Alison Gordon (1943–2015)

What could be better? A mystery with a strong female amateur detective AND baseball? Not much.

Like the author, protagonist Kate Henry is a sports reporter covering that wonderful game. There's a great plot and super realism about both journalism and baseball. Alison Golden's background makes this her niche! Golden was a Canadian journalist and writer who was the first woman on the baseball beat in the Major Leagues. She was a trailblazer in the field of sports journalism, covering the show more Toronto Blue Jays for the Toronto Star for five years. Sadly, Golden died in 2015, leaving behind only five titles in the Kate Henry series. I shall have to space them out and savour them.

I had a wonderful time reading The Dead Pull Hitter and even learned a couple of things I didn't know about the game. show less

Kate Henry is a sports reporter for a Toronto newspaper and her beat is the Toronto Titians, a major league baseball team. When pitchers start dropping dead of unnatural causes, her beat turns into homicide. I have to admit that I've read better mysteries but I've rarely read a novel by a writer who knows more about professional baseball. As a baseball fan, this book was a joy. I already have her others on my 'to read' pile.

BOTTOM-LINE:
Quite enjoyable
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PLOT OR PREMISE:
The first five years of the Blue Jays, as covered by a female sportswriter.
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WHAT I LIKED:
"Many thoughts assailed me. Sure, I had heard she was nice, came from a respectable family, etc., but we had never met before. What if I didn't like her in *that* way? After all, there's the question of chemistry. And she's an older woman. Worldly. Definitely been around the park a few times. And she's been known to have 9 guys at a time! Not to mention those show more wild stories of men in kilts. And then there's my side of things. What if there were things I didn't know? What were her expectations? After all, I'm not getting any younger, I was never a jock nor even a lay expert in this area, and I'm not very adventurous. Sure there was that fling with Roy McGregor but that was a father and son thing, not a stated preference. These thoughts and others assailed me as I plunged into a SPORTS book biography for the first time.
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Alison Gordon's coverage of the first five years of the Blue Jays is great. Not too sporty so that baseball plebes like me (who couldn't tell you the seven ways to get to first not including a single) can still follow; yet sporty enough so that baseball fans will still enjoy the behind-the-scenes look at the life of the (female) sportswriter and the lives of the Blue Jays. She covers the gamut from players to stadiums, and everything in between. "
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WHAT I DIDN'T LIKE:
In a few places, it seemed a bit superficial, more description than stepping back to analyse her own participation in the stories. Not major, just a small limitation.
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DISCLOSURE:
I received no compensation, not even a free copy, in exchange for this review. I was not personal friends with the author, but I did interact with her online. show less

BOTTOM-LINE:
Well done, and the best so far.
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PLOT OR PREMISE:
This is the fourth in the Kate Henry series and is the best so far. Kate is bored -- there is a strike in the major leagues and she doesn't know what to do with herself. So she focuses on her home life. Then Andy Munro gets shot in the line of duty, and Kate is pretty much on her own while Andy recuperates. Lots of tension as Andy deals with the aftermath of being shot.
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WHAT I LIKED:
The focus of the story is on a homeless woman show more named Maggie who has disappeared, and one of her favorite resting places is covered in blood. On top of that, a mutilated corpse turns up with a very large knife that Maggie used to own. A corpse of someone who knew who Maggie really was, knew her past, and was therefore a threat to Maggie's security. Some really seedy characters populate the story, including a two-bit child pornographer who has a heart of gold for helping street people.
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WHAT I DIDN'T LIKE:
Of course there is the requisite protagonist-in-jeopardy part, but at least Andy isn't automatically there to save the day
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DISCLOSURE:
I received no compensation, not even a free copy, in exchange for this review. I was not personal friends with the author, but I did interact with her online. show less