Category Archives: the cuckoo’s calling

the cuckoo’s calling parts 4 and 5

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The Cuckoo’s Calling (kindle here) part 4 and 5 are combined because I accidentally finished it. I, well, wasn’t crazy about it. SPOILERS AHEAD. DEAD AHEAD.

Well, we found out the murderer. And I’m kind of annoyed about it. Making the murderer the person who hired the detective feels like a cheat and a gimmick, not a smart subversion of reader expectations.

Things did get a little juicier in the last parts. The pace picked up, and I read a little faster. Poor Rochelle is tossed over the edge, just like Lula was. Strike finally gets into some tough spots, even though one is with an elderly woman confined to a bed.

But the glimpse of celebs and some exciting detective work (I mean, a little bit at least) doesn’t make up for an ending (and middle?) that fell flat. I like an altercation with the killer as much as the next person, but why on earth would Strike, who is recently injured, has one leg, and has taken off his prosthesis, sit around his office and wait for Bristow to come do him in? I know he was a boxer, but what did he really expect to happen?

Continue reading “the cuckoo’s calling parts 4 and 5”

the cuckoo’s calling part 3

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You know, it’s surprising we didn’t guess it was Rowling right away. She’s got a thing for crazy names. Hermione. Cormoran. In part 3 of The Cuckoo’s Calling (Kindle here), we meet the mysterious Rochelle, have a run in with Lula’s angry racist uncle, and Robin flexes her deception muscles.

Strike is continuing his clue gathering and interviews. He finally met Lula’s friend from rehab, Rochelle, who seems as unreliable as just about everyone else he’s interviewed. Robin finds Rochelle by pretending to be Rochelle when she calls the hospital to ask when her appointment is. Then they stalk the entrance of the hospital until Rochelle arrives. Robin also pretends to be someone she’s not when she and Strike visit the boutique that Lula visited the last day she was alive. Robin has certainly been getting into this detective business. (Speaking of Robin, are her and Strike ever going to get it on?)

Continue reading “the cuckoo’s calling part 3”

the cuckoo’s calling part 2

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We enter part 2 of The Cuckoo’s Calling (Kindle here, my thoughts on part 1 here) to follow our heroes while they gather more clues. I actually feel more like I am in the board game clue than in a story. If security guard was in the wash room, and the boyfriend at the club, I propose Mr. Bestigui murdered Lula Landry in the drawing room with the candlestick.

As an editor/journalist/pretend police investigator, I like gathering clues and information. But as a reader, I’d like to get all of this info as the plot moves along or as characters develop. It seems like more talking than showing, more explaining than storytelling.

“Strike would have preferred Bristow not to intervene.”  See what I mean? Telling me what’s in his head is just so boring.

But since we spent all that time interviewing and clue gathering, let’s see what we know.

  • Lula has a friend from rehab named Rochelle who met with Lula on the day of her suicide/murder.
  • Lula had an on-and-off relationship with that dumb guy who wears a wolf mask to avoid the paparazzi because, sure, a wolf mask garners less attention.
  • Mr. Bestigui is mad about 200 roses being spilled in Deeby Mac’s apartment. If those roses don’t mean anything this is the biggest, most annoying red herring ever.
  • Lula’s driver is obsessed with fame and celebs, and he was not her driver the night she died.
  • The apartment security guard was away from his post when Lula fell.
  • Tansy Bestigui heard some yelling in Lula’s apartment. The police don’t believe she could have heard anyone–they clearly don’t live in a place where you can hear things through the vents.

What do you guys think? Have any bets on who the killer is? Are their big clues I’m missing? If you’ve finished, no spoilers please! See my thoughts on part 1 here, and keep reading! I’ll see you back here next week.

(I bought this book on my own and am not being paid to write about it. But I am a part of the Amazon Affiliates program, so if you buy through my links on Amazon, I’ll receive a little bit of money for it.)

the cuckoo’s calling part 1

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It is a not so secret desire of mine to become a police detective. It is my back up plan, my alternate universe career, and the subject of quite a few daydreams. I can’t stop watching cop shows or reading murder mysteries. (And yeah, I know that’s not exactly how it works in real life.)

So I like a good detective story. I feel like I am reading about my imaginary colleagues. And though solving a mystery in a book isn’t at all like solving a mystery in real life, I’m pretty good at it. (Well, I’m not the worst at it.)

I have just finished part one of The Cuckoo’s Calling by Robert Galbraith J.K. Rowling (Kindle here). I can’t say I never would have read this book if it didn’t come out that Robert Galbraith was a pseudonym for Rowling (that secret didn’t last long, did it?), but I can say I didn’t hear about the book until that story broke. So I picked it up, along with thousands of others.

Continue reading “the cuckoo’s calling part 1”