Reviewed by Craig Sisterson
Inside the department, they're called Tin Collectors: Internal Affairs Agents, the police of police. If they catch you breaking rules, they'll come after your badge. If they want it badly enough, (chances are) they'll get it. But who polices them?
When LAPD Sergeant Shane Scully rushes to the aid of his ex-partner's battered wife, he doesn't expect he will need to employ lethal force. But when the ensuing altercation turns ugly, Scully finds himself with no time to think and no option save the unthinkable. Now, with one cop dead at his hands, Shane becomes prey for the Tin Collectors. After they move him to another assignment, Shane realises they want him out of the picture altogether. And when Internal Affairs agents try to make him the fall guy for a web of corruption that extends to the highest levels of the LAPD, Shane Scully has no choice but to fight back.
I'd enjoyed some of Cannell's TV shows growing up, such as the A-Team and 21 Jump Street (he has a huge screenwriting and series creator resume, from writing on the likes of Columbo to creating the afore-mentioned series along with The Rockford Files, The Commish, and many others), but hadn't read any of his fiction, so when I saw this in a secondhand bookstore in Nelson during my Christmas and summer holidays several years ago, I grabbed it. And was really glad I did.
This is the first novel in the 11-book Shane Scully series from Cannell (who more recent television watchers may have noticed playing in the crime writers' poker games in Castle alongside the likes of Rick Castle and real-life crime novelists Michael Connelly, Dennis Lehane, and James Patterson).
THE TIN COLLECTORS is a fun read that starts strong, with Los Angeles detective Shane Scully thrown into a tough situation then finding himself under investigation after he shoots his former partner Ray Molar when responding to a domestic disturbance while off duty - Molar was beating his wife. A bad situation quickly becomes even worse. Molar had hooks with LAPD's brass, and there's talk he was holding sensitive material about the department, which has gone missing. Some on high think Scully has swiped it for himself, as future protection, and start putting on the squeeze.
Facing a homicide investigation and suspension, things get even worse when Scully is suddenly transferred to Internal Affairs. The 'tin collectors', whose job it is to try to take the badges of cops corrupt and compromised, while perhaps taking some innocent scalps unfairly along the way.
The 'rat squad', as they've been called elsewhere. As if Scully wasn't side-eyed enough already.
Trying to clear his own name from the inside of Internal Affairs - is he being set up, and if so, why are powerful people trying to take him down? - Scully stumbles into a conspiracy that rises through the ranks to the highest levels of police and local government. Overall, THE TIN COLLECTORS had plenty of political intrigue, conspiracies, visual storytelling, a twisting plotline that kept me hooked, and more. Cannell has been a star when it comes to on-screen crime fiction, and shows here that he's a pretty dab hand when he transfers his talents to novels too. A good read.
This is an expanded version of a mini online review I wrote of this book after reading it in early 2012.
Craig Sisterson is a lawyer turned features writer from New Zealand, now living in London. In recent years he’s interviewed hundreds of crime writers and talked about the genre on national radio, top podcasts, and onstage at books festivals on three continents. He has been a judge of the Ned Kelly Awards and the McIlvanney Prize, and is founder of the Ngaio Marsh Awards and co-founder of Rotorua Noir. You can heckle him on Twitter.
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