The Castle books continue to deliver. The plot here is richer than previous novels, but the humor and pop culture references are the reason for reading. There are several winks to the TV show throughout, from cracks about a bulletproof vest labelled WRITER to an Elvis convention in Atlantic City. This being a book by a fictional mystery writer I appreciated the meta humor of having the characters eat at Grill 23 in Boston, simply because that is where Spenser—a fictional detective from another series—enjoyed dining. My favorite bit of humor, though, was when the main character Jameson Rook says, "I can't quite put my finger on it, but there's something I like about Malcolm and Reynolds." The dizzying nature of a line from a character that is a direct analogue for the fictional author Richard Castle who is played on television by Nathan Fillion that is in turn a reference to another character Fillion played I find enormously amusing.
As I mentioned earlier the story is stronger than other entries in the series, concerning a bizarre murder linked to the death of Nikki Heat's mother years before (another nod to the show) but the conclusion was a bit clichéd. A coda provides a cliffhanger that promises an interesting next novel, though, and gives a hopeful moment to an otherwise downbeat ending. I suspect this series will only be truly appreciated by fans of the show, but I'm certainly enjoying it!
"Oh, yeah, that's it, Rook," said Nikki Heat.
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