SPOILER ALERT!
First of all thanks to "the poor guy" who leaked that Robert Galbraith is actually pseudonym of J.K.Rowling and thanks to my dear friend Fire Drake who told me about the book before Indian papers got the wind of it.
Else I probably would have read this book 5 years later ( No! Not that the book was boring like her previous book, Casual Vacancy. There are just too many books in my 'To Read' list and I have an insatiable appetite for Crime fiction)
A crime novel by J.K.Rowling. The thought of such a book sounded really enticing. I really didn't know what to expected from this book as I sadly chucked her previous book midway. That's so unlike a die hard J.K.Rowling fan who read the Harry Potter series like a maniac. Anyway! Moving on to the book.
Given the frenzy that followed after I kind of got confused if the book I had was really written by her ( The cover designs of US & European are different and got me muddled up )
The American version has a women in a cream spaghetti turned away while the UK edition has a man wearing a coat hurrying under a street lamp against the backdrop of a vintage building (Presumably London). The covers convey the very theme of the book - Mystery. The designer sure has done a good job.
The book begins with verses from the poem, 'A Dirge' by Christina G. Rosetti, a lament about people dying young. And I pretty much guessed the book is about a death of a young person ( I didn't read the book back summary). Like the poem the story revolves around the alleged suicide of super model Lula Landry.
The police are made to believe that the young super model was a depressed helpless soul who committed suicide and the evidence rightly points so until Cormoran Strike (An Injured ex- SIB Military) decides to dig through matters.
John Bristow, Lula's Half-brother makes an insane mistake of going to Cormoran Strike (now a PI) to "find out" Lula's murderer ( Read : To find a scapegoat!) as his is not convinced by the conclusion of Police investigation. Strike goes through the chain of events leading to Lula's " suicide" with a fine tooth comb.He analyzes the relationship Lula had with the people in her life and he deduces the correct chain of events leading to her alleged suicide.Then finally he "Reveals" to his client that Lula was indeed murdered.
Enter Robin. The 'temp' assistant to Strike who is excited by the prospect of working with a PI and solving crimes.Strike tries to maintain a professional relationship with in spite of him living in the office as his girlfriend Charlotte dumped him and threw him out of their place and also Robin happens to be engaged.As the plot progresses I kept feeling there was hardly need for Robin. But alas! She saved our very hero in the end (Okay! I don't want to give away more! Read the book!)
The plot is woven intricately surrounding Lula's relationship with her brother, her mother, her uncle and her friends. That's trademark JKR! She is the kind of writer who can weave a brilliant story out of relationships among people.
She really lives up to her standards in this book unlike casual vacancy.
To sum up, The book was gripping and elegant with an air tight plot. One can't simply put the book down without finishing it!
Its definitely worth a read and I give it 4.5 out of 5 (Not because its a book by JKR. Its a real good book!)
One other thing that made me happy was, there is going to be a sequel!
Read more about it here : http://www.robert-galbraith.com/
First of all thanks to "the poor guy" who leaked that Robert Galbraith is actually pseudonym of J.K.Rowling and thanks to my dear friend Fire Drake who told me about the book before Indian papers got the wind of it.
Else I probably would have read this book 5 years later ( No! Not that the book was boring like her previous book, Casual Vacancy. There are just too many books in my 'To Read' list and I have an insatiable appetite for Crime fiction)
A crime novel by J.K.Rowling. The thought of such a book sounded really enticing. I really didn't know what to expected from this book as I sadly chucked her previous book midway. That's so unlike a die hard J.K.Rowling fan who read the Harry Potter series like a maniac. Anyway! Moving on to the book.
Given the frenzy that followed after I kind of got confused if the book I had was really written by her ( The cover designs of US & European are different and got me muddled up )
The American version has a women in a cream spaghetti turned away while the UK edition has a man wearing a coat hurrying under a street lamp against the backdrop of a vintage building (Presumably London). The covers convey the very theme of the book - Mystery. The designer sure has done a good job.
The book begins with verses from the poem, 'A Dirge' by Christina G. Rosetti, a lament about people dying young. And I pretty much guessed the book is about a death of a young person ( I didn't read the book back summary). Like the poem the story revolves around the alleged suicide of super model Lula Landry.
The police are made to believe that the young super model was a depressed helpless soul who committed suicide and the evidence rightly points so until Cormoran Strike (An Injured ex- SIB Military) decides to dig through matters.
John Bristow, Lula's Half-brother makes an insane mistake of going to Cormoran Strike (now a PI) to "find out" Lula's murderer ( Read : To find a scapegoat!) as his is not convinced by the conclusion of Police investigation. Strike goes through the chain of events leading to Lula's " suicide" with a fine tooth comb.He analyzes the relationship Lula had with the people in her life and he deduces the correct chain of events leading to her alleged suicide.Then finally he "Reveals" to his client that Lula was indeed murdered.
Enter Robin. The 'temp' assistant to Strike who is excited by the prospect of working with a PI and solving crimes.Strike tries to maintain a professional relationship with in spite of him living in the office as his girlfriend Charlotte dumped him and threw him out of their place and also Robin happens to be engaged.As the plot progresses I kept feeling there was hardly need for Robin. But alas! She saved our very hero in the end (Okay! I don't want to give away more! Read the book!)
The plot is woven intricately surrounding Lula's relationship with her brother, her mother, her uncle and her friends. That's trademark JKR! She is the kind of writer who can weave a brilliant story out of relationships among people.
She really lives up to her standards in this book unlike casual vacancy.
To sum up, The book was gripping and elegant with an air tight plot. One can't simply put the book down without finishing it!
Its definitely worth a read and I give it 4.5 out of 5 (Not because its a book by JKR. Its a real good book!)
One other thing that made me happy was, there is going to be a sequel!
Read more about it here : http://www.robert-galbraith.com/
That was brilliant! But please, *spoiler alert* really! :-D
ReplyDeleteHe he! Want me to reveal what happens?! I so wanna spoil your day *Evil Grin*
DeleteHi, i wish to get some books reviewed by you.
ReplyDeleteGet in touch at blackbuckpublication@gmail.com