Meet Robert Galbraith!
Wait, isn’t that Jk Rolling? Well, it is – and it’s Robert Galbraith as well!
It’s rare for a best-selling Author to release books under a pseudonym, but when you are “Harry Potter” Author JK Rowling, one of the most successful Writers in history, you may decide to change your name so fans don’t get confused by your change of style!
This Wednesday’s Bookmobile veers away from the fantasy of Harry Potter and into the crime-filled world of CB Strike!
The Cormoran Strike series is classic contemporary crime fiction set in London, where war veteran turned private detective, Cormoran Strike, solves brutal murders with the help of his trusted assistant Robin Ellacott.
The first Cormoran Strike novel, The Cuckoo’s Calling, was published in 2013 to critical acclaim by both reviewers and fellow crime writers.
It was also made into a TV series with Tom Burke as Cormoran Strike, the war veteran turned private detective operating out of a tiny office in London’s Denmark Street.
Holliday Grainger plays Robin, assistant to Strike. Though she begins as a temporary secretary, managing Strike’s chaotic life, she soon becomes involved with his caseload and begins to see her true potential.
“One of the earliest and most vivid memories of Robin’s childhood was of the day that the family dog had been put down. She herself had been too young to understand what her father was saying; she took the continuing existence of Bruno, her oldest brother’s beloved Labrador, for granted. Confused by her parents’ solemnity, she had turned to Stephen for a clue as to how to react, and all security had crumbled, for she had seen, for the first time in her short life, happiness and comfort drain out of his small and merry face, and his lips whiten as his mouth fell open. She had heard oblivion howling in the silence that preceded his awful scream of anguish, and then she had cried, inconsolably, not for Bruno, but for the terrifying grief of her brother.”
― Robert Galbraith, The Cuckoo’s Calling
“The Cuckoo’s Calling” was published in 2013 and was a global bestseller, followed in 2014 by “The Silkworm” and “Career Of Evil” in 2015.
“He was sorry, genuinely sorry, for the pain she was in. Yet the revelation had caused certain other feelings—feelings he usually kept under tight rein, considering them both misguided and dangerous—to flex inside him, to test their strength against their restraining bonds.”
― Robert Galbraith, Career of Evil
The latest in the series, “Lethal White”, was published in 2018.
As reports said: after the mega-success of the “Harry Potter” books, the author chose to write crime fiction next, a genre she has always loved as a reader. … Rowling’s original intention for writing as Robert Galbraith was for the books to be judged on their own merit, and to establish Galbraith as a well-regarded name in crime in its own right.
Rowling/Galbraith has done just that: the books are well-written, nicely plotted and gritty – bravo to JK Rowling for her change of literary pace!
CB Strike reminds me of another Private Detective:
Yep, Humphrey Bogart played Private Eye Philip Marlowe, who was “tough as nails” as well, and Raymond Chandler wrote a series of masterful books, like “The Big Sleep”, “Farewell My Lovely” and “The Long Goodbye” – you can read about these classic crime novels by clicking here:
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Thanks so much for reading!
Categories: Art, Books / Media, British Cinema, London, Politics, Pop Culture, Talent/Celebrities, TV Show, Uncategorized
I haven’t read this series of hers yet though I have every intention of someday delving into it.
It’s very well written – all depends on if you like crime thrillers!
I do!
Loved the TV show! Thanks for the look, John!
Yes, really good show and the books are great source material!
John, you ticked all the boxes for me on this one 🙂
Thanks for commenting, I really appreciate it!
I really enjoyed those books
So did I – was excited to have a new one come out
Me too!
I love this series!
Yes, well done, interesting crime stories and good, dark characters! Thanks for commenting!
She was wise to use another name as everyone would have been comparing these books to the Harry Potter books. She is certainly multi-talented.
Exactly Darlene… “JK Rowling” fans would NOT have responded well to an Alcoholic Private Eye! But now that everyone knows it’s OK to like them!
This is so interesting, John. It is a testimony to her talent that these books written under another name are doing well.
Robbie, the TV show they made out of them is good as well, but I always try to read a book first!
Yes, me too, John.