It almost brings more drama to this detective story with the twist J K Rowling disguises her book under the name of Robert Galbraith.
When Robert Galbraith is discovered to be J K Rowling (the author of Harry Potter), the book attracts many times more the audience. Another evidence how the fame and track record can bring to the table. Could any readers have discovered the mystery of the author? Well, it is of the same style, of mature technique, of strong and different characters, and of the style to create a climax at the end. For me, the identify of the author would be safe if it has not been revealed on newspaper.
The plot starts with the death of a super-model Lula who was adopted by a rich family. She falls from the balcony of her luxurious apartment and is dead on the scene. Her history of mental instability, drug issue, relationship problem, together with implied incompetence of the police, rule the death as a suicide. Just when the case turns cool in the eyes of paparazzi, John Bristow, Lula’s brother, brings the case to a private investigator, Cormoran Strike.
After losing a leg in Afghanistan and a recent broke-up from his pretty and rich girlfriend, Strike is scraping by with one client and credits are many. As Strike and his new temp, Robin, take up the investigation, twists and turns, together with another death, are abundant before the real murderer is tracked down at the very last. Along the way, Strike meets up different characters and uses brilliant skills to get these people to reveal their secrets – the rich and the poor, the simple and the sophisticated personality, the bright and dark sides.
The book is not short of characters in the glittering heights of society – luxurious, comfortable life, snobbishness in full display with stupidity and darkness. Tansy, the only witness of the Lula’s falling and insistence of a murder, is widely reported as a woman of stupidity and drug issue. She is filing a divorce with her famous director husband. Is she really stupid, can the witness be trusted? Tansy’s sister Ursula, wife of a lawyer firm partner, has her own affair with Lula’s unlikeable uncle. Then comes the celebrities – the actor Evan and fiancé of Lula, the rap singer Deeby, the designer Guy and his model.
There are characters who live meagerly. Lula’s biological mother Marlene, with a super-model as her daughter, lives with more greed than guiltiness of leaving her daughter to an adopted family. Lula’s unusual friend, Rochelle, is mentally unstable, and in a poor social circle, and has enjoyed the intermittent glamorous display of Lula’s life. Why they would be looked upon as friends, the real reason unfolds towards the end.
Plus the middle class – the security guard Wilson, the temp Robin and her fiancé Matthew. Robin, Strike’s temp, is among the best – simple, happy, caring and smart.
Robert Galbraith (aka J K Rowling) has once again told a very good story and shares her personal observation of the lives of many, in vastly different social circles.
I look forward to the sequel and the continual partnership of Cormoran and Robin.
oliviatamccue 
[…] ‘Devotion of Suspect X’. Some are more like the plot follows the characters, such as ‘The cuckoo’s calling by Robert Galbraith’. ‘Cover her face’ belongs more to the latter category, it has a good plot, though the […]