The Cuckoo’s Calling

Finished my last book from the RA Favorite list for 2016-17, The Cuckoo’s Calling by Robert Galbraith, aka J K Rowling.  Dead body found on the city streets of London, appears to be a suicide, but wait… it is the body of a famous young model, Lula Landry, but her adopted brother, John Bristow, is not convinced that the supermodel, at the top of her career would have killed herself by jumping from the balcony of her apartment.  Bristow, three months after the final ruling by the police that it was a suicide, seeks out the help of a private investigator, Cormoran Strike, who has a strange connection to his new employer.  Strike and Bristow’s deceased brother, Charlie, who died at age ten by riding his bike off a cliff, were best friends.  Bristow hires Strike, a down on his luck investigator, to find the killer.  Strike is assisted by a temp secretary, Robin Ellacott, who ends up being a right-hand aide to the long and complicated inquiry.  There is a very long list of potential killers, including Lula’s addict boyfriend, her personal driver, her homeless friend from the outpatient clinic, her clothes designer, her model friend Ciara, her neighbor and film producer, the film producer’s wife, her personal makeup artist, her biological mother, and the list goes on.  Lots going on here and Rowling does a great job of weaving in all of the stories together very nicely.  As I read on I had a weird feeling that the ending might be convoluted.  To my worst fears, ugh, the worst possible killer was selected.  No way!   Won’t ruin it for you, but horrible ending, in my opinion.  She should have selected another ending, though I was happy that Robin would stay around working for Cormoran.  Sorry, the ending killed it for me, otherwise I would say, read the book.  I look forward to next year’s new books.  Enjoy reading, it’s so important!