Murder at Ebbets Field [Hardcover]

Troy Soos (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 1, 1995

Slugger/amateur sleuth Mickey Rawlings is back for a second whodunit. August 1914: the Giants are in first place, the Dodgers last, and Mickey might well realize his most cherished dream of playing in the World Series. But as the pennant race heats up, Mickey finds himself matching wits with a killer who has an irritating habit of vanishing into thin air.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

August 1914. WWI has just started in Europe, the Miracle Boston Braves are hot on the trail of the first-place New York Giants, and Giants' utility infielder Mickey Rawlings is about to pick up where we last left him in Murder at Fenway Park. When the Giants journey to Brooklyn's brand new Ebbets Field to play their arch rivals, the Dodgers, Rawlings is asked to make a baseball movie with the matinee idol of the day, Florence Hampton. After the filming, he joins the movie company at a party in Coney Island, where, next morning, he finds Hampton's lifeless body under a pier. Rawlings, asked to investigate, learns that Hampton was poisoned with arsenic?just as her husband had been a few months before. When the Dodger's batboy is poisoned, Rawlings wonders who's next, and why. With the help of a Brooklyn outfielder by the name of Casey Stengel, and with cameos by John McGraw and Christy Mathewson, Soos offers another breezy read full of the flavor of the times.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 280 pages
• Publisher: Kensington Books; 1st edition (April 1, 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0821748890
• ISBN-13: 978-0821748893
• Product Dimensions: 7.1 x 5.3 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,501,512 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A little baseball, a little creativity-- you can't beat it!, July 25, 2002

By 

R. Tiedemann "Sunnye" (Bellevue, NE USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Murder At Ebbets Field (Paperback)

In this 1914 period piece, sometime infielder Mickey Rawlings hopes his NY Giants will beat the Dodgers and earn a shot at the World Series. There's a movie crew shooting the game and right next to the Dodger's dugout, Mickey sees the luscious and famous movie star, Florence Hampton. When the director asks for a man from each team as bit players, the Dodgers pick Casey Stengel and the Giants choose Mickey.

The Giants lose the game (and baseball fans and non fans alike will appreciate Soos's short and vivid game descriptions), the glamorous Miss Hampton whisks Rawlings and Stengel away to film some scenes, then they're off to a champagne party. The next morning Mickey takes his hangover for a walk on the beach and finds Hampton's bloated body washed up on the beach. His friend, journalist Karl Landfors, talks him into investigating Hampton's death.

Soos's simple, almost journalistic prose holds the reader captive in the early 20th century baseball world. Soos, a physicist at MIT, says he always liked "reading mysteries and doing physics mostly for the puzzle...I think Peter Lovesey's Cribb & Thackery series is what got me writing historicals."

He uses books, film and photos to learn how the cities looked in the early part of the century. "I do use actual incidents and players, then I start to play the game of `what if?' to tie them together in a mystery plot."

Although I'm a baseball fan, I don't consider myself a fan of historical baseball -- at least I wasn't until I discovered Soos's series. He's managed to change that.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars another grand slam hit, April 26, 2006

By 

Paul Skinner (Manassas, Virginia United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Murder At Ebbets Field (Paperback)

Murder at Ebbets Field has our hero, Mickey Rawlings playing for cantakerous John McGraw of the NY Giants. After a ballgame in Brooklyn, he gets involved as a bit player in a movie involving baseball players, including the Dodgers' Casey Stengel. Among the movie crowd is Margie, the actress who continues in Mickey's life in other books. Also is a murder, of course, which despite the title, doesn't exactly happen at Ebbets Field, but has Dodger connections. Mickey must balance his loyalty to Coach McGraw with his affection for Margie, his re-connection to the unusual Karl Landfors (re-appearing from Murder at Fenway Park), and making more movies. Mickey also must watch out so that he isn't the victim of some "accident" too. This book is totally charming and a pleasant read.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Another Four Bagger for Soos, April 11, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Murder At Ebbets Field (Paperback)

This is a very entertaining series, all of the books combine baseball, mystery and history and are well written. This is one of the best, the portrait of Casey Stengal is great.