History Literature / TheCuckoosCalling

** Anyone who describes Rochelle as a GoldDigger in her friendship with Lula isn't really wrong, as [[spoiler:she knows Lula was murdered (though she guessed wrong as to the actual killer) and is willing to hide her knowledge in order to blackmail John Bristow by threatening to disclose her knowledge of Lula's will. However, her treatment is nonetheless sympathetic as Lula was using her in turn, having cultivated a friendship with her as a pretext for buying her a phone which she could then use, and hurt her in their last interaction by catching up with her just to use the phone and then ditching her immediately.]]

* JerkassHasAPoint: The casually racist and generally hateful Tony Landry felt that his sister Yvette Bristow was "morbidly maternal" in her desire for children, an unfit mother whose misfortune in tragically losing two children was her own fault and who should never have adopted Lula at all. [[spoiler:He happens to know that John killed his brother Charlie, and the family dismissed his insistence on this point as well as his concerns about their decision to adopt again, bringing a little girl into such a household.]]

* JerkassHasAPoint: The casually racist and generally hateful Tony Landry felt that his sister Yvette Bristow was "morbidly maternal" in her desire for children, an unfit mother whose misfortune in losing two children was her own fault and who should never have adopted Lula at all. [[spoiler:He happens to know that John killed his brother Charlie, and the family dismissed all of his insistence on this point as well as his concerns about their desire to adopt again, bringing a little girl into such a household.]]

* TheSchlubPubSeductionDeduction: The plain Cormoran met his volatile and beautiful ex-girlfriend Charlotte when he daringly chatted her up at a student party, after which she publicly dumped her fellow BlueBlood Jago Ross for him. She later admitted that she initially slept with him to get back at Ross for a perceived transgression, having stepped into the wrong party intending to commence OperationJealousy with the first man who approached her. [[AvertedTrope Averted]] with Cormoran and [[spoiler:supermodel Ciara Porter]].

* HypercompetentSidekick: Robin, though Cormoran is no PointyHairedBoss. Arguably also Cormoran to the Met. Police; he uses some inside contacts to get at police records about active cases, but he always tries to engineer things so as to make the police look good, since the last thing he wants as a P.I. is to become famous. By the sixth volumes, some coppers informally acknowledge that they really ought to be bribing *him*.

* HypercompetentSidekick: Robin, though Cormoran is no PointyHairedBoss.

''The Cuckoo's Calling'' is a 2013 detective mystery by Robert Galbraith, and the first [[Literature/CormoranStrikeNovels Cormoran Strike Novel]]. It was revealed that [[MustacheDePlume "Robert Galbraith"]] was actually Creator/JKRowling. [[Franchise/HarryPotter Yes, that]] [[Literature/TheCasualVacancy J. K. Rowling]].

The beautiful model Lula Landry [[DrivenToSuicide jumps from a balcony]] in a case that temporarily dominated the UsefulNotes/BritishNewspapers. [[TimeSkip Three months later]], we meet [[AwesomeMcCoolName Cormoran Strike]], a ShellShockedVeteran turned [[HardboiledDetective private eye]] who is dead broke and suffering through a messy breakup. Robin Ellacott, a new temp, has just arrived at his doorstep when Strike gets a new client: John Bristow, adopted brother of his former childhood friend Charlie and of Lula Landry. John remains unconvinced that a woman with such a bright future ahead of her would take her own life, and, with no one else to turn to, John implores Strike to help him find out what really happened.

* AlliterativeTitle

* SmallRoleBigImpact: Deeby Macc is mentioned a lot, by almost every character and his impending arrival at Lula’s building proves instrumental in the way the murder was committed. However, the closest he comes to appearing in the flesh is a Website/YouTube interview that Cormoran and Robin watch.

* ShellShockedVeteran: Cormoran to a mild degree.

** Lula Landry's biological mother is convinced that Lula would never have become a supermodel if she inherited her father's ears. When Robin and Comoran are looking at a picture of her [[spoiler:half-brother]], it's noted that his handsomeness is offset by his almost comically large ears.

* NoodleIncident: An "incident" is what causes Robin to drop out of university, missing out on a psychology degree. The specifics of what happened--RapeAsDrama--aren't revealed until book #3, ''Literature/CareerOfEvil''.

* ChekhovsGun: The personalised hoodies which Guy gifts Deeby Macc, as one of them winds up being the a vital piece of evidence that ties the killer to the crime scene.
* ChekhovsGunman: Strike is receiving weekly death threats from a former client, usually threatening him with a knife. The murderer makes use of this by attempting to kill Strike in this way, hoping that the former client will be blamed for this. [[spoiler:And [[BatmanGambit was intentionally tricked into doing so by Strike, in order to further incriminate himself.]]]]

* DisposableFiance: [[spoiler:Matthew is presented as one, but as of the end of the novel, he's still with Robin — if unhappy about her career path.]]

* InformedFlaw: Virtually everyone describes Ciara Porter as a combination of DumbBlonde and AlphaBitch. When Strike meets her, she's a bit fluffy, but is otherwise perfectly pleasant and one of the few people to be completely honest with him. She even quotes some Oscar Wilde and mentions she has a place to read English at Cambridge. [[Administrivia/TropesAreTools This is very likely intentional,]] showing how the media tends to feed on itself and perpetuate its own rumor mill.

* ItIsPronouncedTropay: The narration usually notes whether Guy Somé's first name is being pronounced like the English "gai" or French "ghee". Strike deliberately switches back and forth depending on the social class of the person he's questioning.

** Interestingly, a conversation with Lady Bristow implies that at least part of his plain looks, as well as the sexual magnetism are inherited from [[LamarkWasRight Jonny Rokeby]].

** Interestingly, a conversation with Lady Bristow implies that at least part of his plain looks, as well as the sexual magnetism are inherited from [[LarmarkWasRight Johnny Rokeby]].

* TheSchlubPubSeductionDeduction: The ugly Cormoran met his volatile and beautiful ex-girlfriend Charlotte when he daringly chatted her up at a student party, after which she publicly dumped her fellow BlueBlood Jago Ross for him. She later admitted that she initially slept with him to get back at Ross for a perceived transgression, having stepped into the wrong party intending to commence OperationJealousy with the first man who approached her. [[AvertedTrope Averted]] with Cormoran and [[spoiler:supermodel Ciara Porter]].

* StealthPun: After their CrashIntoHello, wherein Strike saves Robin from toppling backward by grabbing her chest, he states that it'll be easy to remember her name. He had intended to refer to "Batman and Robin" but refrained, not thinking it very respectful. Robin blushes anyway. Why? Presumably because she [[AccidentalInnuendo thinks he means]] that she's a Robin redbreast.[[note]]This may lead to UsefulNotes/SeparatedByACommonLanguage for American readers, since a robin redbreast is only called "robin" in America.[[/note]] On the other hand, it would still be appropriate for a detective; [[GeniusBonus 'Robin Redbreast' was a Regency-era slang term]] for the Bow Street Runners[[note]]Although some believe this was only for the Bow Street Horse Patrol, an off-shoot established to deal with highway robbery[[/note]] who are considered Britain's first police force, due to them wearing red waistcoats as a term of office - much like how robin redbreasts were called that for their red chests.

* GirlFriday: Robin, definitely. Cormoran thought about cracking a Batman and Robin joke, but didn't think it was very respectful.

The second Cormoran Strike novel, called ''Literature/TheSilkworm'', was released in 2014, again under the name Robert Galbraith, and [[http://www.mugglenet.com/2015/04/title-revealed-for-third-robert-galbraith-book/ the third novel]], ''Literature/CareerOfEvil'' (yes, named after [[Music/BlueOysterCult the song]]) in 2015.

* StealthPun: After their CrashIntoHello, wherein Strike saves Robin from toppling backward by grabbing her chest, he states that it'll be easy to remember her name. He had intended to refer to "Batman and Robin" but refrained, not thinking it very respectful. Robin blushes anyway. Why? Presumably because she [[AccidentalInnuendo thinks he means]] that she's a Robin redbreast.[[note]]This may lead to UsefulNotes/SeparatedByACommonLanguage for American readers, since a robin is only called "robin" in America.[[/note]]