Steve Swatt is old-school.

He has roots in the good ol' days of Sacramento TV news and Capitol politics, he's a straight-up guy, and now, as every former political reporter should, he has written a political murder mystery.

It seems only right. It's the book you'd expect from Swatt, who was one of the icons of TV news in Sacramento.

He spent 23 years covering the Capitol for Channel 3 (KCRA), going back to the days when political reporting meant something to a TV station.

His novel, "Fair, Balanced ... and Dead" (Trafford Publishing, $23.49, 329 pages) is oldschool, too, a tale of political dirty tricks around a U.S. Senate appointment, murder - of course - and a reporter caught in the middle. It's fast-moving, twisting and satisfying, particularly if you know even a little about how things work around the state Capitol.

That may be its biggest draw, at least for people around Sacramento. Besides a nice feel for the city, Swatt paints a full picture of the details of life, big and small, in and around "The Building," as everyone involved with the place calls it.

Learning through story; it's always the best way. But Swatt says he didn't write his novel to teach lessons. He wrote it to write it. He's also honest about why he went the mystery route.

"I thought it would be really tough to write a good political biography," he said. "I saw what people like (former Bee reporter) Jim Richardson did with his biography of Willie (Brown), and that seemed way too hard. And you know what they say: Inside every reporter there's a novel waiting to come out."

Don't get the impression from that gee-shucks modesty that Swatt was ever about dogging it. I covered the Capitol at the same time as Swatt for five years, and I never saw him take a shortcut.

He was respected for being an old-school guy before anyone got called that.

"I can say without hesitation that he was one of the best TV political reporters I've ever known," Tim Hart told me. Hart's a longtime lobbyist who now works for the California Optometric Association and is something of an old-school guy himself.

"He adhered to traditional journalistic principles a lot of TV reporters aren't even familiar with these days," Hart said. "Things like factchecking and developing sources. Plus, his word was his bond."

That perspective is important because in his book, Swatt takes a few shots at local news. None of it is preachy, and a couple of characters, he admits, are a bit over the top and are there to drive the story.

But some points are not exaggerations, like local TV's perpetual fascination with weather. Other criticisms have real significance - particularly, Swatt says, the near-disappearance of solid policy reporting.

"I have nothing but fond memories of my years at Channel 3, and I don't want to give the impression that it's any kind of comment about them," Swatt said.

"But the entire journalism business, and especially the TV news business, has changed a great deal. I lived through it.

"It's a tougher fight for viewers. They're looking for ways to keep people from hitting the remote, and so much important news isn't valued anymore. They tend to think viewers aren't interested in public policy issues." Recently retired Channel 3 anchor Dave Walker read the book and loved it, and he said Swatt has earned the right to criticize.

"He was a fact-digger," Walker said. "He wasn't concerned about selling himself; he wanted to get it right and to get it on the air."

Swatt was something of an institution in Sacramento.

He came to Channel 3 in 1969 after stints in the newspaper business, at the San Francisco Examiner and at United Press International in Los Angeles. He stayed until 1992, when he left to join a friend, Donna Lucas, at what was then Nelson & Lucas Communications.

Swatt, 65, is semi-retired now but still hosts "Comcast Newsmakers," a public affairs show; has taught at California State University, Sacramento; and was a managing partner of Nelson Communications Group. He said leaving journalism was not the easiest thing for him. "I agonized over that decision for a month," he said. "The only good part was I lost 5 pounds while I was doing it."

Swatt is donating all his royalties from "Fair, Balanced ... and Dead" to local charities and has a couple of book signings coming up.

He'll be at the Esquire Grill from 5 to 7 p.m. Nov. 10 and at the Sacramento Press Club from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Nov. 17. Both events will benefit Press Club charities.

Call The Bee's Rick Kushman, (916) 321-1187. Listen to him Tuesdays at 8:40 a.m. on NewsTalk 1530 (KFBK).