The Cuckoo's Calling - Robert Galbraith - 3.5 stars

I read this book as a buddy read with a friend and also decided to use it for the TBRTakedown 2.0 because it would count for one of the challenges. I have had the book for a month or so and decided that it was time to read it. As we know this is written my J.K Rowling. It was different seeing her write in a different light from how she wrote with Harry Potter.

In this book we have a legendary model, Lula Landers, who has committed suicide as police have concluded. Her brother, John Bristow goes to Detective Cormoran Strike, a former soldier, telling him she would never commit suicide, that she was murdered and he wants to hire Strike to find the murderer. Cormoran, who is barely managing and currently fighting off creditors, agrees to take the case. The story goes rom there.

I enjoyed the plot of the story, I think it is well constructed. I did find some parts of the story pretty slow, mostly the part where Strike is reviewing the old case. I found it much more interesting when he began his own investigation. Once at that part the book became very fluid and easy to follow. I really enjoyed the story after that, however I found it to be a little predictable, and the ending seemed to be wrapped up too perfectly for me. It seemed that everything fell into place too smoothly for my tastes, but there was a little twist I did not expect so overall it was a good story.

I liked how flawed Strike was. To me this makes a character much more realistic and believable. He had several issues to work through that I think made him a stronger character. I also really enjoyed Robin's character. She was strong yet sympathetic, she knew when to push and when not to. She does have her own issues I think deep down, they were just not as prominent, not brought to the forefront. Maybe in the second book we will get a deeper look into Robin.

I will recommend this book to anyone who likes mystery, but be aware that this is an adult book and not YA. We see a completely different writing style with this book, and I think that is good. I am rating this book a 3.5 stars. I had to take a bit off for the slow parts, the predictability of the story and the 'too perfect' wrap up.