COLD WONDERLAND contains basketball and murder but isn't really about either. It is about boys and men, sons and parents, and the confusions of love when we are no longer young.
The palms of sunny Southern California should be a balm for the MS-shadowed, middle-aged soul of Ernie Creekmore. The retired coach from rainy North Fork, Washington is offered a golden opportunity in the Golden State to get back into his beloved game, guiding a team of elite young athletes to the prestigious Pacific Waves basketball tournament.
But the beach trip quickly tips off into trouble. Some of the kids can’t handle the dark temptations of this sun-kissed paradise. Ernie can’t seem to handle his own love life. And soon he’s got his hands full trying to handle unfinished business from its past as it blasts back into his present.
And murder? Definitely out of bounds for Ernie.
But when Bobby Alderete, tournament director and Ernie’s long-ago nemesis, turns up toes-up next to a trash bin, the coach is not only dragged into another murder investigation, but one in which some think he might be the murderer. So while Ernie works to clear his name and keep his crew of troubled young players on track, he finds there’s no shortage of suspects — and no shortage of people in his orbit eager to protect their own secrets.
COLD WONDERLAND is the latest Coach Ernie Creekmore mystery from T.R. Kelly, a sure shot for fans of Harlan Coben’s books and other sports-themed mysteries.
“T.R. Kelly can write about basketball with the best of them. The world could use more adults like Coach Ernie, whose commitment to young men trying to outrun past traumas, and avoid bleak futures makes for moving entertainment. Part mystery, part coming-of-age, and part middle-aged love affair, Cold Wonderland is Kelly at his best.”