A Player to Be Maimed Later: A Lloyd Keaton Mystery

In Billheimer’s satisfying second mystery featuring sportswriter Lloyd Keaton (after 2012’s Field of Schemes), former Indian’s pitching ace Blaze Stender taps the onetime Cleveland journalist, now a columnist for the Menckenburg Herald, to write his biography in hopes of boosting his Hall of Fame candidacy. While Stender achieved 253 career victories, despite injuries, and was considered one of the good guys in the game, Keaton discovers plenty of warts once he begins researching the pitcher’s past. When an accident takes Stender’s life, Keaton’s digging becomes even more important. A number of people—Stender’s wife, Barb; his poker buddies; and fellow pitcher Lanny Morton, called up from the minors with Stender—have stories to tell, but a long ago car accident, Keaton discovers, holds the key to secrets that someone will kill to keep hidden. Billheimer’s baseball knowledge and insights lift this mystery to major league status. (Aug.)