The Cuckoo's Calling by Robert Galbraith

This is the first book in a crime series by Harry Potter author J.K Rowling (written under a pseudonym). Cormoran Strike is the illegitimate son of a rock star. He was injured in Afghanistan and is struggling to make ends meet as a private investigator. John Bristow asks Strike to investigate the supposed suicide of John's famous adopted sister, supermodel Lula Landry. Other characters include Robin, Strike's temporary secretary who begins to play Watson to his Sherlock; and Charlotte, Strike's beautiful but tempestuous girlfriend.

I'm not used to this genre, but I quickly realised I was going to have to read 400 pages to find out whodunnit. This didn't seem very appealing when I started, but I soon became interested in Cormoran and Robin, and after about 300 pages I wanted to know who did it!

Rowling seems to be master of the long complex sentence and clear descriptions that tell rather than show. I read a review that said you need to read the book with a dictionary by your side but I didn't find that to be the case.

Overall it's a great read. The crime being investigated was interesting but not enthralling; however, I'm keen to read the next one to find out what happens to Strike and Robin.

The Grownup by Gillian Flynn

This book is only 67 pages long. It is a short story, originally published in an anthology Rogues edited by George R.R. Martin. The story won the Edgar Award for Best Short Story in 2015.

The story is written in short sentences with unsophisticated vocabulary. It is fast paced and can easily be read in an hour. I was planning to encourage my 13 year old son to read it. At the first sentence "I didn't stop giving hand jobs because I wasn't good at it", I decided it would be inappropriate!

I don't think the protagonist, a young women posing as a mystic, is ever named. A client, Susan Miles, is concerned that her new home is haunted and asks the mystic to come and take a look. Even at the end it's not entirely clear who is the rogue and who is the grownup, but there are enough plot twists to keep you guessing.

This is a good book to leave on a coffee table to encourage someone to take a break and enjoy a great read. I'm going to buy the Rogues anthology; I hope the other 20 stories are just as good.