Five O'Clock Lightning — William L. Deandrea

A onetime baseball catcher confronts the murder of a McCarthyist politician at Yankee Stadium.

In 1953 America, McCarthyism is everywhere. Congressman Rex Harwood Simmons is among the leaders who single-mindedly hunt down suspected Communists; he even claims that Communism has infiltrated America's favorite pastime. But while watching a Yankee game one afternoon, he becomes a target. As the crowd cheers for a home run, Simmons is shot dead in his seat.

The task of solving the crime falls to onetime ballplayer and Korean War veteran Russ Garrett, who collaborates with “Vicious Aloysius” Murphy, a Bronx homicide detective. The investigation won't be easy, since there are plenty of people with a motive to plug Simmons. Several clues point to a blacklisted intellectual - but he was driven to suicide years ago. And as Garrett hunts for the killer, a new conspiracy comes to light: a plot to murder Yankee star Mickey Mantle.