Murder, She Wrote: Three Strikes and You're Dead [Hardcover]

Jessica Fletcher (Author), Donald Bain (Author)

Book Description

Series: Murder She Wrote | Publication Date: October 3, 2006

Jessica goes out to the ballgame-and comes through in the bottom of the ninth-in a brand-new mystery in the USA Today bestselling series.

Visiting her old friends Judge Jack and Meg Duffy in Arizona, Jessica watches their foster son hit the winning run for the Mesa Rattlers in a AA league playoff game. She and the Duffys are thrilled at Ty Ramos's success, but team owner Harrison Bennett is not. His son Junior and Ty are bitter rivals, and the tension at the team dinner later that evening threatens to empty the dugouts.

By the next morning, Junior Bennett is dead, and Ty is the prime suspect. Jessica finds it hard to believe that such a fine young man would wreck his life in a moment of anger-and when she starts looking into the Rattlers' recent season, she finds out that for some people, baseball is more than just a game.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Jessica Fletcher is a bestselling mystery writer with a knack for stumbling upon real-life mysteries.

Donald Bain, her longtime collaborator, is also the writer of more than 80 other books, many of them bestsellers.

From AudioFile

As TVs Jessica Fletcher visits the Duffys in Arizona, she watches their foster son, Ty Ramos, hit the winning run to take the Rattlers, an AA League team, to the play-offs. Later, when Ty is accused of the murder of the team owners son, a bitter rival, Jessica moves into action. Despite seeming to be a busybody, Jessica maintains her good manners and gets to the bottom of the murder. Narrator Cynthia Darlows knack for capturing accents is perfect as she portrays Latinos, New Englanders, stars, fans, and many others. This is a delightful choice for baseball fans, mystery buffs, and those who enjoy a good story, well read. S.G.B. © AudioFile 2007, Portland, Maine-- Copyright © AudioFile, Portland, Maine --This text refers to the Audio CD edition.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 288 pages
• Publisher: NAL Hardcover (October 3, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0451219678
• ISBN-13: 978-0451219671
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.7 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,065,091 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:

4.0 out of 5 stars Follow the Bouncing Bat, October 26, 2006

By 

Dennis Phillips "The Book Friar" (Bulls Gap, Tennessee USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Murder, She Wrote: Three Strikes and You're Dead (Hardcover)

I once heard a joke about a man named Leroy who knew everybody and apparently he was related to Jessica Fletcher because she has friends everywhere. In this entry in the "Murder She Wrote" series Jessica is visiting friends in Mesa Arizona and has plans for a wonderful vacation. Part of her itinerary involves taking in some minor league baseball because Ty Ramos, the foster son of her Mesa friends plays for the local AA team. Problems arise however because Ty plays shortstop as does Junior Bennett who just happens to be the son of the team owner and the tension on the team rises to a fever pitch when the manager replaces Junior with Ty late in the championship game.

Junior is an obnoxious and rotten character and you can see his death coming from a mile away just as you will be able to figure out that Ty is going to be the chief suspect. Subtlety is generally not one of Mr. Bain's strong suits but that hardly detracts from these stories once you are used to it. Jessica as you can imagine, jumps right in and starts trying to prove Ty's innocence and her sniffing around soon begins to pay off. Just her mere presence helps Ty in court because the judge just happens to be a huge fan of her mystery books. In the end it all boils down to who had access to the an aluminum baseball bat that was used to kill Junior but Jessica still has to do a lot of thinking because at one time or another almost everyone involved seems to have had that bat.

This is a highly enjoyable book but unfortunately it sometimes fails to draw the reader into the story the way it should. As usual Mr. Bain does an excellent job of portraying the characters and the setting but it seems that Jessica just happens to bumble into the solution for this case rather than getting the job done with her considerable detective skills. While she does have to put her deductive skills to work she wouldn't have solved this one without some plain old good luck. There are really just too many coincidences in this story for it to be considered one of the best books in this series, but it is still a very good book and one that no fan of the series will want to pass up. As an added bonus the author finally seems to explain why Mort Metzger's wife has a different name on TV from the one she has in the books. That disparity was a mystery truly worthy of the attentions of the astounding Jessica Fletcher.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars local baseball murder case, October 4, 2006

By 

Harriet Klausner - See all my reviews
(#1 Hall OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Murder, She Wrote: Three Strikes and You're Dead (Hardcover)

Hudson County, New Jersey Family Division Superior Court Judge Jack Duffy and his wife Meg are in Mesa, Arizona to watch their foster son Ty Ramos play shortstop for the Rattlers, the local AA minor league team. Their friend Jessica Fletcher is also in town visiting the Duffys and rooting for Ty. Jessica learns that Ty and the owner's son Junior Bennett have competed for the shortstop position all season. With the championship on the line Ty pinch-hits for Junior. Though he hits the winning homerun, owner Harrison Bennet is irate with manager Buddy Washington.

That night as the team celebrated their triumph, Ty and Junior get into a public fight at the dinner. The next day Junior is found dead as someone swung for the fences using his head as a ball. Sheriff Hualga arrests Ty based on circumstantial evidence including his juvenile past on the streets of Jersey City. While the Judge and his wife are in shock, Jessica cannot believe this capable in control young man lost his temper and in a fit of rage killed his rival. She plans to not only prove otherwise, but to uncover the culprit.

The latest Murder She Wrote mystery takes the heroine out of New England to Arizona where she becomes embroiled in a local baseball murder case. The story line is fun to follow as a lighthearted cozy that fans of the series will value. Jessica is her usual logical self as she unpeels secrets beyond homicide in her attempt to exonerate Ty. The plot is the usual stuff in this long running series yet remains enjoyable light reading.

Harriet Klausner

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Another winner!, November 1, 2006

A Kid's Review

This review is from: Murder, She Wrote: Three Strikes and You're Dead (Hardcover)

I enjoyed THREE STRIKES AND YOU'RE DEAD and did not want it to end. I like the series and hopes Mr. Bain sends Jessica to my hometown of Richmond, Virginia. I bet Jessica would find it an enjoyable trip, regardless of the murder. If you have time to read a book this year, make sure one of the books is this one. Even if you don't like "brainless entertainment." It is good old-fashioned fun.

Amanda