The Cormoran Strike books are immersive mysteries that follow the adventures of the tenacious British private detective Cormoran Strike and his resourceful assistant Robin Ellacott as they solve crimes in London.

Robert Galbraith (who is actually J.K. Rowling) says, “I wanted to have a go at writing a contemporary whodunnit with a credible backstory,” and readers agree that the author has succeeded, offering meticulously crafted stories with multi-faceted characters and plenty of thrilling twists.

The cleverly plotted mysteries explore a wide range of issues affecting modern life and relationships. While the books delve into complex and mature subjects, they are not overly violent or dark. Instead, the stories are character-driven and deftly handled with a remarkable attention to detail. Readers often remark that although the novels are longer than average, they are “worth every minute” and become “fast reads” because they are so engaging.

Readers also become deeply invested in the ups and downs of Cormoran and Robin’s professional and personal relationship. The dynamic between them, along with the underlying romantic tension, increasingly involves readers as the series progresses.

Robert Galbraith is excellent at world-building and is very purposeful about plotting far in advance. The author loves to create backstories that impact future storylines. Numerous plot threads reappear throughout the series, and many supporting characters introduced in one book pop up in later ones. For example, Robert/J.K. has said that when she introduced Cormoran’s backstory in The Cuckoo’s Calling (Book 1), she already had in mind how important it would be by Book 8. For this reason alone, we recommend reading the books in order.