The Cuckoo’s Calling, by Robert Galbraith aka JK Rowling

[HRW]

Originally Posted by Melaszka

I don't think it is. She is reportedly furious that the news was accidentally leaked by one of her lawyers.

She's already got more money than she knows what to do with, so she really doesn't need the Galbraith series to be a massive hit. I thinks he would genuinely have wanted the series to sink or swim on its own merits.

The Publishers wouldn't have been too thrilled with JKR intending to use a Pseudonym for her book though. They would see it as an opportunity missed to make massive money. Maybe I am being too skeptical but I reckon it's the leak is from the publishers with or without JKR's consent.

[Wab]

Lawyers would never admit culpability unless they were actually at fault. A big part of their business is their ability to keep confidential information confidential. Especially when it involves a partner.

Originally Posted by HRW

The Publishers wouldn't have been too thrilled with JKR intending to use a Pseudonym for her book though. They would see it as an opportunity missed to make massive money.

Little, Brown does quite well anyway. It would have been more advantageous in the long term if Glabraith had a backlist before being outed.

[leah49]

Originally Posted by Inigo Imago

Agreed. I would have liked to see how well Robert could do without the Rowling backing. Wouldn't it have been great to see the pseudonym rise to fame after several books before the great reveal?

Yes, that would have been cool. I think it would have been nice for Rowling to have this as a way to escape. She can be judged solely on her writing and not on the fact that she is a celebrity. But, the truth is out.

Originally Posted by Wab

Little, Brown does quite well anyway. It would have been more advantageous in the long term if Glabraith had a backlist before being outed.

There would definitely have been more of a story in that case.

[capella_black]

I promise this really isn't in any way a spoiler:

It was she, after all, who had so far slit open three pink envelopes, and read the unpleasant and violent outpourings scrawled between gamboling kittens. (p. 181)

All the death threats come on pink kitten stationary, which struck me immediately as a nod to Dolores Umbridge!

The Wikipedia entry on Cormoran, her hero's name: "Cormoran is a giant associated with St. Michael's Mount in the folklore of Cornwall." Names from folklore and Cornish giants sound very much like the J. K. Rowling we know and love from HP.

I think these things would have made me wonder, if I had ever picked up the book without knowing it was by her. Which I don't honestly think I would have. But each did feel "like a friendly little wave glimpsed from behind a veil," and made the book extra fun to read knowing that it was her.

[ccollinsmith]

Originally Posted by Wab

Little, Brown does quite well anyway. It would have been more advantageous in the long term if Glabraith had a backlist before being outed.

It would be better for Cormoran Strike, certainly. I've just finished reading the book, and I think she clearly created this character to star in a series... but without the pressure of having everyone know it was a Rowling series. I suspect that she didn't want to be outed before she had 4 or 5 books out there with Galbraith's name on them.

ETA: Just to avoid confusion (since it's Rowling), by "series" I mean a detective series, with multiple standalone cases solved by the same detective - not a series in the same sense that Harry Potter is a series.

[HMN]

Originally Posted by ccollinsmith

It would be better for Cormoran Strike, certainly. I've just finished reading the book, and I think she clearly created this character to star in a series... but without the pressure of having everyone know it was a Rowling series. I suspect that she didn't want to be outed before she had 4 or 5 books out there with Galbraith's name on them.

guardian The author, who was outed last week as the writer of detective novel The Cuckoo's Calling, also confirmed that she has "just finished the sequel" – the first of a projected series featuring sleuth Cormoran Strike – which is to be published in 2014. http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2013...h-harry-potter

I would guess that the publisher, knowing it would get a series out of JKR would have been happy to wait til 3-5 books were out before revealing the author's real name. And of course depending on how sales were going and if they even needed to reveal. Either way, they knew they'd get a windfall of income at some point. And thinking back to the Potter momentum - it wasn't til book 3 or 4 was out til the fandom started growing exponentially.

[xhanax315]

I've finished reading 'The Cuckoo's Calling', I enjoyed it very much so. Jo had me hammering to figure out the culprit in the story before it was actually revealed and I had it figured who it was going to be in the end. I found this book similar to another mystery novel. Has anyone else caught that yet?

[MerryLore]

Not a bad book at all, and I enjoyed it much more than I did Casual Vacancy, including liking the main characters. The murderer didn't surprise me, but that additional twist did.

It's no Harry Potter to me - I wasn't interested in going back and rereading it, and doubt I ever will - but I'll read the next in the series.

[ccollinsmith]

What I really enjoyed about it was that Rowling wrote it as an American hard-boiled detective novel, but set in London with a British cast. It was fun seeing how all those hard-boiled conventions from Dashiell Hammett and Raymond Chandler found their way into a book that was very much about London.

[Yoana]

Originally Posted by ccollinsmith

What I really enjoyed about it was that Rowling wrote it as an American hard-boiled detective novel, but set in London with a British cast. It was fun seeing how all those hard-boiled conventions from Dashiell Hammett and Raymond Chandler found their way into a book that was very much about London.

It reminded me more of James Hadley Chase than anything, personally.

I really enjoyed it, except

Spoiler: show

for the reveal because I thought it was reeeeeally overreaching. Having the client be the murderer in your first novel of a series? And the added detail of his having killed his brother at, what, 7? was downright absurd, not to mention completely unnecessary.

[Fhaps]

Originally Posted by Yoana

It reminded me more of James Hadley Chase than anything, personally.

I really enjoyed it, except

Spoiler: show

for the reveal because I thought it was reeeeeally overreaching. Having the client be the murderer in your first novel of a series? And the added detail of his having killed his brother at, what, 7? was downright absurd, not to mention completely unnecessary.

Spoiler: show

That's my exact same problem with this book. I LOVED it, except for that ending. The motive wasn't clear enough to make it believable to me. And I know Cormoran kept saying how civilian people where obsessed with motives (which I think this was Rowling trying to convince us not to pay too much attention to the flawed motive), but I don't mean the motive for the homicide but the reason why Bristow felt the need to hire a private detective to dig into his own crime. I know he's portrayed as a sociopath but that's just down right stupid to me.

[Yoana]

Originally Posted by Fhaps

Spoiler: show

That's my exact same problem with this book. I LOVED it, except for that ending. The motive wasn't clear enough to make it believable to me. And I know Cormoran kept saying how civilian people where obsessed with motives (which I think this was Rowling trying to convince us not to pay too much attention to the flawed motive), but I don't mean the motive for the homicide but the reason why Bristow felt the need to hire a private detective to dig into his own crime. I know he's portrayed as a sociopath but that's just down right stupid to me.

Spoiler: show

He hired a detective because he wanted the biological brother framed for the murder, so that he didn't lose the inheritance if that brother surfaced and/or the will was found. That's why he was so obsessed with the Runner from the CCTV footage. Still, that part wasn't emphasised enough, in my opinion.

[Andromeda_T]

If anyone is reading this wondering whether to read it or not, I would just warn you about the swearing. There is a LOT of it. A lot more than in Casual Vacancy. Nearly every character says the f word very frequently. I think I managed to tune it out eventually!

I thought it was a good story - I predicted one or two of the twists but not all. I'm afraid I missed the potential HP references (old man and pink kittens, though in retrospect, the pink kittens are pretty obvious!) so I shall have to re-read it some time! I think it is a re-readable book - immediately I finished it I went back to re-read some bits, which make more sense having read the end (very HP-like).

I'm surprised no-one realised earlier that it was her. I think the writing style is remarkably similar to Casual Vacancy. I heard it was the wife of one of the lawyers or something let it slip that it was her.

I would definitely like to read more mysteries solved by this detective and his sidekick. I wish there wasn't as much swearing though!

[SusanBones]

I just finished this book and I enjoyed it very much. JKR does a great job developing her characters, and it really shows in this book. I liked both Cormoran and Robin very much and would love it if they continued the series. But I felt as if the process of solving the mystery could have been revealed a little better. It seemed like there were lots of interviews with little progress until all was revealed at the end.

Originally Posted by Yoana

II really enjoyed it, except

Spoiler: show

for the reveal because I thought it was reeeeeally overreaching. Having the client be the murderer in your first novel of a series? And the added detail of his having killed his brother at, what, 7? was downright absurd, not to mention completely unnecessary.

Spoiler: show

I agree. This felt a little too contrived. How many murderers would hire a detective who knew his brother to solve a murder that he committed?

Originally Posted by Fhaps

Spoiler: show

That's my exact same problem with this book. I LOVED it, except for that ending. The motive wasn't clear enough to make it believable to me. And I know Cormoran kept saying how civilian people where obsessed with motives (which I think this was Rowling trying to convince us not to pay too much attention to the flawed motive), but I don't mean the motive for the homicide but the reason why Bristow felt the need to hire a private detective to dig into his own crime. I know he's portrayed as a sociopath but that's just down right stupid to me.

This wasn't clear to me at the end, either.

Originally Posted by Yoana

Spoiler: show

He hired a detective because he wanted the biological brother framed for the murder, so that he didn't lose the inheritance if that brother surfaced and/or the will was found. That's why he was so obsessed with the Runner from the CCTV footage. Still, that part wasn't emphasised enough, in my opinion.

Thanks for the explanation.

[Yoana]

The second book in the series is due in June! I'd resigned myself to waiting until November, this is great news!

[ccollinsmith]

Originally Posted by Yoana

The second book in the series is due in June! I'd resigned myself to waiting until November, this is great news!

I saw that yesterday. Very excited! I thought the first book was terrific.

[Yoana]

Originally Posted by ccollinsmith

I saw that yesterday. Very excited! I thought the first book was terrific.

I did too. Cormoran and Robin are a great detective pair and even as I was reading it, and had no idea it was a first in a series, I wished I could read more about them. Rowling is a master of characterisation, in my opinion.

[xhanax315]

Has anyone gotten The Silkworm yet? I bout it today but I might re-read The Cuckoo's Calling first.

[Asphodel79]

I picked it up yesterday. I am going to finish my current read, and then I will dive into it!

[snugglepot]

My husband bought it for me yesterday, but it's for my birthday which is not till tomorrow, so I must wait till then!