Reviews with content warning for Violence - Il richiamo del cuculo

I knew what was going to happen thanks to seeing the TV show, but it was still a very enjoyable ride, getting to know Cormoran and Robin and watching them work out the solution.

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jhbandcats's review against another edition

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adventurous dark informative mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

This first novel in the Cormoran Strike series isn’t as strong as the later ones but it’s deftly told with Rowling’s signature complexity. Neither main character is particularly likable at first but they grow on the reader. Strike’s stubborn tenacity is both a weakness and a strength - it enables his success as an investigator even as it dooms his love life.

I’m rereading the entire series after having just finished the newest book. I wanted to immerse myself in Strike and Robin’s world and read straight through starting at the beginning. If you like dense, intellectual mysteries, try this series.

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jselliot's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

A solid mystery. I admit I spent a fair amount of time suspecting the uncle, but the actual killer makes all too much sense when you line all the ducks up in a row. I also enjoyed the character development between Robin and Strike, although Matthew remains a point of distaste from start to end of the book for me.

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ran_sophia's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

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naomi_k's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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ms_gouldbourne's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

It's very difficult for me to fault The Cuckoo's Calling, the first in the Cormoran Strike novels that JK Rowling attempted to write under another name before getting spectacularly outed as its author. I've read everything 'Robert Galbraith' has to offer several times; she has a fantastic observational narrative style and the language used is second to none.

In The Cuckoo's Calling, we meet Cormoran Strike, a one-legged veteran reeling from an explosive breakup and attempting to make a success of his private investigation business. Strike is huge, slightly menacing, definitely crass - and extremely likeable, in spite of all his best efforts to the contrary. Into his office also comes Robin, a temp as different from Strike as it's possible to be - pretty, petite and polite. Thus begins an unlikely working relationship that occasionally hints about crossing the boundary into something more.

Strike and Robin are called upon to solve the murder of Lula Landry, a famous model who tumbled to her death - apparently deliberately - from her top-floor balcony. Enter a variety of suspects who must be interviewed and tailed and disbelieved, with a thousand extraneous details providing a real flavour of the mire and multiple red herrings surrounding investigative work. If The Cuckoo's Calling stopped there as just another crime thriller, I would still have been impressed; it's unusual for this kind of novel to cover such an extensive range of detail that may or may not be significant to the final solution without feeling weighed down by it.

However, Galbraith goes further, making her protagonists interesting and likeable much more so than your typical crime thriller. It's difficult to explain other than to say that where similar genre novels tend to forego character development in favour of plot, Galbraith manages to weave both together effortlessly. Her use of language and turn of phrase is flawless, which is particularly noticeable when listening to Robert Glenister reading it aloud, as I was on this occasion!

The only (tiny!) quibble I have is with the eventual solution to the case - it felt just slightly contrived.

The idea that the murderer would actually be the one to seek Strike out and reopen the case after getting away with killing Lula was nonsensical, and the reasoning for why he might do so felt thin.

However, this was so minor - the book was written so well, with such fascinating character exploration, and I would highly recommend it to anyone who likes literature in any form.

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cmreadsbooks's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark mysterious tense medium-paced

Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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