All the glitz and glam of Super-Model Lula Landry's world came to a twisted end with her untimely demise. The police believed it was simply suicide, but her half-brother wants justice (and maybe a little of something else) - and enlists Cormoran Strike who has little money (but lots of grit) to find out what really happened. He sets off on a suspenseful investigation through London while confronting his own inner demons, knowing he may find something far from pleasant at its conclusion!The characters are perfect! The wonderfully portrayed Strike is brilliant, a war hero with an artificial leg which he tries not to mention through most of the book, aside from the complaint about the aches and pains, he is rough and rugged and not the smooth detective type we have come to expect from a lot of novels. His new, temporary assistant Robin is a fantastic female role model, clever, with something lurking in the background which has been holding her back since she dropped out of university, she begins to realise this is her dream job, and even more so she’s exceptionally good at it. Right through to the stuffy brother-in-law and the other minor characters.Galbraith writes these perfectly flawed and real characters which were my favourite part of the book. There is also an underlying and quite subtle air of romance between Strike and Robin too which is exciting to watch build and I hope will continue through the rest of the series, sooner rather than later please!The plot holds together well and leads us through various thought paths of what may or may not have happened along with why it may have happened, all tied up in a perfect bow at the end. My initial guess, quite close to the beginning was correct but there were a few points that I thought it was someone else.The only criticism is that it felt a little slow and long due to the amount of information. It has an air of the old-school detective series in an old London with gas-lit lamps though is a modern-day setting. There are no cliff-hangers as we have come to expect from recent detective novels and a distinct lack of twists, turns and red herrings to throw you off but that doesn’t actually make for a bad book, in fact, I thought The Cuckoo’s Calling felt slow and steady, it takes you along for the ride and holds your interest well.The writing style is pure and entertaining, and there is a lot of intuitive knowledge of people, probably gained from a lot of people watching, and this adds well to the story. Alongside this, everything is well described so that the people, places and things felt real and authentic.Overall, I’d recommend this to lovers of detective or mystery books, it was lovely to read in front of the warm fire and it felt like the perfect winter read.