Grootka

Detective Sergeant ``Fang'' Mulheisen, introduced in The Diehard , here investigates three linked murders in a Detroit precinct where men are men and women are helpless ``babes,'' rated according to physical attributes. Grootka, a tough, retired cop and Mulheisen's former mentor, finds the body of pimp Books Meldrim in a car trunk. Twenty years earlier, Books informed on a man who allegedly raped and killed a girl; Grootka interrogated the suspect, who then escaped. Now Grootka insists that the misogynistic criminal has returned for revenge, finding evidence in the recent violent death of an old woman. Mulheisen follows as the streetwise Grootka unravels the clues. Jackson delivers interesting revelations amid the dismal, seedy city atmosphere, but gratuitous gore, cartoonish characters and male chauvinism may limit this puzzle's appeal to thick-skinned enthusiasts of the hard-boiled detective novel. (Dec.)