To
begin with, I am not a Harry Potter fan. Still, seeing the name of JK Rowling
related with “The Cuckoo’s Calling” I decided to give it a try. The newspaper
claimed that she could garner good number of sales even after writing under the
pen name ‘Robert Galbraith’ (however, some of the websites I visited later
rejected the claim).
TCC
is a murder mystery. Lula Landry is a super model and supposedly the most
beautiful woman in the world. She is (allegedly) pushed to death in the dark of
a winter night from the heights of a Mayfair flat. The Scotland Yard
investigates the case and claims that to be a suicide. Her brother was not
happy with it. He assigns a detective to re-investigate the case.
The
detective, Cormoran Strike, is a retired military policeman. He was jobless and
sinking deeply into the whirlpool of debts. And then, rightly, the case lands
at his doorstep. The case, being related with a celebrity, can change his fate
forever. He, along with his temporary assistant, Robin, embarks on the journey
to find the murderer.
He
has to reveal the conspirators. For the
sake of him and his client.
Ms.
Rowling could hook the reader with a death at the first chapter. From then it
was a normal investigation.
The
dark areas of glitzy glamorous world is revealed to us through the characters.
But it is nothing new, as we have seen those same images many a time before. Ms.
Rowling (Mr. Gabraith) is also not free of clichés of detective novels as seen
throughout the investigation.
There
are paragraphs of description which may turn you off (it definitely did in case
of me) and reduce the pace. Many of those seemed to be unnecessary. Those could
do nothing, but made the book thicker.
The
female character, Robin, in the novel seemed to be inserted. However, she
surprises with her proactive moves, whenever the protagonist assigns her job.
At the same time, we may think whether his job well or not. As most of the time
it was she, who takes the story forward.
Yet
his supremacy is sealed at the end when he finds the villain with the cues he
observed with his experienced eyes and intelligent assumptions.
Pros: JK
Rowling, beautiful and apt cover design, murder mystery, well developed
characters, atmospheric London city.
Cons: Too
much descriptions, so many loose ends those were yet to be explained (some
explanations were not satisfactory) and lack of pace. The book unintentionally
throws a question at the credibility of Scotland yard. As they, even after
having the most advanced technology, fails to find out a suspect. And the
simplicity by which they closes a death under doubtful circumstances as suicide,
giving a blind eye to circumstantial evidences.
Rating:
3.5/5
