Characters in The Cuckoo's Calling

Cormoran Strike

A former Royal Military Police Special Investigation Branch officer who lost part of his leg to an IED in Afghanistan; the illegitimate son of a rock star, his sharp eye for inconsistency and personal chaos make him one of crime fiction's more distinctive investigators.

Also in The Silkworm, Career of Evil, Lethal White, Troubled Blood, The Ink Black Heart, The Running Grave, The Hallmarked Man

Robin Ellacott

A temp secretary whose ambitions extend far beyond filing — her quick intelligence and instinct for investigation immediately mark her as Strike's equal rather than his assistant.

Also in The Silkworm, Career of Evil, Lethal White, Troubled Blood, The Ink Black Heart, The Running Grave, The Hallmarked Man

John Bristow

The adopted brother of Lula Landry who refuses to accept the suicide verdict and hires Strike to find the truth he believes the police missed.

Lula Landry

The supermodel whose death opens the novel — present only through the memories of those who knew her, whose portrait becomes more complex and more human as Strike's investigation deepens.

Matthew Cunliffe

Also in The Silkworm, Career of Evil, Lethal White

Tony Landry

Lady Yvette Landry Bristow

Sir Alec Bristow

Evan Duffield

Freddy Bestigui

Marlene Higson

Jonny Rokeby

Also in The Silkworm

Charlotte Campbell

Also in The Silkworm

Leda Strike

Also in Career of Evil

Eric Wardle

Also in Career of Evil

Graham "Hardy" Hardacre

Also in Career of Evil

Linda Ellacott

Also in Career of Evil, The Hallmarked Man

Detective Inspector Roy Carver

Also in Career of Evil