Double Wide -- Leo W. Banks

Prospero Stark (his father taught Shakespeare) is better known as Whip Stark from his brief glory days as a major league pitcher.  Through a set of circumstances not entirely of his making, he's no longer playing.  He owns and lives in Arizona in a trailer park with a few other outcasts and is content to be a semi-recluse until someone leaves a severed hand on his doorstep.  

Stark recognizes the hand, which had once been attached to his catcher, Rolando Molina, who was being treated for a cocaine problem the last time Stark saw him.  Naturally Stark searches for the body or the living, but now short-handed, Molina.  He's drawn into a complex plot that involves drug running and also a unique substance that I won't explain because you should let it come as a surprise.  It was sure a surprise to me, and that's all I'll say about it.

Stark's not an experienced detective, but he's read a lot of detective fiction, so that's his guide as to how to do things.  He gets into plenty of trouble, and along the way he meets an attractive TV reporter, Roxanna Santa Cruz, who helps out.  He even gets to pitch again.

Brash Books is bringing back a lot of great older novels, but it's also publishing new ones, including Double Wide, which is a slam-bang, fast-moving treat.  Look for it in November.  I suspect we haven't read the last of Whip Stark.