I resisted Harry Potter at first because I'm not a fantasy reader. Once the series ended, I realized that they're really a multi-installment mystery wrapped in fantasy cosplay. Needless to say, I was not surprised to find out that JK Rowling moved to the mystery genre (under a pseudonym) when she started writing adult novels.
The Cuckoo's Calling does not start out on a promising note. Robin Ellacott is young, gorgeous, and mentally reliving last night's romantic proposal as she realizes on the way to her latest temp assignment that it's with Cormoran Strike's private investigation agency. Beautiful, in love, and on the way to an adventure with a war scarred (physically and mentally) "tough guy" - it's a cliche cyclone. And it gets worse when her boss's new client is the brother of one of Strike's childhood friends, asking him to investigate the death of his younger sister, a model who apparently committed suicide.
The novel is better than the set-up. Robin shows herself to be the right assistant for Cormoran, a smart and creative researcher as well as able to role-play when necessary to get information out of a witness. Cormoran may be damaged, but he's also a good investigator who through both groundwork and intuition solves a plot twist worthy of Agatha Christie. I doubt this series will become the cultural phenomenon that Harry Potter is (and perhaps they'll go out of print in 20 years), but I enjoyed The Cuckoo's Calling and plan to read the rest of the series.
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