Oy. Okay, so it's not JK Rowling's fault that everything she ever writes will be compared to Harry Potter. With that said, this book isn't magical in any sense of the word; it's an ordinary mystery. There are moments of lovely writing and moments of interesting plot, but ultimately, well, I'll leave it at that. 
 I did enjoy playing detective myself, to try to figure out if I would have thought the writing seemed JK Rowling-like had I not known that Robert Galbraith was her pseudonym. There is a story about a doe and a stag (important figures in HP), for example, and pink stationery featuring gamboling kittens. But that's about it.