Frozen Heat / Richard Castle

It’s a Castle novel. Of course I love it. (and I’d really like to know who the writer of these novels is – they are really doing a great job). As always the characters are well fleshed out, the perfect addition to watching the show on TV. This installment is delving deep into Nikki’s past – just when we think there’s some peace in the life of our detective and her lover Rook. The walk down memory lane towards the solving of Heat’s mother’s murder brings us to Paris, various shady agents and back to New York where an idiotic boss (and don’t we all know one or two of those) jeopardizes the case just as much as his lover, the incompetent and lazy new girl. (my favorite line: “Five minutes in the same room with your boss, I want to eat my own flesh just for the distraction.” it’s effing brilliant!)

There’s life and death situations and enough surprises interspersed with sarcastic one liners to keep the reader breathless both with anticipation and with laughter – which is a good thing!

But.

It’s a bloody cliffhanger.

And I am truly pissed about that. It seems the novel was pushed out hastily in time for the TV show start – and I for one am less than enthused that I have to wait a year for the next installment. This is me, not being a happy camper…

And this is what others say:

By S Wilson – Published on Amazon.com

I picked this one up, being a big fan of the Castle series as well as Nathan Fillion and Stana Katic, as well as to drown out the silence on my son’s first day of preschool. I really couldn’t put it down!The first 3 books in the series were quite good, and improves on rereads, which is difficult for a murder mystery novel. After all, if you already knew whodunit, what’s the sense of reading again?

The sense is the characters are rich and the action is brilliant. I absolutely love Castle mainly for Detective Beckett, who is a wonderful, meaty character, and the novels increasingly capture it. Sure, there’s dumb jokes and more than my fair share of cliches, but it kind of blends into the environment, and that they probably would be saying all those cliches if this were real life.

The twists are really clever (while still being believable!) and the action is really fun and exciting.  The excessive cop-lingo (and acronyms) that makes you feel like you’re in a foreign country is quite toned down since the first novel, which is a big relief. I’ll definitely go back and read it again, enjoying all the little nuances I missed the first time. Sure, there’s a few things that you’re like, “Why didn’t she chase that particular lead down?” or, “Why doesn’t she look there?” Or “She’s walking into a trap! Wait for backup!” But you’ll get that with almost every mystery novel or movie. (I think the trick is to not say it out loud when you’re in the movie theater. 😉

And don’t forget the serious cliffhanger. I got to the end and I was like, “Where’s the rest?” It seemed like there should be another chapter or two. If cliffhangers bug you, wait until the next one is out and read them together. I certainly felt brought-up-short. I know at least one reviewer before wrote that it was “kind of a cliffhanger.” No, its a serious, full-stop, mid-thought kind of cliffhanger. Not quite as bad as leaving off a person screaming in terror, but similar. Now we get to wait a whole year for the next part, oh goody. -.-

Anyway, have a lovely time reading this book. Definitely start with the rest of the series if you haven’t read them yet, there’s old characters to swim with along with new. (And watching the series does not count.)

Cambridge Blue / Alison Bruce

 

I like Gary Goodhew. He’s different. He’s an odd sock, not a teamplayer, even less in a team like the one he has to fit in. There’s the unfaithful senior detective who gets it on with the girl Gary secretly admires – and learns that she is a bit afraid of him. There’s his boss who likes Gary’s brain but hates his rogue behaviour and then there’s the Grandmother who is clever and quirky. And of course – in yet another lead part of the novel – there is Cambridge and Ely, both playing their roles of beautiful university town as well as center of crimes beautifully. I did enjoy the story – it was construed cleverly enough to not be seethrough easy. It was a bit convoluted and at the time I read it I thought that was just me because I had a terribly stressful time and couldn’t devote my usual concentration to the book. But I will definitely get another one of Alison Bruce’s novels about Goodhew to see where she goes with her detective character.

As always I’m lazy – this is the review I liked most online:

By Roman Clodia at Amazon.com

Gary Goodhew is only 25 and the youngest detective in Cambridge. When he discovers a murdered girl he is given the chance to take a lead role in a high-profile murder case, but his maverick abilities cause him to clash with his boss; he and his partner dislike each other, and he knew one of the suspects at school. The case of Lorna Spense uncovers dark secrets in the Cambridge community and touches on more than a few secrets in Gary’s own private life.

This is a page-turner of a novel that introduces an attractive young detective working the residential, rather than the collegial, side of Cambridge. Sex is placed right at the centre of the book, with erotic entanglements central to both the suspects and the police.

I liked much of the book: the pace, the tension, the sense of suspense, and certainly found myself unable to put it down – but there are some niggles, too, which become much bigger at the end (no spoilers following).

Some of the plot points seem very odd and unbelievable – e.g. the `anonymous’ letters. And there are various threads that are started up at the beginning but which never really go anywhere (the conversations between Victoria and Lorna at the start, the revelations about Lorna’s sexual fantasies). But the major issue which had this book dropping a star is the ending: the sudden flurry of revelations certainly keep us breathless but once you close the book and think about them, they cease to make much sense. So I was left wondering not who was responsible for the murders – but why?

So this is a great switch-your-brain-off relaxing read, exciting and fast-paced – but it actually doesn’t stand up to much post-read analysis.