The Cuckoo’s Calling

I was halfway through Robert Galbraith’s The Cuckoo’s Calling before I learned that the author’s name is pseudonymous with J. K. Rowling of Harry Potter fame. I’d heard that Rowling had written an ‘adult crime detective’ novel and that it was to be the first in a series. But when neighbor Betsy brought over a stack of books including two by Galbraith I had not yet connected the dots.

It wasn’t until a friend visited the house, spied the books and said, “Oh! I’ve been wanting to read these!” that I wondered what was special about them. At the moment, I feigned ignorance realizing from his tone that there was something in particular I should know about them. Later, Nyel, always more aware of the here-and-now than I, explained.  Shortly after that I looked at the very last page of the book, “About The Author” which told all.

The Silkworm

I don’t think that knowing the Rowling/Galbraith connection made a twit of difference to my enjoyment of the book. I had already experienced the pleasure of discovering a ‘new’ author who seemed absolutely on top of plot, character development, and all the other elements that make a book hard to put down. There was certainly no hint of the fantasy world of Harry Potter to give me a clue.

I’m now deep into The Silkworm, the second of the series and I am probably hooked on the characters and will follow them to the bitter end. My one reservation might be how dark the books get. I found that the last few in the Harry Potter series became increasingly difficult for me to enjoy, focusing heavily, as they did, on ‘the dark arts’ rather on the more whimsical aspects of Harry’s magical world.

These first two Galbraith novels certainly have a dark side, the second more so than the first. At this point, though, I am still enjoying getting to know a new cast of characters, each sufficiently quirky and believable to make the darker parts of the stories palatable. But… I’m not much for horror and gore. So… we shall see.