Grootka: A Detective Sgt. "Fang" Mulheisen Novel

Detective Sergeant Mulheisen #3

by Jon A. Jackson

Grootka, retired from the Detroit Police Department, returns as a mentor to Fang Mulheisen, and the two lives become dangerously entwined in a thirty-year-old unsolved case of rape and murder

Genres: Mystery, Crime

352 pages, Hardcover

First published October 1, 1990

About the author

Jon A. Jackson grew up in northern Michigan and Detroit and currently lives in Missoula, Montana.
His middle initial A is for Anthony.

Reviews

[James Thane · Rating 3 out of 5]

As a practical matter, this novel, which was first published in 1990, constitutes a stand-alone in Jon A. Jackson's series featuring Detective Sergeant "Fang" Mulheisen of the Detroit P.D. It does not involve either the Detroit mob or the character Joe Service, both of whom appear prominently in most of the other books. It doesn't build on the earlier stories, and nothing that happens here is essential to the books going forward.

Which is certainly not to say that it isn't a good book. The plot is fairly convoluted and involves a long-retired detective named Grootka, who was once Mulheisen's mentor. For most of his adult life, Grootka has been haunted by his failure to solve the rape and murder of a beautiful young girl back in the 1950s. Then, one afternoon when he's riding along with an old pal who tags abandoned vehicles for the department, Grootka discovers the body of and elderly pimp named "Books" Meldrin, who was also Grootka's snitch back in the day.

Poor old "Books" has met a sad end, shot and stuffed into the trunk of an abandoned car. The killing is added to Mulheisen's already bulging caseload, and Grootka is convinced that the killing is somehow related to the death of the girl years earlier.

Mulheisen's boss couldn't care less about the murder of an elderly pimp and wants him to focus on the much higher profile case of the murder of a society matron. But Mul is intrigued by the "Books" case and is soon devoting the bulk of his time to it.

Once the game is on, it's interesting and more than a little dangerous. Mulheisen demonstrates his usual disregard for authority and pursues the job in his own inimitable way. Pretty soon, more bodies are dropping; the evidence is twisted almost beyond imagination and there are startling surprises at almost every turn. This one is well worth looking for.

[Jeff Dickison · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the first Jon A. Jackson I have read and I enjoyed it; a Sergeant Mulheisen entry. This book is 'noirish' in its gritty approach to Detroit. Grootka is a celebrated retired Detroit investigator that does things his own way, even if they are slightly crooked. He involves Mulheisen in a decades old murder and soon Mulheisen is also in trouble. The story is a little difficult to follow at times and there are quite a few loose ends, but, all in all, pretty good. Recommended to gritty crime fans.

[Rogue Reader · Rating 4 out of 5]

Set in downtown Detroit, Grootka is a retired cop who just won’t give up – not his gun, not his obsession with an old crime, not the alcohol, not the prostitutes. Grootka has a complicated, crafty and shrewd plot engineered by Grootka himself to excite and enthrall his buddy, still on the line. Love the urban, Detroit setting. Don’t know that I’d really want to run into Grootka. This is a second reading for me, the first years ago.

--Ashland Mystery

[Chris Stephens · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another great piece,
by an extremely underacknowledged writer,
great characters,
believable adversaries,
plot driven not sex and violence,
top notch detective fiction imo.

[John Treanor · Rating 3 out of 5]

Excellent, gritty cop/crime novel based in Detroit. The best of the 3 I've read (starting from the 1st to this, the 3rd in the Mulheisen series). Looking forward to seeing where Jackson takes this.

[Toesnorth's mom]

too-too

[Elaine · Rating 5 out of 5]

Jackson makes his characters come alive. His writing sweeps you up and never lets you down!

[Allan · Rating 4 out of 5]

good/vg
3.5 stars