Glitter of Diamonds

"A master of plotting." Library Journal. It's Toronto in July. There's an out-of control baseball player. A frenzied sports media. A talk-show host who enjoys playing devil's advocate. The field is ready-for murder. "A finely drawn police procedural written in the style of Georgette Heyer, long considered queen of the British mystery genre... appealing characters, creative plot and classic Agatha Christie style writing." The Suspense Zone The second in a classic police procedural series of traditional whodunits set in contemporary Toronto. Homicide detective Inspector Paul Manziuk is mourning the death of his best friend. Constable Jacqueline Ryan is trying to get her bearings and figure out how to keep from irritating an already-stressed Manziuk without losing her self-respect. But not far from Toronto police headquarters, two people are speaking words that will lead to murder. Rico Velasquez, the Toronto Matrix's new Cuban pitcher, is determined to prove he deserves the huge contract he's been given. So he explodes in anger and derision when a reliever gives up a home run that takes away his win. A day later, Stasey Simon, a radio talk-show host who thrives on controversy, asks on-air for a volunteer to knock some sense into Rico. Before long, groundskeepers at the Diamond Dome find Rico's body in the bullpen, and Manziuk and Ryan are given the task of arresting the murderer before the case escalates into an international incident. Of course, Stasey herself is a prime suspect. So are several other members of the sports media, an obsessed fan, Rico's neglected wife, the pitcher Rico embarrassed, the elusive owners of the baseball team, and a Marilyn Monroe wannabe who seemed to think Rico was her Joe DiMaggio. Manziuk draws on his own love of the game of baseball while Ryan struggles to make sense of a sport she's never watched.