Goed boek over een PI, Cormoran Strike, die gevraagd wordt om de zelfmoord van een beroemd fotomodel te onderzoeken. Beetje hard-boiled detective stijl. Prima vakantieboek. ( )

This book was the subject of a lot of hype shortly after its initial publication arising from the apparently accidental leak of the fact that "Robert Galbraith" is a pseudonym of J K Rowling. I am very cynical about that ‘accident’. I can entirely understand why J K Rowling might want to resort to a pseudonym for a series of novels so different from the Harry Potter books that made her name and her fortune. However, with the deeply ingrained cynicism and suspicion of a former tax inspector, I imagine that her publishers were probably more reluctant to maintain the deception, and perfectly aware of the beneficial impact on sales that such a revelation would have.

I had deliberately deferred reading The Casual Vacancy, her first book for adults, although when I eventually got around to reading it I found it utterly engrossing, and very enjoyable. I had the same experience with The Cuckoo Calling.

The novel opens with the death, apparently by suicide, of Lula Landry, a supermodel who seemed to have the world at her feet: undeniable beauty, multi-million-pound fashion endorsements, luxurious and exclusive apartment and rock star boyfriend. No-one can quite understand why she might have done it, but everyone seems to accept that it was suicide: just another celebrity pushed over the edge by the pressures attendant on her high profile lifestyle. Everyone, that is, apart from her brother, John Bristow, who hires a private detective to look investigate her death.

We then learn that Lula's life had not been a bed of roses. She and John had both been adopted by the Bristows, a wealthy couple who had been unable to have children of their own. There had been a third adopted child, Charlie, but he had died while still a child (indeed, it emerges that Lula had been adopted following Charlie's death, as a form of consolation for their Mrs Bristow). In her late teens already a modelling sensation, Lula had conducted investigations and tracked down her natural mother who turned out to be an alcoholic and occasional prostitute, who went on to have three children who were all taken into care and passed on for adoption. Upon discovering that her daughter had become a successful model, the natural mother immediately sold her story to the tabloid press, thereby contributing further to the perpetual hounding that Lula suffered at the hands of the paparazzi. To add to her woes, Lula had had a series of drug-related incidents and her boyfriend, Evan Duffield, was widely known as a heroin addict.

If Lula might be viewed as ‘damaged goods’, so too is the private detective whom John Bristow retains to look into the case. Cormoran Strike is the illegitimate, and largely disowned, son of John Rokeby, a successful rock star whose career stretches back twenty or thirty years. Strike had secured a place at Oxford but following the death through heroin overdose of his mother, he chose instead to join the army where he ended up on the Special Investigation Bureau of the Military Police. On service in Afghanistan, he was caught in a roadside explosion and lost part of his leg. Now back in civilian life he has established a practice on the fringes of Soho, but is struggling to keep afloat, and has just been dumped by his fiancée.

That is the context, and it does all sound rather grim. However, Galbraith/ Rowling handles all of this with a lightness of touch that never derides the awful tragedies that the characters have suffered but ensures that the story fizzes along quite merrily. She has, after all, had her own searing experiences at the hands of the press, and suffered the unwelcome travails that accompany sudden and extensive celebrity.

The plot is very well constructed (and it certainly fooled me) and the characters are all very clearly and plausibly drawn. ( )

I started reading this without high expectations. I mean, Harry Potter -author? What can she know about writing mysteries? Probably just tries to keep herself busy while spending her millions.

Well, I am happy to announce that I was totally wrong. Thi ...more
I started reading this without high expectations. I mean, Harry Potter -author? What can she know about writing mysteries? Probably just tries to keep herself busy while spending her millions.

Well, I am happy to announce that I was totally wrong. This was highly entertaining read and I really enjoyed it. So much actually, that I am already looking forward to read the next one.

And Cormoran Strike? What a character! To get something as stereotypical as private detective in London to work you must write very well and have a really good plot. This book has both, so off we go! ( )

I really enjoyed this. No clue who the bad guy was. The only problem I had with it is the point of view character would change in the middle of a scene. A writing "no," but I guess when you're JKR you can do what you want.
Love the main character. Will read the next one! ( )

"The dead could only speak through the mouths of those left behind, and through the signs they left scattered behind them."

I absolutely loved this one. I was thoroughly hooked from the first few chapters. Even with a huge cast, which this author seems to really love, it was easy for me to follow and keep track of.

And I never had any idea who done it. All the pieces seemed to take forever to be put into place for me. An absolute favorite and a series I will definitely keep reading.

I loved Robin and Cormoran Strike and I look forward to their following adventures. ( )