Jeff Markowitz, A Minor Case of Murder

A Minor Case of Murder

Jeff Markowitz

Five Star, November 2006, $25.95

ISBN: 1594144877

In Doah, reporter Cassie O'Malley meets minor league baseball owner Andy MacTavish following the funeral of his great-great uncle octogenarian local historian Harrison T. Dicke. They talk over hot cocoa, and he soon asks if he could call her for a date. The thirtyish widow says yes, which is a first since her spouse died a few years ago.

Andy takes Cassie to watch his baseball team, the Sand Skeeters, play. She enjoys the game and the between innings fun, especially the mascot Skeeter. Later she meets Skeeter without the costume, teenager Donna Carter, who is dating Andy's younger brother. At the last game of the season, Skeeter dies on the pitching mound; however, the victim is not Donna, but her pal Heather. Andy wonders if the Birders who opposed his ballpark are behind the homicide, so he asks journalist Cassie to investigate, even as he continues to date her.

This fine sports whodunit pays homage to minor league baseball, which is so much fun (this reviewer born near Yankee Stadium and living a few miles from the Braves loved watching the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Red Barons play a game last year - if you have not done so try it; so much fun). The storyline is a cozy that looks deep into the soul of the heroine as she begins to unravel the motive behind the murder of the mascot until she finally hits a walk off homerun. Sub-genre fans will want to watch all nine innings of this delightful hometown baseball mystery.