Jessica Fletcher & Donald Bain Three Strikes and Your Dead

Three Strikes and Your Dead

Jessica Fletcher & Donald Bain

NAL, Oct 2006, $19.95

ISBN: 0451219678

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