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Slow,
Interesting,
Adventurous

23 reviews

The Cuckoo's Calling
by Robert Galbraith

Published: 2013-04-30
Hardcover : 464 pages
46 members reading this now
59 clubs reading this now
34 members have read this book
Recommended to book clubs by 16 of 23 members
The Cuckoo's Calling is a 2013 crime fiction novel by J. K. Rowling, published under the pseudonym Robert Galbraith.

A brilliant mystery in a classic vein: Detective Cormoran Strike investigates a supermodel's suicide.
After losing his leg to a land mine in Afghanistan, Cormoran Strike ...
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Introduction

The Cuckoo's Calling is a 2013 crime fiction novel by J. K. Rowling, published under the pseudonym Robert Galbraith.

A brilliant mystery in a classic vein: Detective Cormoran Strike investigates a supermodel's suicide.
After losing his leg to a land mine in Afghanistan, Cormoran Strike is barely scraping by as a private investigator. Strike is down to one client, and creditors are calling. He has also just broken up with his longtime girlfriend and is living in his office.

Then John Bristow walks through his door with an amazing story: His sister, thelegendary supermodel Lula Landry, known to her friends as the Cuckoo, famously fell to her death a few months earlier. The police ruled it a suicide, but John refuses to believe that. The case plunges Strike into the world of multimillionaire beauties, rock-star boyfriends, and desperate designers, and it introduces him to every variety of pleasure, enticement, seduction, and delusion known to man.

You may think you know detectives, but you've never met one quite like Strike. You may think you know about the wealthy and famous, but you've never seen them under an investigation like this.

Editorial Review

No editorial review at this time.

Excerpt

Prologue


Is demum miser est, cuius nobilitas miserias nobilitat.

Unhappy is he whose fame makes

his misfortunes famous.

Lucius Accius, Telephus


The buzz in the street was like the humming of flies. Photographers stood massed behind barriers patrolled by police, their long-snouted cameras poised, their breath rising like steam. Snow fell steadily on to hats and shoulders; gloved fingers wiped lenses clear. From time to time there came outbreaks of desultory clicking, as the watchers filled the waiting time by snapping the white canvas tent in the middle of the road, the entrance to the tall red-brick apartment block behind it, and the balcony on the top floor from which the body had fallen. ... view entire excerpt...

Discussion Questions

Suggested by Members

If you decide to discuss this book the NNEDV (National Network to End Domestic Violence) has a list of discussion questions on their website that I found very insightful.
by lucydog (see profile) 08/15/14

Notes From the Author to the Bookclub

Praise:

“A singular new voice to the genre of crime fiction . . . A page-turner.” —BookPage

“[A] stellar debut . . . Readers will hope to see a lot more of this memorable sleuthing team.” —Publishers Weekly, starred

“A grand beach read . . . Laden with plenty of twists and distractions, this debut ensures that readers will be puzzled and totally engrossed for quite a spell.” —Library Journal, starred, Debut of the Month

Book Club Recommendations

Member Reviews

Overall rating:
 
 
by Meredith S. (see profile) 07/29/21

 
by Ann M. (see profile) 06/26/21

 
by Jennifer G. (see profile) 07/23/19

 
by maureen r. (see profile) 06/29/19

 
by Maureen W. (see profile) 06/07/19

 
by Shannon M. (see profile) 01/23/18

 
  "Second half was good but first half was slow!"by Susan D. (see profile) 04/29/17

If it weren't a book club selection I would not have made it through... first half very slow, accents were written out in dialogue making it difficult to read. Confusing number of characters and names...... (read more)

 
by Liz K. (see profile) 10/20/16

 
by Karen L. (see profile) 08/25/16

 
by Alene L. (see profile) 07/04/16

I do not usually read mysteries but since it was for book club I gave it a try. It kept my interest but it was a bit too slow and too long.

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