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Saturday, February 5, 2011

Murder at the Super Bowl: Football Crime Fiction

I'm sure there's a lot of real crime around the Super Bowl: drugs, money, egos, etc. Lots of fodder for the crime writer. So in 'honor' of Sunday's Game,  I've put together a short list of Football Mysteries. This is in no way definitive. Just some mysteries for you to enjoy in case you're not watching the Super Bowl Game.

If you're interested in other Sports Mysteries and essays on Football Mysteries, Mystery Readers Journal has had several Sports Mysteries issues. The last Sports Mysteries Issue of MRJ was Volume 25:4 (Winter 2009-2010). Available in Hardcopy and .pdf download

Super Bowl Mysteries

Cover-Up: Mystery at the Super Bowl by John Feinstein (YA)
Murder at the Super Bowl by Fran Tarkenton and Herb Resnicow
Black Sunday by Thomas Harris
Killerbowl by Gary K. Wolf
The Last Super Bowl by Robin Moore & David Harper

Other Football Mysteries (not British Football, of which there are many titles)

Rough and Tumble by Mark Bavaro
Deal Breaker by Harlan Coben 
Coliseum by Barney Cohen 
Super-Dude by John Craig 
Day of the Ram by William Campbell Gault
Murder at Cleaver Stadium by Douglas Lee Gibboney
Double Reverse; Ruffians by Tim Green
Playing for Pizza by John Grisham
Bleeding Maize and Blue by Susan Holtzer
Bump and Run by Mike Lupica
The Draft by Wil Mara
Dead Ball Foul by Kayla McGrady
A Cardinal Offense by Ralph McInerny
4th and Fixed by Reggie Rivers
Winter and Night by S. J. Rozan
Sudden Death by David Rosenfelt
Marked Man; Red Card by Mel Stein
Life's Work by Jonathan Valin
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9 comments:

  1. mybillcriderFebruary 5, 2011 at 9:10 AM

    In the thriller category, or maybe the WTF category, there's THE LAST SUPER BOWL by Robin Moore and David Harper.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Janet RudolphFebruary 5, 2011 at 10:01 AM

    Thanks, Bill, and I've added it...

    ReplyDelete
  3. KiwicraigFebruary 5, 2011 at 2:50 PM

    considering that sports (playing and watching) and crime fiction are too of my biggest loves, it's surprising I haven't read many sports-centred mysteries at all...

    I've read a couple of Harlan Coben's Bolitar and standalones that have sports in them.

    NB. Is the Fran Tarkenton that co-wrote that mystery the famous NFL player?

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  4. Janet RudolphFebruary 5, 2011 at 6:33 PM

    Yes, it's the same Fran Tarkenton.. that's why it's 'co-written' :-)

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  5. Kent MorganFebruary 5, 2011 at 6:48 PM

    Without moving a bunch of boxes to get to my hardcover football fiction, I found a couple of PBs that fit.

    Super-Dude by John Craig and Coliseum by Barney Cohen. The first one is about the first black quarterback to start in the Super Bowl being kidnapped and held for ransom while the second is about murder and terror inside a domed stadium in, wait for it, Texas.

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  6. Janet RudolphFebruary 6, 2011 at 6:10 AM

    thanks, Kent, have added them.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Doug LevinFebruary 6, 2011 at 1:27 PM

    Day of the Ram by William Campbell Gault. The detective is former pro football player, Brock Callahan. He appears in some other books, but I don't know how much football figures.

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  8. Kevin Burton SmithFebruary 6, 2011 at 10:17 PM

    Don't forget LIFE'S WORK by Jonathan Valin. It's a true classic; an early romp on 'roid rage and as stinging an indictment of the big game as there is. It's as if a pissed-off Ross Macdonald teamed up with Spillane to rewrite NORTH DALLAS FORTY.

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  9. CQFebruary 9, 2011 at 5:19 AM

    Another is The Hidden Key by George Harmon Coxe. Published in 1963, it involves a new league's [AFL] Boston team in the week and a half before the championship game.

    ReplyDelete