This murder mystery thriller is written by JK ‘Galbraith’..err!..’Robert’ Rowling..Sorry I mixed it up…JK Rowling herself!
(I read it primarily
because it is a hot seller in the market now and not because she wrote Harry Potter
books, of which I have not read even one.)
Anyone can understand that the burden of fame and
expectations from the readers' world is so phenomenal that JK Rowling of Harry
Potter fame decided to hide her celeb self under a `mysterious’ pseudonym of
Robert Galbraith, while embarking on a different genre of story—An adult Murder
Mystery as opposed to Youngsters’ fantasies she is well known for..
Have a
change of scene, as James Hadley Chase would say!
The story is a straight up detective novel, in the English
crime tradition of Agatha Christie with a touch of J H Chase while elaborating
on the shady characters, deceit, lust and greed that pervades the world of high
glamour and big money.
We open the narrative following the death of supermodel Lula Landry (affectionately nicknamed Cuckoo), whose apparent suicide has the press
in frenzy. Three months later, private detective Cormoran Strike is asked by her step brother to investigate if, in
fact, Landry was pushed from her balcony, thus cold bloodedly murdered by
someone and made it conveniently look like suicide.
The hero is an ex-war
veteran, one–legged with prosthetic support, whose own personal life has been
just wrecked by a breakup and is so broke that he sleeps in his small dinghy
office.
He is blessed to have a smart, thinking-on-feet secretary Robin who provides able support despite
being wild-eyed with admiration of his deductive /detective skills, so much so
that she takes on her fiancé to support her employer.
The investigation takes some 400+ interesting pages (I read
the e-book version), well paced and with some twists and turns to keep one turning
pages.
But the 70's familiar Hindi film theme of jaaydaad ( property) rears its head again and you are surprised , in this day and age!
But seasoned mystery novel readers (like me) won’t have to
wait too long with bated breath to know the truth, they will ‘do it’ 3/4ths
of the way through…But for the modus operandi of death, you will have to wait
till the last pages…Good enough...in fact, very good!
This marks literally a new ‘chapter’ for the author Rowling…We
couldn’t care what pseudonym she wrote under, as long as such good ones keep
coming at regular intervals.
PS: It reminds you of a Chase novel of 50s:‘Lay
her among the Lilies’ among others, very much!
Recommended: Oh, Yes!
Rating : 4/5
