14 DAY TRIAL // Robert Galbraith is making a return on book store shelves. Even if everyone knows today that Galbraith is in fact best-selling author J.K. Rowling, the “Harry Potter” writer is sticking to her pen name for her next project, a mystery novel called “The Silkworm.”
According to the Telegraph, the novel is going to follow private investigator Cormoran Strike, the character from her first crime novel, “The Cuckoo's Calling,” as he investigates the murder of a novelist. In his last work, the author had mocked a couple of public figures who all instantly become suspects.
By all accounts, the book is already far along in the production process, as it's set to hit shelves on June 19 this year.
Rowling's outing as the real author behind “The Cuckoo's Calling” was a messy affair. She had wanted to print a book under a pen name to see if the crime novel would attract attention on its own, without the added hype of her name.
Her project was thwarted when a number of people leaked the information to the press who immediately turned it into headlines. The book went from modest sales to immediate best seller as soon as Rowling's name was linked to the novel.
The infuriated author eventually sued all the people involved in the uncovering, which included a lawyer and one of his wife's friends and won her case. She donated her proceeds from the lawsuit to charity, but she declared at the time that she was still very much affected by the leak.
As news she's coming out with a new book under her outed pen name, there is no indication as to why she chooses to continue on this path. Apart from her “Harry Potter” series, Rowling has already penned an adult book in her own name in 2012, which was called “The Casual Vacancy.”