Bury It Diep

Philosophical freethinker and a tough guy with principles, Chicago cabbie Cooper MacLeish suffers seriously reduced charisma in his third appearance, following A Long Cold Fall. Part of the problem is a predictable plot, as Coop is called upon to provide some muscle for a journalist pal pursuing a story. Melvin Moreland has been anonymously but pointedly--he finds his cat skewered to the kitchen wall--warned not to meet with a man offering information; he and Coop discover the would-be informant's body in a Chicago sanitation garage, where assorted stolen vehicles are stored. Next to die is the victim's brother. MacLeish considers returning belatedly to college and finding a new job while helping Moreland uncover some unsurprisingly shady dealings between city politicos and union higher-ups. Reaves infuses little pizzazz into this tale, with its resolution turning on missing tapes, mayoral candidates and a cool, patrician beauty with steely determination; the intriguingly oddball Coop has lost much of his earlier appeal and credibility. (Sept.)