The latest in T.R. Kelly’s trilogy
“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.”
— Jonathan Evison, author of All About Lulu, West of Here, The Revised Fundamentals of Caregiving, This Is Your Life, Harriet Chance!, Lawn Boy
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.
Who killed Tim Whalen?
And why?
Was it because of the North Fork real-estate agent’s rumored infidelities? Or those of his wife? Was it because he was a “helicopter parent” who micro-managed his short-tempered basketball-star son? Perhaps he was murdered because he somehow got on the wrong side of the shadow network of sports hangers-on who brokered big-money deals to deliver talented young athletes into big-time sports programs.
Linnbert “Cheese” Oliver, hard-luck high school basketball hero in the Northwest town of North Fork, is missing on a late-night ferry. And retired teacher Ernie Creekmore, his father figure, friend and former coach, the news hits hard. Ernie’s suffered too much loss and pain in his life — his wife, a state basketball championship, a mysterious medical malady — and he just can’t accept the idea that “The Cheese” might have taken his own life.
What People Are Saying
“Cold Crossover is a riveting mystery based on the drama of small-town high school basketball, complete with the missed shot no local will ever forget. Along the way, Tom Kelly takes the reader from the Northwest’s wild frontier days to its equally crazy present as a real-estate mecca. Kelly weaves the ferries, crabbers, and timber-men of his region into a timeless and page-turning tale”
— Jim Ragsdale, Minneapolis Star-Tribune
“A long-time coach goes on a search for the best player he ever had in a mystery that will keep you reading deep into the roots of its Pacific Northwest setting”
— Danny O’Neil, ESPN
“This book is for anyone who likes suspense, the father-son relationship, and terrific storytelling. I thought I knew all-star basketball but I learned a lot from this book. Coach Ernie Creekmore is a compelling character”
— Craig Smith, Seattle Times
Award-winning real estate writer T.R. Kelly makes a terrific transition to fiction, offering a small-town hero as the center of a big-time story. Kelly clearly know his territory, including the energy and emotions surrounding a state championship tournament. A successful merging of past and present, Cold Crossover catches some colorful characters along the way to its captivating climax.
– Alan J. Heavens, Philadelphia Inquirer