Murder at Fenway Park [Mass Market Paperback]

Troy Soos (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 1, 1995

Young Mickey Rawlings stumbles across a murder in 1912 Fenway Park, where he learns an entirely new lesson about foul play as he becomes the number one suspect in a case that forces him to launch his own investigation. Reprint. PW.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

On a visit to Cooperstown, Mickey Rawlings, the oldest living ex-ballplayer, discovers his baseball card and is transported back to the Boston of April 1912--when the newspapers are full of stories about the Titanic , which has just sunk, and Fenway Park is brand new. Rawlings, a utility infielder just brought up by the Red Sox, reports to Fenway and trips over the body of Red Corriden, whose head has been smashed by a baseball bat. Rawlings, who throws up on the corpse, is grilled by Capt. O'Malley of the local precinct and Robert Tyler, the treasurer of the Red Sox. Joining the ball club in New York, Rawlings wonders why the the papers aren't covering the murder; then he learns from one of Tyler's flunkeys that the body was moved to avoid embarrassing the Red Sox. Next he finds out that Corriden was an unwitting accomplice in an effort to cheat Ty Cobb out of the 1910 batting championship and that some people have long memories. After the flunkey is murdered, Capt. O'Malley has more questions for his favorite suspect. Meanwhile readers will suspect ornery Cobb, crooked teammates and the PR-conscious club treasurer. Soos's delightful debut, mixing suspense, period detail and such legendary baseball greats as Cobb, Walter Johnson, Smokey Joe Wood and Tris Speaker, is a four-bagger that will leave readers eager for subsequent innings.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: Zebra Books (February 1, 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0821749099
• ISBN-13: 978-0821749098
• Product Dimensions: 6.8 x 4.2 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #561,127 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A home run, November 29, 2000

By 

Eric M. Schmidt "Ezri" (Tucson, AZ United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Murder at Fenway Park (Mass Market Paperback)

Troy Soos has started a wonderful series with this first installment of the Mickey Rawlings mysteries. The combination of the early 1900s time period, the freshness of a young kid new to the big leagues, and a murder intertwined with baseball is great. It is an easy and quick read. The setting plays a big part of the appeal of this mystery novel--which Soos masterfully creates. The mystery/plot is believable and does keep the reader in suspense. I eagerly await each installment of this series. Soos writing seems to get progressively better.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Charming start, May 18, 2000

By 

Roger Long "longrush" (Port Clinton, OH USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Murder at Fenway Park (Hardcover)

There is just the right mixture of baseball, mayhem, and 1921 events to make a fine book. The author's subsequent baseball mysteries are a little better, but this one certainly satisies. Of course, if you're not a baseball fan, this may leave you a little cold--no pun about death intended.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A satisfying summer read, May 5, 2006

By 

Esther Schindler (Scottsdale, AZ USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Murder at Fenway Park (Mass Market Paperback)

I like baseball, I like historical fiction, and I like murder mysteries. This book is an enjoyable combination of all three of those.

As you have probably gathered by now, the protagonist is a baseball player in 1912 who has just joined the Boston Red Sox. Just as he arrives at Fenway Park, he stumbles across a body -- and his adventures begin.

There are several things that make this story work. One of them is that Our Hero isn't impressively intelligent. He's realistically drawn, and he makes realistically dumb mistakes.

The author also does a good job of capturing the sensibilities of the era outside the news headlines (such as the Titanic sinking); Mickey likes those newfangled movies, even if he has to sneak to see them because the baseball pros are concerned that the flickering lights are bad for his eyes. And I had been unaware of the Highlanders, who played in a baseball stadium in New Jersey in which attendees walked across the field to get to-and-from their seats.

There's just enough baseball to make the story fun for the casual fan (Go Diamondbacks!), without making the reader drown in statistics or who-did-what at the plate. Some of the characters are famous names that you'll recognize -- such as Ty Cobb, who apparently was a real jerk even if he was a great baseball player. I found the history charming rather than tedious (I'm not one for reciting baseball history).

The mystery -- who did it? -- is good but not astonishing. However, the rest of the book is so much fun that I didn't mind in the least.

If you're looking for a summer beach read, this would be a heck of a good choice.