The Cuckoo’s Calling was published under Robert Galbraith in 2013.
The novel is the first Cormoran Strike mystery and introduces Strike, a former military investigator working as a private detective in London. After model Lula Landry dies, Strike is hired to examine whether her death was really suicide.
The book was initially presented as the work of Robert Galbraith, a previously unknown crime writer. Rowling’s authorship became public after the pseudonym was revealed, creating a sharp increase in attention and sales.
The title is often confused with the later Strike novels, but it is the series opener. Its publication also marked Rowling’s move into adult crime fiction after the completion of the Harry Potter sequence. The subsequent books use the same detective and continue the professional relationship between Strike and Robin Ellacott.