The Cuckoo’s Calling is a promising start in a detective series written by J.K. Rowling. Although, Rowling is writing under the pen name of Robert Galbraith, which is a pretty good pseudonym.

A supermodel’s plunge from her apartment balcony has been ruled a suicide, but her brother is not convinced. He turns private detective Cormoran Strike for some help in confirming his suspicions of foul play. Strike initially doesn’t seem up to the job considering that his personal life is coming apart at the seams after an acrimonious break-up. Strike is a disabled war veteran with a prosthetic leg, and his business has not been very fruitful. Strike is skeptical that he is going to come up with a different conclusion from the police, but he could use the money. He has a temporary assistant who ends up being more help than most. Strike also is pretty skillful investigator, so it’s not too long before he starts to wonder if his client may be onto something.

I have yet to read Rowling’s Harry Potter series, but this endeavor may encourage me to give that a shot. It’s not that the plot is all that original, but Strike ends up being a compelling enough protagonist to spark my curiosity. Strike is a pretty distinctive and disheveled figure, but his instincts and morals have not dulled since leaving the Royal Army. There is also kind of a cool chemistry depicted with his new temp worker, Robin. It took a bit of persistence for me to start to like this novel, but it gets better. Rowling may need to work on her literary hooks a little, but her talent and popularity does still appear to be well-earned.

This novel was first published in 2013, so she has continued this series quite a bit since then, and I think it will not be too far down the road before I get to the next installment.

My next port of call on the leisure reading cruise will be Ellis Peters. It has been a while since I have visited the gates of a certain medieval abbey where Brother Cadfael resides with his fellow monks, but it’s time I learned the truth of the mystery surrounding The Heretic’s Apprentice.