Shallow Grave: A Matt Sinclair Mystery

In Thiem’s cleverly plotted third Matt Sinclair mystery (after 2016’s Thrill Kill), the hardheaded Oakland, Calif., homicide sergeant investigates the murder of Phil Roberts, his former partner and mentor who was the current supervisor of police intel. An easy answer presents itself when Reggie “Animal” Clement, the sergeant-at-arms at a biker bar, fatally shoots Shane Gibbs, a motorcycle gang member who appears likely to have killed Roberts. Sinclair’s not one for easy answers, though. When he and partner Cathy Braddock begin to uncover evidence connecting Animal and councilman Preston Yates, the police chief—who’s adept at playing politics—suspends him. Sinclair tries to go it alone, but he soon runs into opposition from entrenched interests. Thiem provides a cynical take on the city’s power structure, along with trenchant prose (“He’d heard people in AA describe the personality of a typical alcoholic as an egomaniac with an inferiority complex. That was exactly how Sinclair felt right now”). [em]Agent: Paula Munier, Talcott Notch Literary Agency. (July) [/em]