After all her success with the Harry Potter series, JK Rowling decided to try her hand at writing crime fiction (my personal favourite genre). As she wanted to be a first time writer all over again and test her success writing a different kind of fiction, she wrote under the pseudonym Robert Galbraith. So far she has successfully written two novels under the pseudonym, although she was found out fairly quickly.
As an avid reader of crime fiction as well as a fan of JK Rowling and her writing I admit that I was both excited and worried at the prospect of the first novel, which I had already asked for as a birthday gift. I had nothing to worry about.
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Cormoran Strike, the main character of The Cuckoo’s calling and The Silkworm, is a rugged and rough looking private detective who was once a Royal Military Police investigator. He’s interesting, easily likable, and in many ways easy to understand. As well as being ex military and incredibly well connected, Strike is also just out of a very complicated if not abusive relationship and also disabled from a bomb. The character is exactly the kind of person who (if he was real would hate it) you’d want to sit next to on a long plane journey and question about their life, which in my opinion is just the kind of character you want.
In contrast, Strike’s assistant Robin Ellacott is quiet, pretty and intelligent. Just like a “good” assistant should be. Robin is in fact an excellent assistant/investigator and is very well respected by Strike, which helps build likability for both characters.
The central themes of both novels so far are well known to Rowling, one being celebrity culture, and the second being the publishing world. They are written well and clearly this personal knowledge helps in building the imagination of the reader. Each plot has individual twists and a murder, of course. They focus on both family issues and work relationships.
They are by no means a challenging read but are definitely enjoyable. At the end of each novel you find yourself satisfied in finally learning who the killer is and a little bit disappointed in reaching the end of Strike and Robin’s case and life. I personally found that I wanted to learn even more about their characters as well as seeing them solve another case and I dearly hope that Robert Galbraith (Rowling) finds time to write another one soon!
Annie Rose XOXO
Have you read them? Do you want to?
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