Is it really a surprise that as soon as the veils of pseudonymity were torn down from the latest novel that Harry Potter author Jk Rowling tried to sneak under the radar as 'Robert Galbraith', fans of one of the world's most famous authors would clamour in their rabid hoardes to snatch up a copy of crime thriller The Cuckoo's Calling?  Not really.

JK Rowling
That Knowing Look: JK Kept Her Secret Identity Under Wraps.

As soon as the Sunday Times' 'investigative' journalists got on the case of the critically-lauded ex-military man's debut novel - even employing an Oxford linguist to cross reference 'Cuckoo' against other author's work - Galbraith's days as a viable pseudonym were numbered. The 'unmaskers' patted themselves on the back as the world went crazy for Rowling's second adult novel since 2012's The Casual Vacancy. The author herself was left exposed and she saw sales on bookseller Amazon rise 507,000% in the wake of the newspaper's grand show of unmasking the 47 year-old as more than a wizards and wands writer.

JK Rowling
JK Rowling Has Proved Herself As A Proficient Adult Crime Writer.

At the time, Rowling described the period between the novel's April release and her exposure as "liberating," saying "It has been wonderful to publish without hype or expectation, and pure pleasure to get feedback under a different name.'' On the website set up for 'Robert Galbraith', JK is now featured as the real author with a FAQ section in which she answers questions pertaining to her male alter-ego. She writes about how it became increasingly hard to keep her true identity under wraps as, although her editor was sworn in on the secret, TV production companies started to want to adapt the narrative: "The situation was becoming increasingly complicated, largely because Robert was doing rather better than we had expected him to," she said. "But we all still hoped to keep the secret a little longer."

JK Rowling
It Was "Liberating" To Pretend To Be A Man...

According to BBC News, sales of The Cuckoo's Calling shot up from the 8,500 it had sold since its release to 17,662 in the week following the secret being revealed. The spike in sales wasn't enough to overtake her own The Casual Vacancy at No.2 (19,548) or John Grisham's The Racketeer from the top of the chart, which sold 24,222. Now Rowling has more cash than she could have ever dreamed of, it's easy to see why she'd want to get her kicks by both fooling the world and avoiding the shadow of critical comparison triggered by her colossal children's book franchise