In the remote, wintry reaches of Michigan's upper Peninsula, it's hard for a man to remember what springtime is like, let alone Spring Training. But when a former teammate tracks him down, erstwhile minor league player Alex McKnight is instantly transported back to the good old Toledo dugout, circa 1971. Unfortunately, Randy Wilkins didn't trek 3,000 miles to the bleak shores of lake superior to sit by the fire with a couple of imported beers, dissecting the past, inning by glorious inning. He's here to pitch a proposal: that Alex help him find the woman with whom he had a brief, passionate affair three decades ago. Who is Alex to deny a fellow the chance to ward off classic midlife chill by rekindling an old flame? What he doesn't consider is that there might be a good reason the mysterious, missing Maria is more elusive than a starting position in the majors--and that his trusted old pan might not have told him the whole score...

Amazon.com Review
Alex McKnight, the burned-out former cop turned PI of Steve Hamilton's Edgar Award-winning first novel, A Cold Day in Paradise, was a promising catcher who never quite made it to the majors. But his old teammate Randy Wilkins did, for one game with the Detroit Tigers that effectively ended the pitcher's career. What Randy can't forget about that game was the beautiful young woman he met the night before he blew his future in professional sports. Over two decades later, he's come to McKnight to track down the mysterious Maria, whose memory still haunts him. The trail is pretty cold after all these years, but Alex manages to get a line on Maria's relatives, who aren't exactly thrilled to make his acquaintance. In fact, they're downright hostile when Alex finds them in a small Michigan town, and he just barely escapes with his life. But he perseveres, and ultimately makes his way to an even smaller resort town, where the natives are almost as unfriendly. The police chief is so hostile to Alex's efforts that he quickly realizes someone else is on her tail, and that there's a good reason she's been hiding out for so long. Not only that, when someone shoots Randy and almost kills him, Alex is in for another nasty surprise. His old friend isn't who he seems to be, and Alex himself may be the victim of exactly the kind of scam Randy's been running since he left the majors.

Hamilton has a well-developed sense of place, and he's good at exploring the complexities of his protagonist. But it's Randy the reader wants more fully realized, even after the mystery is solved and Alex makes a beeline back to Paradise. This is a taut, well-written thriller that fulfills Hamilton's promise as a writer to watch. --Jane Adams

Burned out ex-cop turned 'reluctant' PI is living in Paradise, a small town in upper Michigan, watching his favourite Tigers on TV in his favourite (and apparently only) local pub.
One such evening a ghost from his past appears, Randy, whom he last saw 30 years ago. Not only that, but Randy wants him to find his old girlfriend lost for...yeah, 30 years exactly.
Alex, soft hearted as he is, goes down to Michigan to start the investigations which brings him surprise after surprise, and none of them very pleasant, as it turns out. Even Randy is not all that he seems to be...

Ever since I read the first novel, I got taken with this author and made sure that I got all the rest in the series (or put them on my wishlist if not available).
Alex is so well characterised, as if he were here with you, a real person. None of those 2d type cardboard characters. He's funny, sad, ironic, witty. He made me laugh, made me smile, made me smirk, have my heart stop for a beat, made me live vicariously through him, his view on things.

I was only sorry not to have seen Vinnie LeBlanc, his Ojibwa Indian friend, in this episode. The two of them have a chemistry that really cracks me up at times. Oh well, maybe in the next installment.