Who is the central private investigator in J.K. Rowling’s Cormoran Strike novels?

Cormoran Strike is the central private investigator in J.K. Rowling’s Cormoran Strike novels.

Strike is a former military police investigator who opens a private detective agency in London. The first novel, The Cuckoo’s Calling, introduces him as he investigates the death of model Lula Landry with help from Robin Ellacott.

The books are published under Rowling’s pseudonym, Robert Galbraith. Their cases combine conventional detective work with character-driven investigations, and the professional partnership between Strike and Robin develops across the series.

Strike is sometimes confused with detectives from other British crime series, but his defining background is military police service rather than ordinary civilian policing. The novels have also been adapted for television as Strike, later titled C.B. Strike in some markets.