Heat Rises

Heat Rises is the third novel in Richard Castle's Nikki Heat mystery series. Nikki is an NYPD Homicide Detective, so I expected to see at least one homeless mention in the book.

Even if you have never driven in New York City, you likely have seen movies or television shows featuring the city, thus aware of how hard it is to find a parking space there. Although I have no recollection of parking in the City, I have done so ~ many years past. And I do not mean in parking garages or lots ~ I mean curbside. Quite a feat.

I remember my father's way to park was back up until he hit a car's bumper, then pull forward until he hit the car in front of him; repeat. I did not do that, even though Dad said his parking manuevers in NYC did not do damage to other vehicles. It is hard enough to find a place to park in Long Beach on Alternate Side of Street parking days, I can only imagine the nightmare that must be in the sprawling metropolis. If any place needs to ban motor vehciles ~ excepting emergency crews and delivery trucks ~ that would be the place.

The first homeless mention was a passenger cautioning the driver to watch out for the homeless guy as driver raced to grab a just vacated parking spot.

Later in the novel the death of a homeless man is being invetistaged to determine cause of death. The detectives think it a waste of resources; homeless guy will likely have died from accidental OD. The upside was an unliked female detective was assigned to go undercover as a homeless person, sleeping under the bridge over night.

Castle will not replace Walter Mosley as my favorite mystery novel writer, but Heat Rises held my interest start to finish. One thing bothered me; after a harrowing experience, Nikki lost her gun. Her vehicle was crashed against a wall and when she made a quick exit, she could not locate her cell phone. There is no mention of her getting the phone or gun back. I guess the car would have been towed, cell phone, other personal stuff returned, but was it in need of body work or other repairs? Also she lost her gun quite a distance from where she left her car.

If I read correctly the vehicle that caused her crash was gone, which is likely where she had dropped the gun, so a little explaining of how it was found would have added to the story.