The Cuckoo's Calling by Robert Galbraith

     First book review! AHHHH! Where to start with The Cuckoo's Calling? Let me first say that when I first bought this book and started reading it, I had forgotten it was written by J.K. Rowling, which is a relief as I feel I may have been biased going in if I had remembered that little detail. So with that, here's my review:

The Plot:

     The story started off a little slow at first but, once the investigation began things started picking up pretty quickly. At times things were a little more descriptive and repetitive than they really needed to be (constantly bringing up Comoran only having one leg. We get it. He's got a prosthetic and it irritates him.) but, that's J.K. Rowling's writing style. I personally would have preferred maybe a little more action and/or suspense however, the lack of both of these didn't keep the plot from moving at a rapid pace.

The Characters:

     I loved Strike. He was such a gruff but lovable hero, and often a nice comic relief. The bit where was rapping the DB Mack song was very amusing and I loved how awkward he tended to be around Robin. When it came down to it he was incredibly intelligent and got the answers he was looking for.

     I did like Robin but, sometimes I felt like she needed more of a back bone, especially when it came to her jerk of a fiancé (who I wanted to punch in the face). Despite letting her fiancé walk all over her and treat her like dirt, I loved how resourceful she was and good at improvising. There were several times that she really furthered the investigation because she was so good on her feet. I'm so happy she's decided to stay working with Strike and can't wait to see what they get up to in the next book.

     As for Lula, I felt very disconnected and almost apathetic to her death. Don't get me wrong I was dying to know the truth of what happened but, really felt there was a lack of depth to Lula and it was even said multiple times how shallow and selfish she was (not very positive traits). I also could NOT stand, and I mean absolutely loathed, Ciara. For someone who was supposedly Lula's best friend, you would think she would have been more affected by her death. Instead she came across very blasé and only seemed to be sympathetic to Lula's boyfriend (who I'm pretty sure she just wanted for herself).

     On the other hand I initially thought Evan was just as unaffected but, when we finally met him you could tell his grief was genuine. Tanzy, Ursula, and DB Mack were almost completely pointless. Other smaller characters served their purposes well enough.

The Verdict:

     This was a great read. While there were some minor issues I had, overall it was a very interesting read that I couldn't put down. Most of the characters were absolutely wonderful. There were several times when I was reading it that I said, "This person! They've got to be the killer. They're acting way too secretive and suspicious to not be involved." Even the actual murderer (Don't worry! No spoilers!) was someone I suspected a couple of times. Galbraith really kept you guessing until the very end. I would definitely recommend this to fellow mystery/crime fans. I can't wait to read the next installment.

Thanks for reading! 

~The Little Book Queen