Books: Fresh lease of life

The Cuckoo’s Calling

By Robert Galbraith,

Mulholland Books, 464 pages, $26

It is a debut novel. There are many things one can say about a writer when he or she first steps into the relatively unknown waters of crime fiction. There are many comparisons that can be drawn. So, what does that mean for Robert Galbraith?

Is he good? Or yet another spark masquerading as a fire?

When I review books, I often find it to be a slightly presumptuous exercise. Here is someone’s work that they probably spent years, months and days of their life over, hoping that it will be remarkable enough to interest and garner respect. But in the hands of the reviewer it is reduced to a largely subjective decision based on some hours of reading experience.

I have to confess that there are some books that land on my desk that would have been best left unwritten. However, that doesn’t take away from the others that are well worth your time. “The Cuckoo’s Calling” is one such debut work.

A murder mystery in the tradition of P.D. James and Ruth Rendell, the book is a solid piece. It is detailed without being boring, intelligent without being nostalgic, along with that element I call the “X factor” — a sense of humour.

The detective is a former army man with a prosthetic foot, who is more like a boxer rather than with an elegant Sherlockian imagination. He also happens to be the illegitimate son of a famous rock star. A strange mix, indeed.

Once you get past this modern element, he is as traditional as they get with the requisite powers of observation and deduction. The pace is fast, with a bit of Ms Moneypenny in the mix.

A black British supermodel falls to her death from a high-rise. It is termed as suicide and the case is written off, but her brother is convinced of foul play. In comes our detective Cormoran Strike, who is facing eviction from his premises because of unpaid loans and has just suffered heartbreak. He is down and out and desperate for a proper case. Investigation into Lula Landry’s death offers him the opportunity to ensure his office is not foreclosed.

“The Cuckoo’s Calling” gives you a clear sense of London and the lives of the characters. The plot’s dips and turns enhance the story. As is obvious, I enjoyed the read and look forward to the next Strike report.