The Cuckoo's Calling (Cormoran Strike, #1) in Pick-a-Shelf

Jul 15, 2013 D.G. rated it really liked it

Shelves: audiobook, reviewed, awesome-narration, re-read, favorites, mystery, celebrity

**4.5 stars**

The Cuckoo’s Calling is an excellent mystery with intense characters, beautiful imagery and an intricate plot that expertly melds the consequences of fame, psychological issues and questions of race. Before you continue reading, I’ll point out that this is a MYSTERY. If you don’t like the genre, you will probably not like it even if you are a great fan of Harry Potter. As the description points out, this is a mystery in the classic vein so there are no serial killers. Most of the bo **4.5 stars**

The Cuckoo’s Calling is an excellent mystery with intense characters, beautiful imagery and an intricate plot that expertly melds the consequences of fame, psychological issues and questions of race. Before you continue reading, I’ll point out that this is a MYSTERY. If you don’t like the genre, you will probably not like it even if you are a great fan of Harry Potter. As the description points out, this is a mystery in the classic vein so there are no serial killers. Most of the book is about Strike reconstructing events, interviewing witnesses and dealing with the fallout of his failed relationship and his new life. The book is not boring by any means but it won’t appeal to people who don’t like the genre or are offended by cursing – this is an adult book with tons of f-bombs.

The plot is intricate and very well developed but the characters are by far the stronger part of the story. I found Strike in particular very appealing, hairy belly and all. :) He’s big, hairy and sort of ugly (one of his charming childhood nicknames was “pube head.”) However, he’s extremely smart, savvy, very honest and not afraid to get rough if needed. As he starts investigating, he uncovers the life of a mixed-race, bipolar girl who found stardom and couldn’t fully trust anybody. Instead of sadness, her death had a sense of inevitability as if her life couldn’t have ended any other way but in tragedy.

The secondary characters are as strong as Cormoran: the very efficient Robin, Lula Landry and the entourage of people who loved her but nevertheless used her for their own means. I was particularly impressed by two important characters that barely say a word in the book: Charlotte and Deeby Macc. Their presence in the book is so tangible but all we know is what other people think of them. We learn about Charlotte through Strike’s dissection of their relationship and discover Deeby by the lyrics of his songs and the adoration of his fans. I was left very curious as to both characters and wanted to know whether those impressions were real.

I had the pleasure to listen to the audiobook narrated by Robert Glenister. The audiobook was simply fabulous, with Mr. Glenister doing a tremendous job with all those regional British accents. Not being a native English speaker, I usually have problems with those (sometimes I have to turn on the captions when I watch Masterpiece Mystery) but I understood every word, even the slang. I was captivated by his voice and depth of feeling from the moment Mr. Glenister recites the poem at the beginning. He truly does a masterful job with the narration.

Although it’s not clear whether this will be a series, the end of this book felt like a beginning. The way things ended up with Robin and Charlotte seemed to say ‘to be continued.’ But mostly because of the last line of the book, a phrase from a poem that floated out of Strike’s subconscious: "I am become a name."

Audiobook narrated by Robert Glenister.

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Nov 23, 2014 Jenn rated it it was amazing

Shelves: 2016-cover-to-cover

I was surprised to find that I thoroughly enjoyed this mystery. I was afraid that Cormoran Strike would be a detective that I wouldn't like and was pleasantly surprised to find him very loveable. His temp assistant Robin was equally loveable. The paparazzi story wasn't far-fetched nor was the surrounding family problems related to the model. Looking forward to reading book number two. ...more

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Sep 04, 2013 emily rated it liked it

Shelves: mystery-and-crime, detectives-and-private-eyes, 2011-to-2015, whodunit, anglophilia, problematic-authors

For a lover of mystery and a lover of Jo Rowling, what could be better than a meeting of the two? I deeply loved this, the characters, the deftly layered clues-- I'm reminded again of how spellbound I was, reading each Potter book for the first time. This is a writer who knows her craft, and whose talent and versatility only appear to be growing. ...more

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Oct 10, 2013 Rebekah rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: genre-fiction, well-read, genre-thriller, genre-adult, rating-4, genre-mystery-crime, genre-mystery, series, genre-thriller-mystery-thriller, setting-uk

To me this was an entertaining little mystery!

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Jul 20, 2013 Mita rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: crime-and-mystery, read-in-2013

I am a sucker for detective stories so the news that my favourite author wrote a detective story was like double Christmas to me.

I really, really, really enjoyed reading this book. This is the kind of book I'd have borrowed from the library and spend a weekend reading.

Obviously, being written by JK Rowling made it that little bit more enjoyable because I love the way she writes, even with her oft-criticized Casual Vacancy. There's something in the way she writes that just envelops you and takes ...more

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Feb 06, 2014 Rachel N. rated it really liked it

Cormoran strike is a private investigator who is hurting for clients when John Bristow comes to Cormoran's office and hires him to look into the supposed suicide of John's sister the supermodel Lula Landry. Cormoran has just gotten a new temporary secretary Robin who proves to be very useful in the investigation. JK Rowling can write mysteries as well as young adult series. I was surprised by the ending and enjoyed the investigation. It's just too bad that this book and lots of other good books ...more

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