Who is J.K. Rowling’s detective Cormoran Strike’s assistant?

Robin Ellacott is Cormoran Strike’s assistant in J.K. Rowling’s crime novels written as Robert Galbraith.

Robin first appears in The Cuckoo’s Calling, published in 2013. She is hired as a temporary secretary for private investigator Cormoran Strike, but her intelligence, determination, and investigative ability make her an increasingly important partner in his cases.

The relationship between Robin and Strike develops across the series while remaining central to the books’ professional and personal tensions. Robin is not the detective’s spouse or a side character from Harry Potter; she belongs to Rowling’s separate contemporary crime-fiction world.

The novels follow cases involving murder, blackmail, organized crime, and threats against public figures. Robin’s changing role reflects the series’ broader interest in investigation as collaborative work. The television adaptation, Strike, also centers on Robin and Strike, with Holliday Grainger playing Robin Ellacott.