The Cincinnati Red Stalkings

Awesome book! This one combines baseball, baseball history, and a well plotted mystery full of dead bodies and (Cincinnati) Red herrings. Utility infielder and journeyman Mickey Rawlings gets caught up in the mystery when he befriends a man putting a museum together to commemerate the 1869 Red Stockings. Mickey and his girlfriend Margie put together an effort between ballgames that reminded me of Nick and Nora Charles of the Thin Man fame. And to add further to the drama, Mickey gets in trouble with baseball commissioner Landis over suspicion of involvement with gamblers, a hot topic in the post Black Sox scandal days. Can Mickey uncover the mystery in time before the commissioner gives him a lifetime ban from baseball? Read this excellent book and see for yourself!

Troy Soos continues the story of journeyman Mickey Rawlings. This time he plays for the Cincinnati Reds.It's 1921 and baseball is reeling from the Black Sox scandal. Mickey is threatened with expulsion from the game because of bogus gambling charges. In addition, Mickey is investigating two murders more than 50 years apart.As a long-time resident of Cincinnati, OH, this book was especially enjoyable to me. I'm too young to have attended games in Redland/Crosley field, so it was good to be able to go there, at least vicariously. I'm eagerly awaiting the next Troy Soos novel.

This was the first Mickey Rawlings book I read and I enjoyed it very much. The author creates a wonderful sense of time and place. Highly recommended for baseball lovers who are mystery fans.

If you are a baseball fan and a mystery reader, it doesn't get any better than this. The author re-creates the era of 1921, when the Cincinnati nine were still reeling from having been cheated out of their victory over the Chicago "Black Sox" by accusations that the fix was in. Having felt the summer heat of Cincinnati and having seen many games at Redlands (Crosley Field), this brought it all back. I can't wait to read Troy Soos' other mysteries.

As major league baseball struggles to overcome the Chicago "Black Sox" scandal during the 1919 World Series, Cincinnati Red infielder Mickey Rawling's knows that his career is limited. He looks elsewhere to supplement his meager income (baseball did not pay well in the early twenties). At a memorabilia show, Mickey meets organizer Oliver Perriman, who gives him a ball dating back to 1869. Not long after that, Oliver is murdered. Mickey, who has done some sleuthing in the past (see HUNTING OF A DETROIT TIGER) begins to investigate the murder. He quickly realizes that the ball is a fake and actually contains information inside about a girl who disappeared in 1869. Meanwhile, to get Mickey out of the way, he is set up to take a fall for allegedly hanging around gamblers. Not only does he have to clear his name and rep before he becomes the ninth man out, he also feels the need to solve the two cases that are a half century apart but seemingly intertwined. THE CINCINNATTI RED STALKINGS is a well-written historical sports who-done-it that demonstrates how much talent Troy Soos has. The story line is fun and fast-paced, and Mickey is a great amateur sleuth (even as he is a lousy ballplayer). Mr. Soos' love of the national pastime shines throughout the novel, but, except for deep baseball fanatics, the historical tidbits do not always blend into the plot. Still, fans of baseball and historical mysteries will love this homage to the game. Harriet Klausner