J.K. Rowling pulls off new bit of literary wizardry

LONDON An ex-military man tries his hand at writing, publishes a debut detective novel, and wins critical acclaim. But here's the twist in the tale: The true identity of the author is none other than "Harry Potter" creator J.K. Rowling.

It's impressive literary wizardry by Rowling, who said she relished the freedom of writing "The Cuckoo's Calling" under her pseudonym Robert Galbraith.

"I hoped to keep this secret a little longer because being Robert Galbraith has been such a liberating experience," she said in a statement released by her publicist on Sunday. "It has been wonderful to publish without hype or expectation, and pure pleasure to get feedback from publishers and readers under a different name."

"The Cuckoo's Calling," a story about a war veteran turned private investigator who is called in to probe the mysterious death of a model, was published to rave reviews in April by Sphere, part of publisher Little, Brown & Company.

The Sunday Times said it was investigating "how a first-time author with a background in the army and the civilian security industry could write such an assured debut novel" when it connected the dots. The paper said clues included the fact that Rowling and Galbraith shared the same agent and editor, and that Little, Brown published Rowling's novel for adults, "The Casual Vacancy." It also said the book's style and subject matter resembled Rowling's work.

Rowling's publicist confirmed the paper's detective work was correct.

In her statement, Rowling thanked her editor David Shelley, the publishing staff who worked on the book without knowing her identity, and the reviewers who praised it without knowing about her authorship.

She added that "Galbraith" planned to keep writing the series.

In an October 2012 interview with "CBS This Morning" (full interview at left), Rowling discussed her life post-Potter, as well as the debut of her first adult novel "The Casual Vacancy." She admits that while she was aware of the pressure coming off of the wild success of the "Harry Potter" series -- "that people were expecting and waiting" for her next big book -- she relished "having a private world in my head again that no one knew about," while writing "The Casual Vacancy."

And although she told told Gayle King and Charlie Rose that another "Harry Potter" book is very unlikely, adding that his "story is pretty much done," she still cherishes fans of the series.

On its website, Little, Brown marketed "The Cuckoo's Calling" as a classic crime novel in the tradition of P.D. James and Ruth Rendell. It said the novel, whose central character is named Cormoran Strike, was the first of a series of crime novels to come.

The publisher described Galbraith as an ex-military man, married with two sons, who wrote the novel based on experiences from his military life. Revealingly, it also stated that Galbraith was a pseudonym.

The publisher lists many favorable reviews to the book, including critics who called it "a scintillating debut novel" and who praised Galbraith for his "superb flair as a mystery writer."