Mystery Annotation

The Cuckoo’s Calling 

by Robert Galbraith

Publication Date:  2013

Number of Pages:  455

Setting:  London

Time Period: Contemporary

Series:  Book #1 in the Cormoran Strike series

SYNOPSIS
London PI Cormoran Strike is having a streak of rather bad luck:  a final row with his on-again, off-again girlfriend has left him with only a rollaway bed in his dingy office to call home, death threats arrive on a weekly basis, the phone is ringing more for debt collectors than with clients, and the temp agency has just sent him another secretary he can’t afford.    Even when John Bristow, the brother of an old friend, shows up to hire him, Cormoran isn’t sure it will be enough to turn his life around.  The case John wants him to investigate is the death of his sister, model Lula Landry, a seemingly open-and-shut case ruled suicide.  John’s convinced Lula was murdered; Cormoran is not so sure, but the case is at least a welcomed distraction from his otherwise bleak life.

Another welcome distraction is the temp secretary, Robin, who proves to be not only adept at making coffee, but also at investigating.  Together Cormoran and Robin begin to piece together the last day of Lula’s life, realizing as they do, that the pieces point more towards murder than suicide.  Can Cormoran pin the killer before the killer pins him?

 
ELEMENTS OF MYSTERY:

“Mysteries are constructed around a puzzle; the author provides clues to the solution but attempts to obscure some information so that the mystery cannot be solved too easily” (Saricks 196).

Pacing

The pacing is fast.  Like romantic suspense, even in moments that are not filled with chases and violence, issues come up one right after the other, keeping the reader drawn into and invested in the story to find out what is going to happen next.  Joyce G. Saricks notes that “pacing is relentless and compelling, sometimes slowed by details of time and place, but always moving inexorably toward the solution” (198).

Character

There are various characterizations the main character can take including P.I., police detective, and amateur detective.  Besides the main character, a sidekick often exists along with a cast of various good guys, bad guys, and those in between.  In some series, the reader also gets to know the main character’s family; these family members make good pawns or, at times, provide comic relief.

Setting

Settings can vary.  Some mysteries have a very specific locale – think about the board game Clue where the entire mystery takes place in the mansion.  Other mysteries take the protagonist and the reader all around the world.  The time period can vary from historical to contemporary.  No matter when, where, and what the setting is, it plays a large role in the story. 

Point of View

Often, the reader journeys through the story from the detective’s point of view.  By using the first person point of view, the reader is only given as much information as the detective.  This allows for the set-up of unexpected plot twists and, especially in series, readers like to get to know the detective and become emotionally involved in his or her personal life as well as the mysteries he or she solves.  Sidekicks are also popular and important.  If a detective finds peril, sometimes the point of view will switch to the sidekick.

Mood

Mysteries come in a variety of moods.  Some mysteries are dark and gritty.  Other mysteries are light and humorous.  Some fall right in between.  Mysteries can be very graphic or they can minimize the violence by lack of detailed description.

Language and Style

As with mood, language styles vary.  The detective (or P.I.) can have a very elaborate vocabulary and emotionless style or could ramble and be very high strung (especially true of amateur detectives).  Saricks mentions that “Style plays a role too, and Mysteries may include excerpts from journals and diaries…e-mails and instant messages” (203).  Technology has begun to play a larger and larger role in how the protagonist gathers clues and protects him or herself.


ALSO IN THE CORMORAN STRIKE SERIES:

The Silkworm by Robert Galbraith (book #2)

READ-A-LIKES:

The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes series by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

The Good Son by Russel D. McLean

The Drop by Michael Connelly

Gun Games by Faye Kellerman

MY THOUGHTS

I knew going in that Robert Galbraith was a pseudonym for the amazing J.K. Rowling.  I had tried to read A Casual Vacancy when that first came out and I just couldn’t get into it as it was rather dry.  I approached this book neutrally.  On one hand, I am obsessed with Harry Potter, but on the other hand I had not experienced the same affinity towards her first attempt in adult fiction.  Luckily, The Cuckoo’s Calling grabbed me right away.  I enjoyed how Rowling began the book from the secretary’s (Robin’s) point of view to set the initial scene and then had Cormoran take over the narration. 

Sadly, I didn’t begin to figure out the mystery until almost the very end. Once I did, the ‘whodunnit’ was still a shock, and yet at the same time made perfect sense.  Rowling as Galbraith laid just enough clues throughout, but left a shred of doubt and incredulity even up to the very last moment.  I also can’t say enough about the London setting.  The proper London that is stereotypical in many American minds is present, but the layers are stripped back to reveal a very gritty, secret underground.  I also appreciated the secondary storyline/commentary about paparazzi.  Rowling has been hounded relentlessly and her own personal frustrations shine through in how she describes and portrays the hungriness of the unrelenting voyeurs.

While Harry Potter might be considered by most to be fantasy, mystery plays a large role throughout the series.  Rowling takes this experience and hits a home run with this book.  The Cuckoo’s Calling has all the elements of a typical mystery and leaves enough loose ends in Robin’s and Cormoran’s separate personal lives and their combined professional life that sequels are demanded.  I have not yet read book #2, The Silkworm, but it will be the first book I read after submitting my final paper this semester.   Highly recommended.

5 out of 5 stars.