shooting for seven or eight books again. Lots of time, lots of pages.

[Yoana]

Here's my review of The Silkworm. I found it to be a tighter mystery with more action and suspense but with even fewer clues, which is rather annoying, IMO.

[meesha1971]

I just finished it. I enjoyed it a lot and I've already put The Silkworm on my birthday wish list so I can read it too. I can't say that I would have realized immediately this was written by J.K. Rowling before the big reveal, but I think it would have felt very familiar because of the style and the mentions of places like Charring Cross Road and Tottenheim Court Road would have made me think of Harry Potter. There are little nods like that throughout the book - Strike even mentions the record shop on Charring Cross Road, which we all know is right next to The Leaky Cauldron. Now I find myself wondering how Strike would react to meeting someone like Mad-Eye Moody.

[Emma]

I've read all 3 and they are amazing. I think there is a plan for a BBC series