From Publishers Weekly
Flappers, jazz and Prohibition are often used to evoke the hedonistic 1920s, but Rawlings discovers different hallmarksA black baseball, the Ku Klux Klan, Jim Crow and lynchingsAfor his fine new mystery, which doubles as a cultural and political history. Peripatetic ballplayer Mickey Rawlings carries bat, glove and sleuthing skills from Cincinnati (where he played in his most recent outing, The Cincinnati Red Stalkings) to join the American League's St. Louis Browns for their 1922 season. Using an assumed name to hide his major league identity because of organized baseball's ban on interracial games, Rawlings plays with the semi-pro Elcars against the Negro East St. Louis Cubs as a lark. An ugly confrontation during the game is prologue to the later lynching of the Cubs' star player. Spurred by fear that the volatile situation could lead to a repeat of the terrible race riots of 1917, which left hundreds (mostly blacks) dead in East St. Louis, Rawlings tries to figure out who is behind the murder. In the process, he learns and reveals much about the grim realities behind baseball's ban on black players and also much about himself. Though filled with glimpses of baseball greats from both races and hinging on a well-constructed case of murder, this novel stands out particularly for its skillfully drawn background and intelligent use of historical and social detail. Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.


From Booklist
All St. Louis Browns utility infielder Mickey Rawlings wanted was a few extra at-bats and a chance to get into the 1922 World Series. But when he agrees to appear as a ringer for a semipro team in a game against a local Negro League club, and the KKK causes a riot that leads to the Negro squad's star pitcher being lynched, Mickey finds himself working with a black attorney, Franklin Aubrey, to unmask the hooded killers. Through the course of his investigation, Mickey learns plenty about the racial conflict that divides the Mississippi River city, and he also finds that certain unsavory individuals are capable of using society's ills for their own gain. The sixth Mickey Rawlings mystery is the strongest in the series. He is growing as a character while he ages as a ballplayer, and his romance with former actress Margie is sweet by modern standards yet scandalous for its time. Soos delivers a richly atmospheric journey through time with Rawlings serving as an engaging guide. Wes Lukowsky


From Kirkus Reviews
Hanging Curve ($22.00; Oct.; 272 pp.; 1-57566-455-0) Journeyman infielder Mickey Rawlings's biggest innings have always been off the field, and it's no surprise that his sixth season (The Cincinnati Red Stalkings, 1998, etc.) will take him away from his current team, the St. Louis Browns. This time out, hes to play as a ringer against the Negro League's East St. Louis Cubsand against the KKK and a city still sporting the five-year-old scars of the murderous race riots of 1917. (Author tour) -- Copyright ©1999, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

April 1922: Five years after East St. Louis is scarred by the worst racial violence in American history, Mickey Rawlings' team, the St. Louis Browns, loses a game to the St. Louis Cubs, a black semi-pro team. When the Cubs' pitcher is found dead, the KKK is suspected, and Mickey gets caught up in a side of American life he's never experienced before.

FROM THE CRITICS

Publishers Weekly

Flappers, jazz and Prohibition are often used to evoke the hedonistic 1920s, but Rawlings discovers different hallmarks-- black baseball, the Ku Klux Klan, Jim Crow and lynchings--for his fine new mystery, which doubles as a cultural and political history. Peripatetic ballplayer Mickey Rawlings carries bat, glove and sleuthing skills from Cincinnati (where he played in his most recent outing, The Cincinnati Red Stalkings) to join the American League's St. Louis Browns for their 1922 season. Using an assumed name to hide his major league identity because of organized baseball's ban on interracial games, Rawlings plays with the semi-pro Elcars against the Negro East St. Louis Cubs as a lark. An ugly confrontation during the game is prologue to the later lynching of the Cubs' star player. Spurred by fear that the volatile situation could lead to a repeat of the terrible race riots of 1917, which left hundreds (mostly blacks) dead in East St. Louis, Rawlings tries to figure out who is behind the murder. In the process, he learns and reveals much about the grim realities behind baseball's ban on black players and also much about himself. Though filled with glimpses of baseball greats from both races and hinging on a well-constructed case of murder, this novel stands out particularly for its skillfully drawn background and intelligent use of historical and social detail. (Oct.) Copyright 1999 Cahners Business Information.

KLIATT

This sixth volume in the Mickey Rawlings Baseball Mysteries series is dedicated "to Cool Papa Bell, Oscar Charleston, and all the other Negro League stars who showed how the American game could be played at a time when much of America refused to see." Mickey Rawlings, 30-years-old in 1922 and a utility infielder with the St. Louis Browns, is in love with baseball and with Margie Turner. He plays one game as a ringer against the black East St. Louis Cubs, and the Cubs' star pitcher, Slip Crawford, is later found hanged. Through Karl Landfors, a muckraking journalist who calls on Rawlings' sense of justice, and Franklin Aubury, who is working with the NAACP, Mickey begins to talk with both white and black ballplayers to solve the mystery. His romance with Margie is also ongoing. An Author's Note informs the reader that in the 1920s, 28l blacks were lynched in the United States. By 1924, there were over four million Ku Klux Klan members, and the "Invisible Empire" was strongest in the Midwest. In the novel, devices such as "Komplete Kar Kare" advertise that Klan members run a dealership. There is much attention given to the East St. Louis riot of 1917 and to harassment and murder by mob. Although the KKK's influence declined, it wasn't until 1947 that Jackie Robinson broke baseball's color barrier of 60 years. Advanced readers who love baseball and history will appreciate the author's solid scholarship. He previously wrote Before the Curse: The Glory Days of New England Baseball, 1858-1918. KLIATT Codes: A—Recommended for advanced students, and adults. 1999, Kensington, 350p, 18cm, $5.99. Ages 17 to adult. Reviewer: Maureen K. Griffin; Teacher/Libn., Williams M.S.,Chelsea, MA, March 2001 (Vol. 35 No. 2)

Kirkus Reviews

Hanging Curve ( Oct.; 272 pp.; 1-57566-455-0) Journeyman infielder Mickey Rawlings's biggest innings have always been off the field, and it's no surprise that his sixth season (The Cincinnati Red Stalkings, 1998, etc.) will take him away from his current team, the St. Louis Browns. This time out, he's to play as a ringer against the Negro League's East St. Louis Cubs—and against the KKK and a city still sporting the five-year-old scars of the murderous race riots of 1917. (Author tour)