Fear in Fenway: A Duffy House Mystery [Paperback]

Crabbe Evers (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 1994

When a Boston Red Sox fan, fed up with the team's bleak history of failed championship opportunities, begins murdering team members, crusty ex-sportswriter Duffy House steps up to the plate to investigate. Reprint. PW.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

This hardcover debut is the fourth Duffy House baseball mystery by the pseudonymous team of William Brashler ( The Bingo Long Traveling All-Stars and Motor Kings ) and free-lance editor Reinder Van Til. Lots of ballpark lore is spiced with a little murder as irascible retired sportswriter Duffy House and his nubile niece Petey, who does the legwork, leave Chicago for Boston and an Old-Timer's game. Poison in the potato salad and a shot of nicotine in the chewing tobacco fell two club legends. Although House has his eye (in more ways than one) on the very attractive owner Mrs. Patsy Dougherty, the strangled corpse of a pitcher, with his fingers broken post-mortem, makes him look elsewhere. Fueled with rapid-fire baseball trivia and the slick repartee of perky Petey and her gruff Unk, the story features jealous journalists and former players who, once colorful, may now be dangerously nuts. Maybe not a home run, but a solid hit nonetheless.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Kirkus Reviews

When two former Red Sox players--partners in a bid to wrest ownership of the team from the rich widow Dougherty--are both murdered at Fenway Park during an Old-Timer's Day reunion, retired sportswriter Duffy House and his hubba-hubba niece Petey are asked to investigate. Two more ex-players will die (including another would-be club owner); Boston homicide cop Fred Parent will develop a crush on Petey while Duffy swoons over a classy widow; and the chief suspect, a groundskeeper, will disappear before a cancer- riddled old sportswriter writes a confession, then gulps a toxic handful of pills. His sports-announcer son seems more upset that the old man also poisoned the dog than that dad died--and then further investigation by Duffy, Petey, and Fred climaxes at the Red Sox-Yankee game during a 20-minute blackout. Their plot can't quite cut the (ballpark) mustard, but William Brashler and Reinder Van Til--using the Evers pseudonym for their fourth (and first hard-cover) Duffy House adventure--clearly love the sport. For fans, then, there's plenty of baseball trivia. -- Copyright ©1993, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Paperback
• Publisher: Avon Books (Mm) (March 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0380718650
• ISBN-13: 978-0380718658
• Product Dimensions: 6.7 x 4.1 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 2.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #863,992 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2.0 out of 5 stars Full of cliches, October 13, 2007

By 

E. A. Mewes - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Fear in Fenway: A Duffy House Mystery (Paperback)

We love the Red Sox in this house, so I thought I'd love this book. WRONG!! It tries to cover everything Boston in the first five minutes and it is so full of cliches! It is just poorly written. The plot isn't bad, but the writing is. Go to Boston, read something, ANYTHING else about Boston...but don't bother with this.

0 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars a strike-out., July 4, 2001

By 

"pharaoh_kara" (?) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Fear in Fenway: A Duffy House Mystery (Paperback)

I spotted this book and had to read it! I'm a Red Sox fan, so I assumed I would like it. I was wrong. The book is immediatly confusing, and for someone just reading for Red Sox reasons, it was very boring. I also noticed that for someone not in New England, the chowder and "curse of the bambino" refrences might not make sense. 2 stars for a good try by the author.