Who is the detective at the centre of J.K. Rowling’s Cormoran Strike series?

Cormoran Strike is the detective at the centre of J.K. Rowling’s Cormoran Strike series.

The character first appears in The Cuckoo’s Calling, published in 2013 under Rowling’s pseudonym Robert Galbraith. Strike is a private investigator in London and a former Special Investigation Branch investigator in the British Army. His military service contributes to his physical injuries and to his investigative experience.

Robin Ellacott begins working with Strike as a temporary secretary and gradually becomes his trusted investigative partner. Their professional relationship is a continuing thread across the series, while each novel presents a separate case involving murder or another serious crime.

Cormoran Strike is not a wizarding character and does not belong to the Harry Potter universe. The series is written as adult crime fiction, with a realistic setting and a different narrative style. Its author credit remains Robert Galbraith even after Rowling’s identity became public.