Cormoran Strike comes to life in this adaptation of JK Rowling’s foray into crime (The Cuckoo’s Calling review, Last night’s TV, 28 August). JK Rowling, writing as Robert K Galbraith, is at the top of her game with the crime fiction genre. The Cuckoo’s Calling is literary 10-pin bowling at its finest: an assured hand guides the riveting story-ball, every plot-twisting pin laid out in the resounding finale. Strike!
However, “I haven’t read any of the crime novels JK Rowling has written … but it is easy to imagine the problems she might encounter plonking a down-on-his-luck private investigator into contemporary London …” writes reviewer Tim Dowling about Strike: The Cuckoo’s Calling after episode one on Sunday night.
Cop out, Tim. Do your homework. Read the book before you write a review of the TV adaptation. Discover literary sure-footedness; deftly-crafted plot; strong characterisation; satisfying denouement. Then you can write with more credibility about what has been adapted, and how.
Lucy Shepherd
(Jo Rowling’s former English teacher), Bristol
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