Book Review: The Cuckoo's Calling

In April of this year, author Robert Galbraith published his bestselling crime novel, The Cuckoo’s Calling. The story follows Detective Cormoran Strike as he delves into the mad investigation of a supermodel’s suicide. A complex plot with rich characterization that left the world wondering, “Who is this Robert Galbraith?” There lays the true mystery of the novel.

Robert Galbraith doesn’t exist.

Loved for her fantastical series about the boy who lived, JK Rowling secretly published The Cuckoo’s Calling under the pseudonym of Galbraith. According to The Sunday Times Rowling said, “Being Robert Galbraith has been such a liberating experience. It has been wonderful to publish without hype and expectation and pure pleasure to get feedback under a different name.”

Rowling’s pen name was coined after her hero, former U.S. Senator Robert F. Kennedy. Rowling also noted, “Galbraith came about for a slightly odd reason. When I was a child, I really wanted to be called ‘Ella Galbraith,’ and I’ve no idea why.”

At first, I was skeptical about whether I’d actually enjoy The Cuckoo’s Calling. I didn’t want my love for the Harry Potter series to cloud my judgment. But I quickly fell in love with the novel. In order to truly enjoy it, readers must remember to differentiate the book from the Harry Potter series. With their different genres and plotlines, they shouldn’t be compared. Although Rowling’s masterfully executed interweaving of detail remains.

Though I must admit that if Rowling hadn’t been revealed as the true author of The Cuckoo’s Calling, I probably would not have picked up the story. Which alludes to the popular lesson that we should “never judge a book by its cover.” Or in this case its author.

However, it seems as though there is more drama surrounding the novel than the actual storyline. On her 48^th birthday on July 31, Rowling won a court case concerning her leaked pseudonym. She filed a lawsuit against Chris Gossage, a partner at her former law firm and his colleague, Judith Callegari. Gossage revealed to Callegari the true identity of Robert Galbraith. Callegari then passed that information on to a Sunday Times columnist through the social media site Twitter. This stirred an investigation and eventually led to Rowling’s exposure.

Rowling expressed anger over the situation. “At no point did I consider as a possible [leak] a lawyer from a firm of solicitors from whom I had obviously assumed I could expect total confidentiality,” Rowling wrote on Robert Galbraith’s official website, “The revelation when it came was a huge shock and a deep disappointment.”

On the other hand, Rowling also stated, “I always knew that if and when I was discovered I would ask for my royalties to be paid to ABF The Soldier’s Charity. This is partly as a thank you to the people who helped with research, but also because researching and writing the character of [detective Cormoran] Strike has given me an even greater appreciation and understanding of exactly how much this charity does for serving soldiers, ex-servicemen and their families, and how much that support is needed.”

Stepping out of the fantasy genre, Rowling begets a brilliantly crafted crime novel with mystery lingering around every corner. The Cuckoo’s Calling has continued to dominate as a New York Time’s bestseller for over 5 weeks. Rowling plans to continue this book as a series under her pseudonym. The next installment of Detective Strike will be published in summer 2014.