Leonard, S: Difficult Trade, A

With no offers to buy his defending World Series Champion baseball team, business magnate Harry Hvide orders his people to drastically slash payroll. Their plan is predicated on trading superstar Richie Johnson and his sixty-six million dollar contract. But when it is revealed Richie Johnson is untradeable, Harry Hvide orders his most trusted lieutenant to somehow get it done. A week after nixing a complicated deal, Richie Johnson is shot outside a Miami strip club. His injury prevents him from playing baseball but his contract is indemnified against disability. An insurance investigator, formerly the star detective of the Miami Dade Police Department, is assigned to the claim. Nicknamed Miami's Sherlock Holmes, Stanley Starfish sees the case as a chance to restore his reputation and get his life back on track. His investigation, however, leads him to the most powerful forces in South Florida. A Difficult Trade takes many fascinating twists and turns before concluding with a surprise ending. In this, his first novel of a planned series, Sam Leonard displays not only his storytelling ability but gives an insider's view into the real world of big business and baseball.