Everyone around the world knows that Robert Galbraith is really J.K. Rowling, but that is not going to stop the Harry Potter author from using the name. Rowling’s second novel under the pseudonym will be The Silkworm, due out in the U.K. in June.
The new novel will follow another adventure starring Cormoran Strike and his assistant Robin Ellacott, the main characters of Galbraith’s first novel, The Cuckoo’s Calling. According to the publisher, the story centers on a missing novelist, whose wife calls Cormoran to find. However, the private detective discovers that there’s more to the author’s disappearance than his wife knows, as he’s just written a manuscript that paints everyone he knows in a bad light. The author is found killed and Cormoran is left now looking for a dangerous killer.
Rowling had hoped to use the Galbraith name as a pseudonym to publish novels that she would hope to see gain popularity without her marquee name. She’s among the most popular writers in the world, having penned the Harry Potter books and later The Casual Vacancy. But then the Sunday Times outed Rowling after a lawyer revealed Galbraith’s true identity to a wife’s friend, who then in turn told a Times writer. The law firm later admitted to leaking Galbraith’s identity and Rowling sued. Just last month, the lawyer was fined and recieved a citation.
The author will actually make a public appearance to promote The Silkworm at the Theakston Old Peculier Crime Writing Festival in Harrogate on July 18.
image courtesy of Robert-Galbraith.com