I would mostly describe this book as a genre piece, one of those books you would see people reading on vacation while lying under an umbrella at the beach. The book contains the aspects that readers expect in detective novels--red herrings, plot twists, greed, jealousy, an assortment of resentful suspects, a jaded protagonist, and a pretty woman who gets in the way of him doing what he needs to do. Though it does read like a standard take on the genre without doing anything exceptionally new, the book is a fun read due to the plot and attention to detail.
The story takes place after private eye Cormoran Strike has moved into his office after he is dumped by his long-time girlfriend. His business is failing, but his luck turns around when a temp agency sends him a competent secretary named Robin and he is offered a chance to discover the truth behind the suspicious death of a world famous model.
One of my criticisms of the book starts with the Robin character, who I really hoped would do more than she actually did. Her story begins when she is in giddy excitement after becoming engaged. After that, she does not go very far from meek, female stereotypes. Her most memorable moments include her being grabbed by her breast, gossiping, trying on dresses, and putting up with an asshole fiancé she really should have dumped. With all other main characters, we get glimpses of their history and see what made them the people they are today. Robin does not get that. We do not see her as a child, we don't get any word about her family, she doesn't seem to have any friends outside of her jealous and controlling significant other, and she doesn't seem to have any interests beyond what she sees Strike accomplish in the book.
There were also moments when I was taken out of Rowling's world by her strange choice in descriptions, most notably when she kept describing cameras as "long-snouted". A lot of her comparisons seemed more fitted for a children's book than a gritty crime novel and made it hard to take certain scenes seriously.
A lot of people also seemed to have been swayed by the pseudonym aspect behind the making of this book. While discovering the author was actually J.K. Rowling didn't change my opinion of the writing itself, it did make me more interested in her as a person, the idea of typecasting, and the ways people attempt to escape it. But as a lot of people set up certain expectations for this book upon discovering who it was written by, I feel the need to warn others that there are no wizards and witches here.
Overall, the writing was solid. Rowling did a great job switching between past and present to give rounder presentations of her characters. This was especially true with the deceased model, Lula. With most crime books I read, the dead remain impassive and do not have much to do with the story besides kicking off the plot. Here, through interviews, we get a chance to see Lula as an actual person and feel like she was more than just a broken body on the pavement.
If this book turns into a series, I would definitely give them a try and hope that Robin amps up her game.
much love,
hedgie
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