The Sunday Times detectives unmask secret JK Rowling crime novel
Critics marvelled at how a first-time author could write such an acclaimed crime novel. But thanks to some detective work by a Sunday newspaper, it has emerged that The Cuckoo's Calling is not, in fact, the work of debut novelist Robert Galbraith after all.
Instead, it came from the pen of Harry Potter writer JK Rowling, who explained that she released the lauded novel under a pseudonym so that she could publish a book "without the hype or expectation" that follows her every move in the literary world.
The Cuckoo's Calling is about a war veteran turned private investigator and was praised as a "scintillating debut" by one critic upon its release in April. It has so far sold 1500 copies in hardback.
Galbraith's true identity was revealed when The Sunday Times became suspicious about how a new writer could produce such an accomplished book - not to mention that Rowling and 'Galbraith' shared an agent and an editor.
Rowling said: "I had hoped to keep this secret a little longer because being Robert Galbraith has been such a liberating experience.
"It has been wonderful to publish without hype or expectation, and pure pleasure to get feedback under a different name."