N.J. Lindquist, Glitter of Diamonds

Glitter of Diamonds

N.J. Lindquist

That's Life Communications, May 2007, $24.95, 354 pp.

ISBN 0968549594

When Cuban Ricardo "Rico" Velasquez made it to North America, the Toronto Matrix baseball team signed the extremely talented pitcher to a lucrative deal. Starting pitcher Armando Santana was demoted and was called on to play when a mop-up pitcher was needed. Money and fame went to Rico's head and he turned into an egomaniac, a real "bad boy" who was not a team player. He was especially on the case of Armando, constantly deriding him and calling him a has-been.

Sports talk show host Stasey Simon notes Rico's attitude and says on air someone should take a bat to him to knock some sense into him. That is exactly what happened on the night when Rico's wife Alita, who just arrived from Cuba, met the press at a party at the Diamond Dome where the Matrix play ball. Detective constable Jacqueline Ryan and inspector Paul Manziuk are the lead police officers on the case and are under a lot of pressure to bring the case to a close. Before they find the killer, one innocent is murdered, another person is beaten with a bat and lies comatose in the hospital and Rico's girlfriend is given a Mickey Finn.

Sports fans and readers who like police procedurals will want to read GLITTER OF DIAMONDS where famous baseball players are shown to be ordinary people with the same stress and problems as anyone else. The investigation is fascinating to watch as the police follow the clues and eliminate suspects one by one. N.J. Lindquist is a fine writer who tells an exciting baseball whodunit.

Harriet Klausner