I’m a J. K Rowling fan. Her writing seems to flow effortlessly, she’s a master of metaphore, and her use of folklore, myth and legend make her phenomenal story-teller which had me hooked from the get go. When I heard that “The Cuckoo’s Calling” by Robert Galbraith was Rowling’s pseudonym, I wanted to read it.

Rowling’s ability to develop characters that are richly three-dimensional, set in stories where even the unbelievable can be believed, in settings that are so full of detail the reader can vicariously live the story.

Many authors have published under pseudonyms to avoid over-exposure when they’re prolific writers or when they are testing the waters in a new genre. “The Cuckoo’s Calling” is a huge departure from Rowling’s Potter series genre and I want to see how she does.

Below you will find the readings broken out into four weeks. We’re giving you a heads up so you’ll know what’s being discussed and when. Read week by week, all at once…it’s YOUR choice. The first discussion kicks off February 3 and below are the questions for that week for you to mull over as you read. On the Feb 3rd, click on the questions you want to discuss and the link will take you to the discussion page. We will also post the questions for  Feb 10th (for you to think about) which will go live ON Feb 10. Get the idea?

Join me in reading and discussing “The Cuckoo’s Calling.” Can’t wait!

The Cuckoo’s Calling.  A synopsis.

The Cuckoo’s Calling is a 2013 crime fiction novel by J. K. Rowling, published under the pseudonym Robert Galbraith

A brilliant mystery in a classic vein: Detective Cormoran Strike investigates a supermodel’s suicide.

After losing his leg to a land mine in Afghanistan, Cormoran Strike is barely scraping by as a private investigator. Strike is down to one client, and creditors are calling. He has also just broken up with his longtime girlfriend and is living in his office.

Then John Bristow walks through his door with an amazing story: His sister, thelegendary supermodel Lula Landry, known to her friends as the Cuckoo, famously fell to her death a few months earlier. The police ruled it a suicide, but John refuses to believe that. The case plunges Strike into the world of multimillionaire beauties, rock-star boyfriends, and desperate designers, and it introduces him to every variety of pleasure, enticement, seduction, and delusion known to man.

You may think you know detectives, but you’ve never met one quite like Strike. You may think you know about the wealthy and famous, but you’ve never seen them under an investigation like this.

That’s what we’re reading and here’s what we’ll be talking about.

Question 1 - What made you want to read “The Cuckoo’s Calling?”

Question 2 - What do you think of the characters development? How do you like Strike, Robin, John Bristow, and the secondary characters? Are they believable?

Question 3 - Is the story holding your attention? How? What are your initial thoughts on Lula’s death?

February 10:  Part 2 Chapter 9 through Part 3, Chapter 8

Question 4 – What about the building plot is or isn’t holding your attention? Are you finding the story believable?

Question 5 - Who/what are your suspicions about Lula death?

Question 6 - How have/are your perceptions of Strike changing? Do you like him? Is he believable?

February 17:  Part 3, Chapter 9 through Part 4, Chapter 8

Question 7

Question 8

Question 9

February 24:  Part 4, Chapter 9 through the end

Question 10

Question 11

Question 12

Tags: Book Club, middlesage, middleSage Book Club, Robert Galbrath (J.K. Rowling), The Cuckoo's Calling