Description
Fifty years after Roger Maris set a new Major League record for home runs in one season, the SHAMUS Award Winning mystery novel Dead in Center Field by Paul Engleman is available once again.
Set in New York in 1961, Engleman's first novel captures the drama of that season's historic home run race and introduces readers to baseball player-turned-private detective Mark Renzler, a character whom the late Studs Terkel called "a sociable Sam Spade: great company for the reader."
First published in 1983, Dead In Center Field won the Private Eye Writers of America SHAMUS Award for best original softcover. The Japanese edition of the book won Japan's FALCON Award.
THE STORY: It's the summer of 1961, and all eyes in the sports world are riveted on New York's Yankee Stadium, where young outfielder Marvin Wallace is mounting an assault on Babe Ruth's record of 60 home runs in a season. As the upstart slugger closes in on the legendary Sultan of Swat, the pressure begins building off the field: Someone is making death threats, and it's up to ballplayer-turned-private eye Mark Renzler and his avant garde artist sidekick Nate Moore to figure out who. With a lineup of possible suspects that includes New Jersey gambling interests, fanatical Ruth fans and even Wallace's own teammates, Renzler faces a full count in late innings. If he doesn't come through in the clutch, it could be Marvelous Marvin's last time at bat.*
CRITICAL PRAISE FOR PAUL ENGLEMAN, MARK RENZLER, AND DEAD IN CENTER FIELD:
"Paul Engleman is a deft storyteller with a quirky touch. Mark Renzler is a sociable Sam Spade: great company for the reader." -- Studs Terkel
"A grand slam!" -- Lin Brehmer, WXRT Chicago
"The wisecracks are funny and the allusions clever. Engleman, like Chandler, doesn't take himself too seriously." -- Publishers Weekly
"This one's right in the ballpark." -– Los Angeles Times
"It's a
Set in New York in 1961, Engleman's first novel captures the drama of that season's historic home run race and introduces readers to baseball player-turned-private detective Mark Renzler, a character whom the late Studs Terkel called "a sociable Sam Spade: great company for the reader."
First published in 1983, Dead In Center Field won the Private Eye Writers of America SHAMUS Award for best original softcover. The Japanese edition of the book won Japan's FALCON Award.
THE STORY: It's the summer of 1961, and all eyes in the sports world are riveted on New York's Yankee Stadium, where young outfielder Marvin Wallace is mounting an assault on Babe Ruth's record of 60 home runs in a season. As the upstart slugger closes in on the legendary Sultan of Swat, the pressure begins building off the field: Someone is making death threats, and it's up to ballplayer-turned-private eye Mark Renzler and his avant garde artist sidekick Nate Moore to figure out who. With a lineup of possible suspects that includes New Jersey gambling interests, fanatical Ruth fans and even Wallace's own teammates, Renzler faces a full count in late innings. If he doesn't come through in the clutch, it could be Marvelous Marvin's last time at bat.*
CRITICAL PRAISE FOR PAUL ENGLEMAN, MARK RENZLER, AND DEAD IN CENTER FIELD:
"Paul Engleman is a deft storyteller with a quirky touch. Mark Renzler is a sociable Sam Spade: great company for the reader." -- Studs Terkel
"A grand slam!" -- Lin Brehmer, WXRT Chicago
"The wisecracks are funny and the allusions clever. Engleman, like Chandler, doesn't take himself too seriously." -- Publishers Weekly
"This one's right in the ballpark." -– Los Angeles Times
"It's a