A New York real estate tycoon plunges to his death on a Manhattan sidewalk. A trophy wife survives a brazen attack. Mobsters and moguls trot out their alibis. And then, in the suffocating grip of a record heat wave, comes another murder. Mystery sensation Richard Castle, blockbuster author of the Derrick Storm novels, introduces his newest character, NYPD Homicide Detective Nikki Heat. Tough, sexy, professional, Nikki Heat carries a passion for justice. When the commissioner assigns superstar magazine journalist Jameson Rook to ride along with her to research an article on New York"s Finest, Rook turns out to be as much a handful as he is handsome. As Nikki works to unravel the secrets of the murdered tycoon, she must also confront the spark between them. The one called heat.