The Case of the Pitcher's Pendant: A Billibub Baddings Mystery [Paperback]

Tee Morris (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 8, 2008

Chicago, 1930, and following the financial calamity of Black Thursday, Billi is doing everything he can to keep his business afloat. The change in seasons, though, brings him a case that appears to be a true blessing from The Fates. Chicago Cubs Manager Joe McCarthy suspects something fishy with the Baltimore Mariners, a new team in the league, and he's hiring Billi to look into it.

What appears to be the dream job - being paid to research and attend baseball games - turns out to be a nightmare as he discovers one of the Nine Talismans of Acryonis somewhere in play at Wrigley.

And wouldn't you know it - with two outs and bases loaded, the heavy hitter of the Underworld "Big Al" gets early parole from The Big Dugout and is swinging two in the Batter's Circle.

Editorial Reviews

Review

An Amazon.com Customer Review

Perfect blend of Fantasy and Crime Noir, November 7, 2008

By  Shannon Farrell (Dayton, OH) - See all my reviews
  

Tee Morris hit a home run with the second Billibub Baddings book. Morris gave himself quite a challenge to meet or exceed the adventure, excitement, and mystery he crafted in the first Billibub Baddings story, Billibub Baddings and the Case of the Singing Sword. He delivered nothing but excellence with his second story in this universe.

I haven't been much of a mystery novel buff, but I do like one on occasion. The combination of crime noir and fantasy is a wonderful paring. Like a sweet bread pudding and a fantastic imperial pale ale, I never would have thought the two would work well together, but the result is fantastic. Billi's rough-and-tumble attitude as a warrior dwarf from another realm sets him up perfectly as a private detective. Humor about the clash of cultures from his background works great too.

Morris also managed to make me care about a sport I had long given up on: Baseball. By taking the great American past time back to the heyday of the sport and picking the setting of one of the most beloved baseball teams of all times, Morris inspired the great joy of sitting at a ballpark, eating a hotdog, and hearing the crack of a ball against a bat and the crowd going wild. I appreciate those feelings of nostalgia.

The characterizations of fellow authors and podcasters into the novel made for great treats. I look forward to a podcast version of the story with guest voices, much as Morris did with the first Billi story. The mystery and murder are exciting and fast-paced, keeping me turning pages throughout the book. I'm hooked on Billibub Baddings' stories, and I eagerly anticipate the next one in the series!

--This text refers to the Kindle Edition edition.

About the Author

Tee Morris began his writing career with his 2002 historical epic fantasy, Morevi The Chronicles of Rafe & Askana. Tee then appeared in Dragon Moon Press' 2003 release, The Complete Guide to Writing Fantasy Vol 1. 2004 saw the releases of Billibub Baddings and The Case of The Singing Sword and The Complete Guide to Writing Fantasy Vol. 2. Morevi went on to become the first book podcast in its entirety. That experience led to the founding of Podiobooks.com.

Product Details

• Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: Dragon Moon Press; 1st edition (August 8, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1896944779
• ISBN-13: 978-1896944777
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.5 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (24 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,191,014 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Tee Morris began his writing career with his 2002 historical epic fantasy, MOREVI The Chronicles of Rafe & Askana. Tee then appeared in Dragon Moon Press' 2003 release, The Complete Guide to Writing Fantasy. 2004 saw the releases of The Case of The Singing Sword: A Billibub Baddings Mystery and The Fantasy Writer's Companion. It was in 2005 when his idea -- podcasting a novel -- established him as a pioneer in the Social Media movement, becoming the first author to podcast a book in its entirety. That experience led to the founding of Podiobooks.com (with Evo Terra and Chris Miller), the premier site for podcast literature.

Tee took his collaboration with Evo Terra to print in Podcasting for Dummies (featuring Chuck Tomasi in the Second Edition) and its follow-up, Expert Podcasting Practices for Dummies (also with Ryan Williams). Along with those titles, Tee has penned and collaborated on Legacy of MOREVI: Book One of the Arathellean Wars, BenBella Books's Farscape Forever: Sex, Drugs, and Killer Muppets, the podcast anthology VOICES: New Media Fiction (edited by Mur Lafferty), and in BenBella Books' So Say We All: Collected Thoughts and Opinions of BATTLESTAR GALACTICA.

Tee continues to explore podcasting with Bird House Rules, the companion podcast for All a Twitter and Sams Teach Yourself Twitter in Ten Minutes. His other podcasts and blogposts can be found across the Internat and at imaginethatstudios.com and teemorris.com.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Billibub once again "Dwarf"s my expections, August 1, 2008

By 

C. Derico (SLC, UT, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Case of the Pitcher's Pendant: A Billibub Baddings Mystery (Paperback)

I only became familiar with Tee Morris' work about a month ago, when a friend introduced me to podiobooks.com. I downloaded 'Morevi Remastered' first and after listening to it in two days, I found 'Billibub Baddings and the Case of the Singing Sword'. I could not put it down and had listened to it in a day and a half. (listening at work) When it ended I was more than happy to see Tee had written a second book in the series. (Hopefully many more to come)
Thanks to the Tee's love for his fans, I have had a chance to read 'The Case of the Pitchers Pendant'. It is every bit as engaging as the first book, filling with the clever wit, puns, and eye rolling humor I have come to expect. It will be a wonderful addition to my personal library.

Also go see Philippa Ballantine's 'Digital Magic'.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Fantastic Book!, August 6, 2008

By 

Stephen Kilbride - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Case of the Pitcher's Pendant: A Billibub Baddings Mystery (Paperback)

The Case of the Pitchers Pendant is an absolutely excellent book. Tee Morris weaves an elegant and entertaining story that you wont be able to put down. Having read the first Billibub book, I was pleased to find that this book is just as clever and witty as The Case of the Singing Sword. Whilst you can, most certainly, enjoy this book without reading The Case of the Singing Sword first, I would highly recommend getting both books. You won't regret it!

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Dwarf Noir!, August 6, 2008

By 

Evelyn Wolke "BRKyle" (Manassas, VA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Case of the Pitcher's Pendant: A Billibub Baddings Mystery (Paperback)

After the Stock Market Crash, times are hard in Chicago, even (or maybe especially) for Billibub Baddings, an independent private investigator who just happens to be a Dwarf Captain from the Highlands of Gryfennos. He has to take 'munchkin' jobs just to pay the bills, until he gets the job of his dreams -- an investigation for the Chicago Cubs, in "Billibub Baddings and the Pitcher's Pendant". As in his first Baddings novel, Tee Morris' mystery and fantasy pedigree are impeccable.

Paid to look into the game he loves (as do most Americans of this day), Billi is on the case again, in Tee Morris' followup to his first mystery, "Billibub Baddings and the Case of the Singing Sword". He picks up where the last novel leaves off, complete with the palpable atmosphere of Chicago in a much different time, when the dark mist of the Great Depression is beginning to settle all over the country. It becomes a character in the book; along with Morris' other characters it is wittily but sharply drawn. The dream job becomes a nightmare and the plot twists are downright challenging.

Fans of mystery, fantasy, and just plain good writing need to call REDfern 6500. You're in for a grundle'malkin' good time, I promise!