What is the name of J.K. Rowling’s private detective protagonist?

J.K. Rowling’s private detective protagonist is Cormoran Strike.

Cormoran Strike appears in the crime novels Rowling wrote under the name Robert Galbraith. He is a former Special Investigation Branch investigator who opens a private detective agency in London. The first novel, The Cuckoo’s Calling, introduces his partnership with Robin Ellacott.

Strike is not a wizarding character and belongs to a separate adult crime-fiction series. Readers sometimes connect the books to Harry Potter because they share an author, but the settings, genre, characters, and narrative style are different. The novels focus on investigations involving murder, disappearance, blackmail, and other crimes, with Strike and Ellacott’s working relationship developing across the series.