Prairie Hardball (Kate Henry Mysteries) - Softcover

Gordon, Alison

Softcover

ISBN 10: 077103413X ISBN 13: 9780771034138

Publisher: McClelland & Stewart, 1998

Synopsis

It is glorious August in Saskatchewan, and baseball writer Kate Henry is on a road trip home. Accompanied by her partner, homicide detective Andy Munro, she is keen to show him the wide-open spaces of the prairie and the charms of her family home in Indian Head.

In the 1940s, Kate’s mother played for the Racine Belles, in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League. Now, twenty veterans of the league are gathering for a reunion in the Battlefords, for induction into the Saskatchewan Baseball Hall of Fame.

But all is not peaceful under the prairie sky. Anonymous letters have been received by her mother’s teammates, warning them to stay away from the event. The sinister meaning soon becomes clear. One of the Belles is found murdered.

Kate valiantly tries not to interfere in the police investigation which ensues but, as she talks to former team members, she finds that questions from the past demand answers. It is only when Kate finds herself in mortal danger that she realizes she’s come too close to the truth.

In Prairie Hardball, one of Canada’s craftiest mystery writers combines a nostalgic look at baseball and a vivid evocation of Saskatchewan with a fast-moving, richly textured plot as, once again, Kate Henry’s own instincts and wit play off against conventional police wisdom.

About this title

Review

You don't have to love baseball to enjoy Alison Gordon's Prairie Hardball, about Toronto sportswriter Kate Henry. There's enough good mystery and touching human drama packed into the story to keep any reader grinning with delight as Kate and her significant other, cop Andy Munro, venture out of their urban environs and into the great plains of Saskatchewan. ("You Toronto people panic if you're away from your cappuccino machines for too long," a detective in Battleford tells Kate and Andy. "Right," says Kate. "Fresh air and friendly people get us all twitchy and belligerent." And Andy adds, "It's the politeness drives me crazy. No one has given me the finger in days.") Kate's mother is about to be inducted into a local hall of fame for her part in the professional women's baseball teams that were featured in the movie A League of Their Own, an occasion that is foreshadowed by some nasty letters warning of disaster. When one of the stars of the Racine Belles is found strangled, Andy and Kate join the investigation. An added bonus for baseball fans is that the details of those early games are fascinating. Past Henry capers in paperback include Night Games, Striking Out, and The Dead Pull Hitter.

From the Back Cover

Praise for Kate Henry mysteries by Alison Gordon:

“Kate Henry’s biting wit makes her one of the most captivating new women in mystery fiction.”
–Publishers Weekly

“...as a story teller [Gordon] is batting 1.000.”
–Montreal Gazette

“Cleverly plotted and skilfully written as a puzzle plot gets.”
–Globe and Mail

“Alison Gordon’s writing has a comfortable, effortless quality. Events flow and glide, and the feeling, as you read her books, is something close to cozy...Just call me jealous.”
–Jack Batten

“Gordon shows she belongs in the major leagues of crime writers.”
–Toronto Star

Edition details

• Publisher: McClelland & Stewart
• Publication date: 1998
• ISBN 10: 077103413X
• ISBN 13: 9780771034138
• Binding: Mass Market Paperback
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 288