What was J.K. Rowling’s first published detective novel for adults, written under a pen name?

The Cuckoo’s Calling was J.K. Rowling’s first published detective novel for adults, written under the pen name Robert Galbraith.

The novel was published in April 2013 and introduced private detective Cormoran Strike. Strike investigates the death of supermodel Lula Landry in London after police classify it as a suicide.

Rowling initially published the book without publicly identifying herself as its author. The pseudonym was revealed after several months, attracting intense attention to the novel and its sales. She continued the series under the Robert Galbraith name.

The later books The Silkworm, Career of Evil, Lethal White, Troubled Blood, and The Ink Black Heart also feature Strike and his investigative partner Robin Ellacott. The Cuckoo’s Calling is therefore both the first Galbraith novel and the beginning of Rowling’s long-running crime-fiction series.