Which fictional detective did J.K. Rowling create for her Robert Galbraith crime novels?

Cormoran Strike is the fictional private detective J.K. Rowling created for her Robert Galbraith crime novels. He first appears in The Cuckoo’s Calling, published in 2013.

Strike is a former Special Investigation Branch investigator who opens a private-detective agency in London. The character has a prosthetic leg after losing part of his leg while serving in Afghanistan, an aspect of his history that shapes both his movement and his personal life.

Robin Ellacott becomes Strike’s assistant and later a central investigative partner. Their professional relationship develops across the series, which combines individual cases with longer-running character stories.

Cormoran Strike is not a wizarding character and is separate from Harry Potter. The novels are contemporary crime fiction written under Rowling’s pseudonym. The books were adapted into the television series Strike, broadcast under the title C.B. Strike in some markets.