In a time when escape is hard, one positive aspect that’s come out of COVID (for me at least) is my love of reading again. I’ll be honest, I go in reading phases but this last year I read over 40 books and that might be a new record. So, making time for reading again feels right — why not a great whodunit series?
My love for J.K. Rowling’s writing (I’m not going to get into her trans tweet storm controversy rn) and curiosity in the detective genre led me to the Coroman Strike Series. Using her pseudonym, Robert Galbraith, for the series to differentiate it from the Harry Potter phenomenon, Rowling’s first try at an adult series is spot on.
I’m going to give the entire series four out of five stars and here’s why: her whimsical word choices and ridiculous, cartoonish characters are 100% Rowlings’ style and I was happy to read a serious detective series with these signature elements. Each book is similar to a procedural crime drama by solving a case and teasing romantic sub-plots.
I gave the series as a whole four stars because the characters aren’t as developed as they could be until later books.
I would have liked to see those characters come out strong in The Cuckoo’s Calling but there’s still so much to be read. Unless, of course, this is purposeful? In the last and fifth book, Troubled Blood, I was hoping for a certain love story to come into play but it doesn’t. Yet.
Yet?
The sixth book is in the works, according to a tweet from Rowlings last spring, so there’s still time to catch up. You can read the books in the series in the following order:
- The Cuckoo’s Calling
- The Silkworm
- Career of Evil
- Lethal White
- Troubled Blood
If you know of other detective genre books I should try, let me know in the comments section.
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