Yeah, okay; I'm just messing around. As is now well known, the novel is by JK Rowling, whose attempt to escape the Pot-light was foiled by a mouthy lawyer, resulting in massive sales (although notably, the book had already received strong reviews by the time of the outing). In her self-conscious bid to escape typecasting, Rowling/Galbraith has produced a hard-bitten detective novel, full of sex, violence and depravity, as well as being liberally salted with profane language.
Gimmicky or not, this deliberate shift helps in one significant way, which is that it is easy to approach this as something very different to Harry Potter. It is a very distinct beast, and that in itself speaks well of the author's ability, and while those expecting some kind of Potterverse equivalent of Ben Aaronovich's Rivers of London will be disappointed, the fault there is fundamentally theirs. What The Cuckoo's Calling is is a strongly-plotted, well-written detective novel in the modern milieu; less graphic than many, but distinctly harder than, say, Midsomer.
The core of the story is its protagonist, as with any private detective story, and Cormoran Strike is, as a PI must be, quite a character. A towering, overweight, lycanthropically hirsute former Red Cap - the UK military police, rather than a murderous, Scots goblin - with a tin leg, he nonetheless owes much to the slim, neat ur-detective Philip Marlowe in his character and methods: abrasive, sly and methodical; touched with an idiosyncratic sense of honour and afflicted by more than his share of emotional scars. Playing off against him is his temporary secretary, Robin, an ingenious young woman whose discretion, cultural awareness and Google-fu complement the more visceral Strike, while her lack of experience allow the author to illuminate his ingrained process.
The story concerns the death of a young supermodel, written off as suicide until her brother asks Strike to reinvestigate. Rowling/Galbraith (I really don't know which is appropriate to use) is focused on the characters and their points of view, building up the picture of the investigation through Strike's - and to a lesser extent, Robin's - eyes, and for the most part reserving their inner monologues not for exposition, but for expanding on the minor characters, so that the reader is not only privy to all of the information, but to the detectives' broad interpretations of their character and reliability. As a consequence, this is a mystery that the reader can participate in along with the protagonists without being hampered by a lack of evidence.
Harry Potter never really convinced me of Rowling's ability as a writer, beyond the spinning of a yarn, but The Cuckoo's Calling shows assured, mature storytelling and superb characterisations. It gets a firm recommendation from me for anyone who likes a good thriller and isn't easily offended by the word fuck.
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