Audiobook Review: The Cuckoo's Calling

The Cuckoo's Calling 

by Robert Galbraith (JK Rowling) 
 
Series: Cormoran Strike #1 
Publication date: 18 April 2013 
Genre: Murder Mystery Detective Novel 
Source: gift 
Date Read: 20 August 2013 
Narrator: Robert Glenister 
Length: 15 hours 53 minutes 

When a troubled model falls to her death from a snow-covered Mayfair balcony, it is assumed that she has committed suicide. However, her brother has his doubts, and calls in private investigator Cormoran Strike to look into the case.

A war veteran, wounded both physically and psychologically, Strike's life is in disarray. The case gives him a financial lifeline, but it comes at a personal cost: the more he delves into the young model's complex world, the darker things get - and the closer he gets to terrible danger . . .

A gripping, elegant mystery steeped in the atmosphere of London - from the hushed streets of Mayfair, to the backstreet pubs of the East End, to the bustle of Soho - The Cuckoo's Calling is a remarkable debut. Introducing Cormoran Strike, it is a classic crime novel unlike any other book you will read this year.

My thoughts: 
This was really a great surprise for me. I am not a Harry Potter fan and the first adult novel by JK Rowling (Casual Vacancy) did not blow me away although I felt compelled to finish it.

I was not sure if I should be giving it another shot, maybe JK Rowling just wasn't for me.  But I love detective novels, so I decided to give it another go.  And The Cuckoo's Calling hit the right spot at the right moment. I thoroughly enjoyed this mystery.

 
Our hero detective is Cormoran Strike Together with titbits from his temporary secretary, he tries to solve all the conflicting leads in this twisting murder mystery when he is hired by the victim's brother to find out the truth about her death.

Cormoran has all the usual hangups that we have come to expect from our favorite detectives but this just makes him seem more human and easy to like. He is a disabled military veteran and I hope to see a lot more of him (and his secretary) in future. The ending gave us an inclining that this might be the first of a series . . . 

I enjoyed this detective murder mystery and would recommend it for a nice and relaxing holiday read.  I look forward to future cases in Cormoran Stike's career.

Audiobook Review: A B C D is for . . . Kinsey Millhone PI

My thoughts:
Kinsey Millhone is a private detective with a good heart.  Unfortunately she will never be rich as her clients have a tendency to turn up dead.  

The ABC murder books are light crime fiction with a female lead character that is hard not to like.  She is a twice divorced tough cookie that finds it hard to let go even when her minds tell her it is a bad idea.  

The stories are set in the 1980's  -  all before cellphones and the internet became part of our lives.  

This is definitely not going to win any literally acclaim but it is very enjoyable (maybe just because of that fact).  Sometimes you just want to loose yourself in the story without too much thought about anything else.

W is for Wasted was published this year, so I have a few letters to go yet.