Short Story Wednesday: Crimeucopia - A Load Of Balls Editor John Connor

 

Crimeucopia - A Load Of Balls is a Murderous Ink Press anthology featuring mystery and crime fiction tales involving various sports. Pool and golf make multiple appearances, but other sports also make it in here and there. It is a solidly good book that also scores with the reader.

 

(Referee Whistle)

 

Stadium Announcer: Called for a double foul of combining a sports pun with a dad joke. That is a Flagrant and One Foul.

 

Oh, come on. You call that a foul? You can’t be serious! (Screaming the last in his best John McEnroe at Wimbledon voice.)

 

(Referee glares, then makes an arm motion, play resumes.)

 

As always, I read an anthology from front to back, so the list below of my personal favorites is in the order of appearance. It is not a ranking. No, these are the tales that resonated with this reader as he hit them over a several day period.  

 

Those that follow my reviews know I have a fondness for police procedurals. If Dallas had not had a multi-year hiring freeze in the early and mid-eighties, I was going to apply to the police academy. Instead, I went to work for a security guard company and, a few months later, got myself shot one night just before 3 in the morning, and that changed many things.

 

I grew up watching my Dallas Cowboys playing Coach Bud Grant and his Vikings. We had “The Man in the Hat.” The Vikings were “The Purple People Eaters.” Back when the game was played outdoors, like it should be, and not all the frozen tundra was in Green Bay. The stuff of legends all around. Some of that decades ago glory you can still experience from NFL Films with their excellent soundtracks and narration by legends all.

 

All of the above probably played a major role in my liking “The Purple Figurine Murders” by Arthur Vidro so much. A complex mystery that uses NFL history for clues. A mighty good read.

 

The career of DS Jim Cooper of the Norfolk Constabulary showed such promise back in the day. That promise was never actualized. The discovery of a body in the here and now in “Thank God for the Nineteenth Hole” by Dave Dempster might be a way to put some shine back on him.

 

John M. Floyd’s recurring character, Sheriff Lucy Valentine, makes a welcome appearance here in “Rules of the Game.” So too does her mother, Frances, who is again ready to help with a case surrounding a certain wrist watch.

 

He had a plan when he walked into the bar. A bar that has pool tables in the backroom. One of those tables is in use by his target. It slowly becomes clear what he aims to do in “Side Pocket Bank Shot” by William Kitcher.

 

“You May Already Be A Winner: A Vermont Radio Mystery” by Nikki Knight combines a lotto drawing, a DJ, and some amateur sleuthing into a fast-moving enjoyable mystery read. Not to mention an arson at a local business.

 

Fake jerseys are an expensive and growing problem for all the leagues, especially the NBA. A street hustler is selling them at the heart of “The Baby Lawyer” by Paul R. Paradise. The bosses want him gone. Easier said than done.

 

Back in the long ago, I was a pretty good bowler. I was known to frequent the nearby Jupiter Lanes, every couple of weeks, where I rolled 220 to 245 or so without much practice or effort. Sandi and I talked, more than once, about me trying out for the Pro Bowler event over in Grand Prairie every year. But, being a new dad and life, in general, meant we never got beyond the talking stage.

 

Bowling is at the heart of “The Perfect Game” by Robert Petyo. If everybody would leave him alone, Donnie might complete his quest for a perfect game. Nine frames in, he has a very chance. Bowling leagues can be cut throat so he knows the pressure is on in more ways than one.

 

Her husband is still alive, but for all intents and purposes his wife, Marie, is a golf widow in the Diane A. Hadac’s short story, “Golf Widow.” She is increasingly fed-up with the situation and wants to travel like they talked about and he promised. Ralph better pay attention at home instead of the greens.

 

Jimmy loves cars. Especially expensive fast cars. He also has skills being ex miliary. He puts everything to work in “Fancy Car Lover” by Ed Teja. The problem is that some of his choices to liberate from their owners are not the best choices for others. That causes problems.

 

While these are the stories I preferred, that is not to say the others are not good. On the contrary. They are good. These just happen to be my personal favorites for a variety of reasons. No doubt your choices for favorites in Crimeucopia - A Load Of Balls anthology would vary.

 

Available in print and eBook at this Amazon Associate Purchase Link:  https://amzn.to/4eGr3LN

 

 

My ARC reading copy came from Editor/Publisher John Connor of Murderous Ink Press back in May with no expectation of a review.

 

 

Kevin R. Tipple ©2025