calissa

I'm a big fan of the TV show Castle which is about a mystery writer who tags along with a New York police detective in order to gather research and inspiration for his book. This is that book.

It's more of a gimmick than anything else. The dust jacket features a fake bio, an "author photo" featuring actor Nathan Fillion and cover comments from real mystery writers James Patterson and Stephen Cannell--both of whom made guest appearances in the show.

The plot echoes the show, being about investigative journalist who tags along with a New York police detective in order to gather research and inspiration for a magazine article. All the TV characters have an equivalent character in this book and there are plenty of in-jokes.

It is, perhaps unsurprisingly, not the most brilliant of books. I found the writing occasionally less cheesy than clumsy and I spotted whodunit a mile off, despite not being a big mystery reader. It would have been nice to see something a little more polished and original from an author who was supposedly as prolific and consistently best-selling as Castle is supposed to be.

However, if you are a fan of the show and are looking for some brain fluff to entertain you while you are down with a cold, you could do worse.