If I Were a Book Consultant...

1. Nobody, I repeat, nobody does crime better than Christie.
2. Hype (due to a famous author) sells more books. I would have never paid 600 for John Galbraith’s debut novel.
3. Higher expectations (due to a famous author or hype) take away from the fun. Especially if your book is not about a boy-wizard called Harry.
4. Cuckoo’s Calling is not about a boy-wizard called Harry.
5. It’s about Cormoran Strike, the most insipid British detective I have met. Prosthetic leg and chequered past notwithstanding.
6. Strike’s sidekick, Robin is more interesting. She is a stand-in for everybody who grew up wanting to be a detective but got saddled with a more realistic career.
7. No, that is different from just being less brilliant than the protagonist.
8. Rowling should use the light touch she brought to the early Potter books, if she wants to continue this series. More so, if the actual plot is weak.
9. (Sorry to harp about this, but learn from Christie!)
10. Higher expectations can also diminish the enjoyment of books by Agatha Christie, as sad as I am to report.
11. The Murder of Roger Ackroyd is not Christie’s masterpiece. The Mirror Crack’d from Side to Side is.
12. Forget I said that. Just read.