http://dsdmona1.blogspot.com.es/2015/08/frozen-heat.html

And barely a three star at that. To be fair, I'm not really the best audience for this as tie-in books are hit or miss for me. I think of this one as a three act book with the first and third being very weak.

It opens with me thinking if this is how bad Richard Castle writes he wouldn't be in that sweet NYC living space. It has an interesting enough crime, a woman in a freezer truck, dead and she has Nikki Heat's old suitcase stolen from the house when her mom was killed. That should have been an out of the park mystery for Nikki to solve. And yet somehow it remains dull until she and Jameson Rook head to France to track down her mother's footsteps because the newly dead woman was her mother's best friend for whom Nikki was named (and yet she's never heard of before).

It comes up with the most dramatic reason for Nikki's mom to have been murdered and that gives her a line of investigation. And it went well until it went flying over the cliff for the ending.

It has the typical 'Hollywood' ending, ridiculous action etc. What made me roll my eye is Nikki deciding she can't wait five minutes for Rook to do something and goes alone, without calling for back up or telling anyone where she went (though Rook could probably figure it out) and she goes into a dark, semi-abandoned subway station alone and naturally this works out as well as you'd suspect. For me this smacks of making the protagonist an idiot in order to increase drama and it never works for me.

In full disclosure, I got this in a library sale, would probably get another in a similar circumstance but can't imagine going out to purposefully find more. It just wasn't that interesting.

This one was definitely more "Castle" like in the writing and the wit involved between the characters. The end leaves you hanging a bit, but there's another book after this one, so I'm sure it will get wrapped up.

I'll be honest; I didn't like Nikki Heat very much in this one. I guess some of the stuff, like she could speak French, but went on a semester abroad her freshman year. That just seemed stupid to me. On the TV Show Castle, he's always talking about how deep, intelligent, and what a subtly complicated character Nikki Heat is when anybody comes in and tries to make their own description of her (like with the movie, reviews, etc). I think the ghost writer was trying so hard to live up to all the specifications, they fell show there. I especially scoffed when the omniscient narrator said that she had played Ophelia in Hamlet and a few other leads when she was a drama major at Northwester her freshman year when she was a drama major. I actually was a theatre major when I was in college, and freshman never got the leads in the plays the University's Theatre department put on. Maybe in some universities, but that actress would have to be the shiz-nit, like somebody on full scholarship that doesn't need it they're so awesome and had all this professional credit behind them. It wouldn't be somebody who'd walk out of the theatre department for anything, even a relative's death. I did like Nikki's response at the ending, though, when it was just her.

I got irritated with Rook's attempts at being Nathan Fillion in the prior books, but this book was so very superior when it came to Rook's handling. At the same time, let's remember nobody can replace Nathan Fillion's comic chops and his impeccable timing (don't you dare argue with me!!!!!!). I just wish we got to see a darker, deeper side to Rook asides from being Nikki's 'partner.'

I like the way that greater story arc was handled. It seems that the ghost writer was given an excellent path to follow in the run of the series and I really like picking up the subtle nods to story lines and plot points in the show. It's a lot of fun to watch the show and catch little things that come up that I enjoy. The F. Scott Fitzgerald quote was an "a-ha!" moment because I literally just watched the episode in which Detective Beckett says that.

Spoiler

They didn't actually catch Tyler or find out what was in the pouch that Nicole Bernadine was trying to get, which sort of sucked, but it set up the next novel. I hope it gets solved!

Overall, I enjoy Richard Castle's books because, let's be honest people, there's only 22 episodes a year and that'll never be enough for this fangirl!

These Richard Castle books read very much like an episode of Castle (fun!). Lots of pop culture references will date these books, (but lets be honest, once the show is over, no one will read them anyways).

Summary: NYPD Homicide Detective Nikki Heat arrives at her latest crime scene to find an unidentified woman stabbed to death and stuffed inside a suitcase left on a Manhattan street. Nikki is in for a big shock when this new homicide connects to the unsolved murder of her own mother.

This fourth book in the meta-fictional Nikki Heat series, based on the Castle television show, is the best so far. Written in the same tone as the show, and paralleling key plot points and character arcs, these books within the TV show are perfect companion pieces.

Frozen Heat chronicles the case of a woman found frozen in a suitcase. In typical thriller/police procedural fashion, the twists and turns of the investigation lead to unexpected discoveries and even links to Nikki's most personal cold case - the murder of her mother ten years ago.

What makes the Castle books so enjoyable is that they carry forth the same kind of pop culture inside jokes that the show does, as well as the loveable and entertaining snark of the Richard Castle/Jameson Rook character. My favorite running gag of the series - a pair of detectives in Nikki's squad named Malcolm and Reynolds. Shiny!

In the 4th Nikki Heat novel, she searches for her mother's murderer! It is both suspenseful and exciting!