J.K. Rowling is coming to Cinemax with a C.B. Strike miniseries based on the Cormoran Strike novels she wrote under the pseudonym Robert Galbraith. This isn’t the first time the creator of Harry Potter has ventured outside of Hogwarts with a new story to tell. Rowling also delivered The Casual Vacancy in 2012, which itself was turned into an HBO miniseries starring the likes of Michael Gambon and Rory Kinnear. Though it didn’t make waves the likes of the Boy Who Lived, it did demonstrate Rowling’s ability to dip into other (much less lucrative) genres of storytelling.

C.B. Strike, then, is Rowling’s detective fiction, by way of Galbraith. The novels were moderate successes before it was revealed Rowling was, in fact, behind them. The Cuckoo’s Calling, the first book in the series, rose to the top of the hardback sales charts following the news she was the real author. After that, a film or television adaptation wasn’t far behind. The result is C.B. Strike, which aired in the U.K. under Strike, and will hit Cinemax in June, 2018.

Check out a synopsis for the series below:


“C.B. STRIKE is based on the bestselling crime novels written by Harry Potter creator J.K. Rowling under the pseudonym Robert Galbraith. Starring Tom Burke (“Only God Forgives”) and Holliday Grainger (“The Borgias”), the story centers on Strike, a war veteran turned private detective, operating out of a tiny office in London’s Denmark Street. Although wounded both physically and psychologically, Strike’s unique insight and his background as a military police investigator prove crucial in solving three complex cases that have baffled the police.

The show launches with three one-hour episodes based on the first book in the trilogy, “The Cuckoo’s Calling,” followed by adaptations of the remaining two books, “The Silkworm” and “Career of Evil,” both of which will consist of two one-hour episodes.”

C.B. Strike joins Rellik and Strike Back as two other U.K. imports to become part of Cinemax’s quiet relaunch of its original programming after taking some time off to realign its focus to be more in line with the network’s action-oriented image. So far, the plan seems to have worked, as Strike Back was recently renewed for a sixth season on the pay cabler, while the Memento-like murder mystery Rellik is set to premiere next week.

Should C.B. Strike prove to be a ratings winner for Cinemax, it will be interesting to see what the future has in store for the private detective and whether or not more miniseries will be planned with or without accompanying novels. For now, though, it looks as though fans of detective fiction in the vein of Wallander and Sherlock will have a new P.I. to keep them entertained throughout the summer.

C.B. Strike premieres Friday, June 1 @10pm on Cinemax.