What was the name of J.K. Rowling’s debut Cormoran Strike novel?

The Cuckoo’s Calling was J.K. Rowling’s debut Cormoran Strike novel.

The crime novel was published in 2013 under the name Robert Galbraith. It introduces Cormoran Strike, a private investigator and former military police officer, who investigates the death of model Lula Landry. Robin Ellacott begins working as Strike’s temporary secretary and becomes an important character in the series.

The book was initially received as the work of a new author. Rowling’s identity was disclosed later in 2013, after linguistic analysis connected the novel with her writing. The revelation transformed the book’s commercial profile but did not change its detective-story setting or characters.

The title is a literary reference to a cuckoo, a bird associated with the novel’s central mystery and imagery. The later Strike books include The Silkworm, Career of Evil, and The Ink Black Heart. Those titles are sequels, not the first entry in the series.