Three Shirt Deal by Stephen J. Cannell
Truit Hickman is a small-time crook doing life in California's notoriously brutal Corcoran State Prison for the murder of his mother. He admitted to the crime, but now Hickman claims his confession was coerced. A beautiful Internal Affairs detective, Secada Scout Llevar, asks Shane to help investigate, and he agrees after learning the original homicide detective was Brian Devine, a ruthless cop with whom Scully has a bad history.What begins as a routine review quickly turns into something much more deadly. The case is abruptly shut down by an LAPD Deputy Chief, and Shane begins to suspect that Hickman really may have been framed by the police. But some things, once started, cannot be stopped, and the investigation spirals dangerously out of control, implicating a violent Hispanic gang, a millionaire powerbroker, and the frontrunner in the Los Angeles mayoral race.Meanwhile, Shane and Alexa struggle to save their marriage, which has come perilously! close to disintegration since Alexa's near-fatal shooting in White Sister - just as Shane finds himself attracted to his new partner. Could the answer to their troubles be tied to the case he's investigating?