What do you think?
Rate this book
Mickey Rawlings #4
Hunting a Detroit Tiger
When a baseball player is killed trying to establish a players' union, Mickey Rawlings suddenly finds himself accused of murder and is caught between supporting the union or speaking against it, and he races against time to find the real killer before he becomes the next victim.
352 pages, Paperback
First published March 1, 1998
26 people are currently reading
139 people want to read
About the author
Troy Soos
26 books90 followersTroy Soos is a writer and teacher based in Winter Park, Florida. Soos is best known for his "Mickey Rawlings" series of historical baseball novels (seven books set from 1912 to 1923). He also authored a four-book historical mystery series set in 1890s New York featuring Marshall Webb and Rebecca Davies. Soos has written a nonfiction history of early New England baseball history, "Before the Curse," and two mystery short stories ("Pick-Off Play" and "Decision of the Umpire") now available as e-books. His newest release is "The Tomb That Ruth Built," the seventh in the Mickey Rawlings series (published March 2014).
Series:
* Mickey Rawlings
* Marshall Webb and Rebecca Davies
Series:
* Mickey Rawlings
* Marshall Webb and Rebecca Davies
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 45 reviews
September 30, 2020
Baseball’s post season is here. In a new format to mirror this unprecedented season, baseball has expanded the playoffs to sixteen teams, eight from each league. My team plays later today when I am at work, making me too nervous and excited to sleep. At this time of year when others stock up on books about Halloween and other scary stuff, I gravitate to books about baseball, more so than at other times of the year. This year I rediscovered the Mickey Rawlings historical baseball mystery series by Troy Soos. Having three books left to finish the series, I knew I wanted to finish it this year, hopefully before the baseball season ended. With the regular season ending this weekend, I immersed myself in the last book featuring Mickey Rawlings that I had not yet read, a trip back to the Motor City of 100 years ago.
Mickey Rawlings has returned from fighting in the Great War to an America that has changed. His own work situation has changed as well as he has moved teams yet again, this time to play for the Detroit Tigers of Ty Cobb toward the end of his career. Cobb has his sights set on managing the Tigers one day and is as ornery as ever and disliked by all of his teammates. Cars start to take over American cities from streetcars as the auto industry carves out a large section of a work force that is becoming ever more industrial and urban than rural. With the 1920 election on the horizon, workers, and all Americans, are beginning to organize to demand more rights. Unionization has begun in many industries, with the International Workers of the World (IWW) at the forefront of the movement. Although a socialist organization that many deem as anti-American, the IWW has targeted a new sector of workers in an attempt to clean up its image: baseball players. Still tied to a reserve clause that is in essence slavery, ball players have impetus to unionize but no means to do so, and would not for over fifty years. Despite being tied to one team for the duration of their careers unless they are traded, ballplayers still earned at least twice as much as a coal miner or factory worker. Even Mickey, a utility player, earned $3000 a season for the right to play a child’s game, and he knew he could be counted as one of the lucky ones who called themselves major league ball players.
As the 1920 baseball season is about to begin, Mickey Rawlings finds himself thrown into the labor war at the behest of his friend Karl Landfors, a known socialist. Mickey has always been apolitical, not wanting to stir the pot and cause friction among his friends or teammates. Landfors encouraged him to attend an IWW meeting to meet a former ballplayer named Emmet Siever, who wanted to start a player’s union. He believed that more than Babe Ruth’s home runs, a union would modernize baseball. Most players were happy with the status quo, and Mickey was thrown into the a situation he did not ask to be in. When the dust settled at this rousing meeting, Siever had been murdered, and Mickey was the one accused of killing him. Both the unionists, known as Wobblies, and ball players were after him, demanding he place his apolitical self on one side of the issue or another. Although a bench player who worked hard to maintain a .260 average, Mickey found himself in the crosshairs of clubhouse war between Ty Cobb and Dutch Leonard, all because he supposedly killed a former player. Mickey signed up for war because he felt it was the patriotic thing to do, but not because he was roused to kill a bunch of enemy soldiers. At the dawn of a new season, all Mickey wants to do is clear his name with the police, the unionists, and his teammates before it is too late, and one group or the other decides to kill him in retaliation. As all factions hold their cards close to the vest, Mickey is on his own to find out who killed Emmet Siever and why.
As with all of Troy Soos’ mysteries, he paints a quality picture of life one hundred years ago as the nation was just beginning to modernize. In 1920 Detroit, the auto industry dominated the landscape. Ford, Dodge, Chevrolet, and Olds Brothers were the movers and shakers who made the Motor City run. Meanwhile, the Tigers owned by Frank Navin, had not won a pennant in over ten years. Like the other owners of his generation, Navin was a penny pincher, and, other than Cobb, did not have any stars on his team to help the Tigers stay out of the second division. Across town, the Detroit Stars entered the National Negro League in its first year of competition. After attending a few games, Mickey is convinced that the product on the field is superior to most of the major leagues and feels guilty about competing in a league that does not allow black players. Soos will revisit this issue in subsequent mysteries. In other developing news, Margie Turner re-enters Mickey’s life, setting up a plot line that will run for the duration of the series. A vaudeville star and independent woman, Margie is the perfect foil for Mickey, and I love how Soos strikes a balance between Mickey’s personal and public life. In Detroit, Margie gets involved in the women’s suffrage movement, encouraging Mickey to also latch on to a social cause. One law neither of them enjoy is Prohibition, something Soos makes clear in each book in the series that features either a speakeasy or beer bottled in misleading packaging. This time the couple ventures across the river to Canada to drink Labatt, the country’s National ale. And, somehow, Margie, and, of course, Karl find themselves embroiled in assisting Mickey in solving a mystery, this time with his life on the line.
As with all of Soos’ cases, Mickey unravels the mystery in the end. There is no love lost with his teammates, setting the stage for Mickey to play on a new team during the next season. I have now read all seven books in this series, although not in order, and can turn my attention to the baseball playoffs. I do hope that Soos, who also wrote the Island of Tears series, will revisit Mickey and Margie in the future. I have enjoyed reading about old time baseball and the picture that Soos writes of the era. With nine original franchises yet to be featured in a book, perhaps this is still a possibility in the future. In the meantime, I will savor these characters, and now hope that my current team comes through this October.
4 ⚾️ stars
Mickey Rawlings has returned from fighting in the Great War to an America that has changed. His own work situation has changed as well as he has moved teams yet again, this time to play for the Detroit Tigers of Ty Cobb toward the end of his career. Cobb has his sights set on managing the Tigers one day and is as ornery as ever and disliked by all of his teammates. Cars start to take over American cities from streetcars as the auto industry carves out a large section of a work force that is becoming ever more industrial and urban than rural. With the 1920 election on the horizon, workers, and all Americans, are beginning to organize to demand more rights. Unionization has begun in many industries, with the International Workers of the World (IWW) at the forefront of the movement. Although a socialist organization that many deem as anti-American, the IWW has targeted a new sector of workers in an attempt to clean up its image: baseball players. Still tied to a reserve clause that is in essence slavery, ball players have impetus to unionize but no means to do so, and would not for over fifty years. Despite being tied to one team for the duration of their careers unless they are traded, ballplayers still earned at least twice as much as a coal miner or factory worker. Even Mickey, a utility player, earned $3000 a season for the right to play a child’s game, and he knew he could be counted as one of the lucky ones who called themselves major league ball players.
As the 1920 baseball season is about to begin, Mickey Rawlings finds himself thrown into the labor war at the behest of his friend Karl Landfors, a known socialist. Mickey has always been apolitical, not wanting to stir the pot and cause friction among his friends or teammates. Landfors encouraged him to attend an IWW meeting to meet a former ballplayer named Emmet Siever, who wanted to start a player’s union. He believed that more than Babe Ruth’s home runs, a union would modernize baseball. Most players were happy with the status quo, and Mickey was thrown into the a situation he did not ask to be in. When the dust settled at this rousing meeting, Siever had been murdered, and Mickey was the one accused of killing him. Both the unionists, known as Wobblies, and ball players were after him, demanding he place his apolitical self on one side of the issue or another. Although a bench player who worked hard to maintain a .260 average, Mickey found himself in the crosshairs of clubhouse war between Ty Cobb and Dutch Leonard, all because he supposedly killed a former player. Mickey signed up for war because he felt it was the patriotic thing to do, but not because he was roused to kill a bunch of enemy soldiers. At the dawn of a new season, all Mickey wants to do is clear his name with the police, the unionists, and his teammates before it is too late, and one group or the other decides to kill him in retaliation. As all factions hold their cards close to the vest, Mickey is on his own to find out who killed Emmet Siever and why.
As with all of Troy Soos’ mysteries, he paints a quality picture of life one hundred years ago as the nation was just beginning to modernize. In 1920 Detroit, the auto industry dominated the landscape. Ford, Dodge, Chevrolet, and Olds Brothers were the movers and shakers who made the Motor City run. Meanwhile, the Tigers owned by Frank Navin, had not won a pennant in over ten years. Like the other owners of his generation, Navin was a penny pincher, and, other than Cobb, did not have any stars on his team to help the Tigers stay out of the second division. Across town, the Detroit Stars entered the National Negro League in its first year of competition. After attending a few games, Mickey is convinced that the product on the field is superior to most of the major leagues and feels guilty about competing in a league that does not allow black players. Soos will revisit this issue in subsequent mysteries. In other developing news, Margie Turner re-enters Mickey’s life, setting up a plot line that will run for the duration of the series. A vaudeville star and independent woman, Margie is the perfect foil for Mickey, and I love how Soos strikes a balance between Mickey’s personal and public life. In Detroit, Margie gets involved in the women’s suffrage movement, encouraging Mickey to also latch on to a social cause. One law neither of them enjoy is Prohibition, something Soos makes clear in each book in the series that features either a speakeasy or beer bottled in misleading packaging. This time the couple ventures across the river to Canada to drink Labatt, the country’s National ale. And, somehow, Margie, and, of course, Karl find themselves embroiled in assisting Mickey in solving a mystery, this time with his life on the line.
As with all of Soos’ cases, Mickey unravels the mystery in the end. There is no love lost with his teammates, setting the stage for Mickey to play on a new team during the next season. I have now read all seven books in this series, although not in order, and can turn my attention to the baseball playoffs. I do hope that Soos, who also wrote the Island of Tears series, will revisit Mickey and Margie in the future. I have enjoyed reading about old time baseball and the picture that Soos writes of the era. With nine original franchises yet to be featured in a book, perhaps this is still a possibility in the future. In the meantime, I will savor these characters, and now hope that my current team comes through this October.
4 ⚾️ stars
January 25, 2022
finished 24th january 2022 good read three stars i liked it kindle library loaner first from soos what a combination baseball the 1900s the i.w.w. ty cobb henry ford a host of others murder so forth so on. curious too early baseball wonder how much is true i imagine much of it the various leagues and apparently there's a whole series? heh! what are the odds?
August 7, 2019
3.5 stars. I loved that Margie was back in this one, she and Mickey make a great crime fighting duo. Once again lots of baseball with some mystery solving. Things have changed so much in law enforcement in the last 100 years.
September 26, 2021
Hunting a Detroit Tiger, Mickey Rawlings Baseball Mystery #4, finds Mickey on the Detroit roster. It's 1920 and the US is gripped by the Red Scare and J. Edgar Hoover. The police have framed Mickey for the murder of labor organizer Emmett Stevier. The union wants revenge and the police and FBI are happy to turn a blind eye. Mickey and his friends turn sleuths and put themselves at risk from both factions.
May 26, 2020
The best installment of the series by far, and not just because the author does away with the pretense of having someone murdered at every single major league ballpark. All kidding aside, the book is very nuanced and progressive for the era it took place and when it was written.
August 29, 2014
I really enjoy these books where the mystery is at least as much associated with old-time baseball as most of the Dick Francis (and now, Felix Francis) mysteries had a tenuous association with horse racing. And, even though I read Hunting a Detroit Tiger out of order (I read Hanging Curve a few months before I read this one.), I’m glad that I did. In Hanging Curve, the social agenda of the author added to the suspense and mystery of the story. In Hunting a Detroit Tiger, the labor union/anti-reserve clause depiction felt as tacked on as some of the preaching exposition in the old Quincy, M.E. series on television. For those who aren’t as old as I am, the old television series ended up with a formula where the investigation of a death provided an excuse for the writer to present propaganda for her/his cause du jour. It was often clumsy and often elicited groans in my family.
To be sure, author Troy Soos has enough integrity not to have protagonist Mickey Rawlings start subscribing to The Daily Worker or overtly joining the IWW (Industrial Workers of the World aka One Big Union or “Wobblies”), but Soos’ sympathies are readily apparent. They were in Hanging Curve, as well, but Hunting a Detroit Tiger seemed more heavy-handed to me.
Don’t get me wrong. I’m a huge fan of the muckraking novelists of the early 20th century. Sinclair Lewis (mentioned casually on more than one occasion in this novel), Upton Sinclair, and Theodore Dreiser get somewhat preachy in their works, but Hunting a Detroit Tiger seemed to lose its focus in preaching the virtues of organized labor. Frankly, I admired Rawlings’ position in the book: “I generally didn’t take sides with the combatants in a conflict; I identified with those caught in the middle.” (p. 106) I wish the author had stayed a little closer to that sentiment. On the other hand, I learned a little detail that I hadn’t known about the black cat symbol. I didn’t realize that it was the symbol for sabotage during the WWI and post-WWI era. Those are the kinds of delightful historical tidbits that will keep me coming back for more in this series, regardless of the “preachiness.”
The mystery in Hunting a Detroit Tiger begins with utility infielder Mickey Rawlings visiting a Wobblie rally in order to meet a former major leaguer who was encouraging all professional players to join the One Big Union. When Mickey goes backstage to meet him, the former major leaguer is dead. Strangely, Mickey is both framed for the killing and given a self-defense plea from law enforcement. Headlines trumpeting him as the war hero who killed a dangerous radical merely serve to get him in trouble with his team and a great deal of the story’s appeal has to do with being caught between the union leaders who are willing to do anything in the name of justice and the “defenders” of capitalism who are willing to do anything in the name of justice. One almost wants to appeal to the line from A Princess Bride and substitute “justice” for “inconceivable.” At any rate, it doesn’t appear to mean what either side think it means.
For my personal taste, the mystery portion of the story wasn’t really all that exciting. There is a conspiracy element in the story that starts out fairly interesting, but the revelation isn’t very exciting. Hunting a Detroit Tiger isn’t, by any rationale, the best in this series, but it is still worth reading.
To be sure, author Troy Soos has enough integrity not to have protagonist Mickey Rawlings start subscribing to The Daily Worker or overtly joining the IWW (Industrial Workers of the World aka One Big Union or “Wobblies”), but Soos’ sympathies are readily apparent. They were in Hanging Curve, as well, but Hunting a Detroit Tiger seemed more heavy-handed to me.
Don’t get me wrong. I’m a huge fan of the muckraking novelists of the early 20th century. Sinclair Lewis (mentioned casually on more than one occasion in this novel), Upton Sinclair, and Theodore Dreiser get somewhat preachy in their works, but Hunting a Detroit Tiger seemed to lose its focus in preaching the virtues of organized labor. Frankly, I admired Rawlings’ position in the book: “I generally didn’t take sides with the combatants in a conflict; I identified with those caught in the middle.” (p. 106) I wish the author had stayed a little closer to that sentiment. On the other hand, I learned a little detail that I hadn’t known about the black cat symbol. I didn’t realize that it was the symbol for sabotage during the WWI and post-WWI era. Those are the kinds of delightful historical tidbits that will keep me coming back for more in this series, regardless of the “preachiness.”
The mystery in Hunting a Detroit Tiger begins with utility infielder Mickey Rawlings visiting a Wobblie rally in order to meet a former major leaguer who was encouraging all professional players to join the One Big Union. When Mickey goes backstage to meet him, the former major leaguer is dead. Strangely, Mickey is both framed for the killing and given a self-defense plea from law enforcement. Headlines trumpeting him as the war hero who killed a dangerous radical merely serve to get him in trouble with his team and a great deal of the story’s appeal has to do with being caught between the union leaders who are willing to do anything in the name of justice and the “defenders” of capitalism who are willing to do anything in the name of justice. One almost wants to appeal to the line from A Princess Bride and substitute “justice” for “inconceivable.” At any rate, it doesn’t appear to mean what either side think it means.
For my personal taste, the mystery portion of the story wasn’t really all that exciting. There is a conspiracy element in the story that starts out fairly interesting, but the revelation isn’t very exciting. Hunting a Detroit Tiger isn’t, by any rationale, the best in this series, but it is still worth reading.
April 25, 2024
Utility infielder Mickey Rawlings is in a fix. A man trying to organize baseball players into a union has been shot dead, and everyone is saying Mickey did it. In self defense, sure, so the police don’t care: indeed, the police seem to be quite happy with the idea that a labor organizer pulled a gun on a war veteran like Rawlings and got himself shot. Nevermind that when Mickey heard the shot and found the body, there was no revolver near it, and when the police took the photo, there was — miraculously! — a revolver in the dead Wobbly’s hand. The big baseball men want to champion Mickey as their hero and pledge that America’s ballplayers won’t stand for this commie nonsense, and the International Workers of the World threatening to ‘strike’ — to strike Mickey, repeatedly, maybe beat him to death for shooting a union man. Fortunately, Mickey has made murder mysteries something of a side gig over the years (kind of like Ty Cobb performing onstage during the off-season), so now he needs to dig in and find the killer just to save his skin — and keep the rest of his club from turning him into a dead ball.
I have thoroughly enjoyed Soos’ baseball murder mysteries since discovering them years ago, and Hunting is no exception, combining as it does labor disputes with the ordinary murder mysteries. The drama is especially tense here because Mickey is threatened from all sides. The Wobblies want to do Mickey serious damage, and he’s granted a reprieve only because the Upton Sinclair-like friend of his who told him about the meeting vouches for him, but that vouchsafe has a time expiration. At the same time, dubious ‘labor coordinators’ hired by the league want Mickey to go full-throttle anti-union, and to stop looking into the odd circumstances of the organizer’s death — or, yanno, things will happen. Alone and friendless after his author-buddy is imprisoned investigating the Sacco and Vanzetti trial, Mickey has to bring all of his investigative experience and cussedness to the plate with him, and dig in. There’s a lot in the air in this book: Mickey is not overtly sympathetic to the Wobblies, but nor is he hostile, and he realizes that some teams are so badly treated by their owners that scandals like the World Series being thrown by the White Sox are connected to said behavior. All he wants, really, is to get two groups of men to stop threatening him, especially since an old girlfriend has blown into town and she’s interested in restoring their old pickup game. Being murdered is no good for the love life. Soos pitches a good story and the tension stays taut right down to the wire, wrapping up only in the last few pages. I’m think there’s one more book in this series I’ve not read, and I’ll definitely be pursuing it. Soos’ series is unique in itself — historical fiction + baseball + mystery — but the exploration of 1920s labor politics and the arrival of an organization headed by some J. Edgar fellow makes for a great story, and there are connections in topics to Soos’ previous books, especially Hanging Curve which explored the Negro Leagues.
I have thoroughly enjoyed Soos’ baseball murder mysteries since discovering them years ago, and Hunting is no exception, combining as it does labor disputes with the ordinary murder mysteries. The drama is especially tense here because Mickey is threatened from all sides. The Wobblies want to do Mickey serious damage, and he’s granted a reprieve only because the Upton Sinclair-like friend of his who told him about the meeting vouches for him, but that vouchsafe has a time expiration. At the same time, dubious ‘labor coordinators’ hired by the league want Mickey to go full-throttle anti-union, and to stop looking into the odd circumstances of the organizer’s death — or, yanno, things will happen. Alone and friendless after his author-buddy is imprisoned investigating the Sacco and Vanzetti trial, Mickey has to bring all of his investigative experience and cussedness to the plate with him, and dig in. There’s a lot in the air in this book: Mickey is not overtly sympathetic to the Wobblies, but nor is he hostile, and he realizes that some teams are so badly treated by their owners that scandals like the World Series being thrown by the White Sox are connected to said behavior. All he wants, really, is to get two groups of men to stop threatening him, especially since an old girlfriend has blown into town and she’s interested in restoring their old pickup game. Being murdered is no good for the love life. Soos pitches a good story and the tension stays taut right down to the wire, wrapping up only in the last few pages. I’m think there’s one more book in this series I’ve not read, and I’ll definitely be pursuing it. Soos’ series is unique in itself — historical fiction + baseball + mystery — but the exploration of 1920s labor politics and the arrival of an organization headed by some J. Edgar fellow makes for a great story, and there are connections in topics to Soos’ previous books, especially Hanging Curve which explored the Negro Leagues.
January 1, 2020
"HUNTING A DETROIT TIGER: A Mickey Rawlings Baseball Mystery" combines both the beauty and drama of Major League Baseball with the tensions, perils, and excitement of a well-crafted and engaging mystery novel. Besides, as a lifelong Detroit Tigers fan, I took one look at this novel and knew I had to have it.
The book begins in Detroit during the spring of 1920. Mickey Rawlings, a journeyman baseball player and World War I veteran, has been hired by the Tigers. He's anxious to prove his worth to them by earning a place in the lineup. What he doesn't count on is being implicated at a meeting he was asked to attend of the local chapter of the International Workers of the World (IWW) in the murder of a former ballplayer (Emmett Siever) who was trying to start up a players' union. The story is that Rawlings had a meeting with Siever, an altercation ensued between the 2 men, and consequently, Sievers was shot to death by Rawlings in an act of self-defense. Thus, Sievers' death is seen by the Detroit police as an open-and-shut case.
But Rawlings is not happy with being regarded as an accused killer He wants to clear his name and sets about trying to do that. All the while, Rawlings' life is put in jeopardy because local IWW members are aggrieved over Sievers' murder and a number of them are determined to get back at him. Furthermore, at the same time, as the season gets underway and Rawlings is nursing an injured right wrist by batting left after getting cleared by the team doctor to play, the baseball owners are putting pressure of him to speak out against a players' union for major league ballplayers. This leads to Rawlings (who'd rather remain apart from politics and the union movement and solely concentrate on playing baseball) being caught being 2 very unsavory extremes.
Soos does an excellent job in bringing all these various elements together into a novel that I didn't want to put down. It was also fascinating to learn something about the anti-Bolshevik atmosphere that permeated U.S. society in the immediate post-World War I era -- and the strong-armed, illegal, and unconstitutional practices U.S. law enforcement agencies engaged in as a way of clamping down on both left wing organizations and the union movement as represented by the IWW (aka 'the Wobblies'). There's never a dull moment in this novel. Which is why I highly recommend it.
The book begins in Detroit during the spring of 1920. Mickey Rawlings, a journeyman baseball player and World War I veteran, has been hired by the Tigers. He's anxious to prove his worth to them by earning a place in the lineup. What he doesn't count on is being implicated at a meeting he was asked to attend of the local chapter of the International Workers of the World (IWW) in the murder of a former ballplayer (Emmett Siever) who was trying to start up a players' union. The story is that Rawlings had a meeting with Siever, an altercation ensued between the 2 men, and consequently, Sievers was shot to death by Rawlings in an act of self-defense. Thus, Sievers' death is seen by the Detroit police as an open-and-shut case.
But Rawlings is not happy with being regarded as an accused killer He wants to clear his name and sets about trying to do that. All the while, Rawlings' life is put in jeopardy because local IWW members are aggrieved over Sievers' murder and a number of them are determined to get back at him. Furthermore, at the same time, as the season gets underway and Rawlings is nursing an injured right wrist by batting left after getting cleared by the team doctor to play, the baseball owners are putting pressure of him to speak out against a players' union for major league ballplayers. This leads to Rawlings (who'd rather remain apart from politics and the union movement and solely concentrate on playing baseball) being caught being 2 very unsavory extremes.
Soos does an excellent job in bringing all these various elements together into a novel that I didn't want to put down. It was also fascinating to learn something about the anti-Bolshevik atmosphere that permeated U.S. society in the immediate post-World War I era -- and the strong-armed, illegal, and unconstitutional practices U.S. law enforcement agencies engaged in as a way of clamping down on both left wing organizations and the union movement as represented by the IWW (aka 'the Wobblies'). There's never a dull moment in this novel. Which is why I highly recommend it.
August 30, 2021
As I mentioned in my review of the first book in this series, I love baseball, history, and mysteries. Therefore, it's amazing to me that I had never read any entries in this series before, given that the books combine all three of those loves.
As I also mentioned in that review, I I know I've seen these books in bookstores over the years. And I think I even thumbed through one of them a time or two. But for some reason, I never read them...until now. And I'm SO glad I did.
After being somewhat disappointed with the third entry in this series ("Murder at Wrigley Field") I enjoyed this fourth entry. Yes, it also was a little darker than the first two books in the series, because it dealt with the rising tensions between U.S. labor titans and the left-leaning large labor unions (especially the IWW). But utility infielder Mickey Rawlings was less morose and more his happy-go-lucky self in this entry. (I'm sure a lot of that had to do with him reconnecting with his love interest: actress Margie Turner.) Also, I found the plot, including its conclusion, more believable than that of the last novel.
Ultimately, that's why I gave this four stars. It's also why I continue to look forward to reading the rest of the Mickey Rawlings series.
As I also mentioned in that review, I I know I've seen these books in bookstores over the years. And I think I even thumbed through one of them a time or two. But for some reason, I never read them...until now. And I'm SO glad I did.
After being somewhat disappointed with the third entry in this series ("Murder at Wrigley Field") I enjoyed this fourth entry. Yes, it also was a little darker than the first two books in the series, because it dealt with the rising tensions between U.S. labor titans and the left-leaning large labor unions (especially the IWW). But utility infielder Mickey Rawlings was less morose and more his happy-go-lucky self in this entry. (I'm sure a lot of that had to do with him reconnecting with his love interest: actress Margie Turner.) Also, I found the plot, including its conclusion, more believable than that of the last novel.
Ultimately, that's why I gave this four stars. It's also why I continue to look forward to reading the rest of the Mickey Rawlings series.
March 3, 2025
This is another book that had been languishing on my shelves for at least two decades. It's the fourth in a series of murder mysteries set in a major league baseball setting with a baseball player as main character. I'm not a baseball fan and I'm not quite sure why I picked this book when I did, except that the cover art is quite attractive and that may have drawn me to it.
In the beginning the baseball related aspects of the story didn't interest me, but as the story progressed, I saw that the author seamlessly wove together the main aspects of the story - 1920's baseball, nascent labor organizing, and the rising tide against Socialism characterized by the governments campaign against it.
The mystery was quite original and despite my feelings about slapping some sense into Mickey Rawlings (the main character) to take threats against his life a little more seriously, I recognize that sometimes the real 'enemy' is hard to identify. This book turned out to be much better than I expected and fully deserving of the four curve ball stars I'm awarding it.
In the beginning the baseball related aspects of the story didn't interest me, but as the story progressed, I saw that the author seamlessly wove together the main aspects of the story - 1920's baseball, nascent labor organizing, and the rising tide against Socialism characterized by the governments campaign against it.
The mystery was quite original and despite my feelings about slapping some sense into Mickey Rawlings (the main character) to take threats against his life a little more seriously, I recognize that sometimes the real 'enemy' is hard to identify. This book turned out to be much better than I expected and fully deserving of the four curve ball stars I'm awarding it.
June 19, 2017
If you love baseball and mysteries this is the book/series for you. Set in 1920 with the Detroit Tigers. Mickey Rawlings has won a spot on the team. He has also been labeled a murderer albeit in self defense. Problem is he didn't commit the murder. This involves the early days of union organization in the big leagues. It is a fun read and I will look for the other books in the series.
December 27, 2019
Another good murder mystery by Troy Soos. This was an audio book so perhaps one day I will get the regular book. I liked that Mickey's girlfriend was back. He did repeat some of the myths about Ty Cobb being a virulent racist and the Black Sox being paid poorly but most of that was considered as factual when Soos wrote the book so it's excusable. But a very entertaining book nonetheless.
May 4, 2023
I really wanted to like this book, but it wasn't my cup of tea. There were a few things I liked, but mostly it just dragged on. I didn't really connect to the main character, and the minor characters got mixed up in my head. Probably shouldn't have finished, but there were some glimmers of humor I really enjoyed.
March 23, 2018
I'm not sure I would go out of my way to read another book by this author if I was wanting to read a good mystery. However, the historical information about the labor movement, and baseball in the early 1920's was very interesting.
September 24, 2020
The book has a lot of fictional characters to keep track of - more than I usually like - but the number of real people (mostly ballplayers) woven in helped keep me interested. Ultimately, I feel it is worth the time for a fan of mysteries and baseball.
August 31, 2021
Enjoyable Mystery with a baseball setting. Mickey Rawlings is utility Infielder and murder and mystery seems to follow him as he goes from team to team in the 1910s and 1920s. Soos works in historical ballplayers with his fictional characters seamlessly.
March 8, 2022
The book was ok. I wanted more history of Detroit, not just names of streets or buildings. There were so many spelling errors it was difficult to get through. The plot was enjoyable but lacked depth.
October 7, 2022
Another good hit.
Not Mickey Rawlings best - the mystery is a little hard to follow - but again, great story, lots of interesting American history (although idea that Th Cobb was a crazy racist has been largely debunked now).
I'm looking forward to the next one!
Not Mickey Rawlings best - the mystery is a little hard to follow - but again, great story, lots of interesting American history (although idea that Th Cobb was a crazy racist has been largely debunked now).
I'm looking forward to the next one!
August 3, 2017
very interesting book
November 21, 2020
Love the Mickey Rawlings books. Not only a great mystery but a look into baseball in the early days.
August 12, 2021
This series is so much fun! Mickey Rawlings may only be a journey man ball player but he is some kind of All Star in the field of mystery.
January 20, 2022
I wanted to rate it 3 1/2 stars , but went with 4 because I like the Tigers.
May 10, 2022
I can’t get enough of Mickey Rawlings and crew. I love the recurring characters and the history. Throw in a mystery and you’ve got a home run😉
June 19, 2023
Mickey Rawlins who plays for the Detroit Tigers gets involved with the Wobblies and gets accused of murder. Just another normal day in the life of a baseball player back in the 1920's.
May 14, 2024
A crime story revolving around the Detroit Tigers. What's not to love?
May 23, 2022
There is Power in a Union.
June 26, 2016
Hunting a Detroit Tiger belongs to a genre I've begun referring to as "Mystery Light." That's not meant as a slur of any kind; these are books in which the setting is just as important—and sometimes more important—than the mystery itself. Personally, I like these books but it seems strange to put them on the same shelf as police procedurals.
Troy Soos, the author, does take the settings of his Mickey Rawlings baseball mysteries very seriously, maybe even too seriously. On occasion, you know that sentences are in there just to add to the verisimilitude of the time. Troy Soos wants us to know that he's done his research.
Okay, so maybe we really didn't need to know the names of three movies showing in Detroit on a given evening. Especially since the main character names them only to let us know that he's not in the mood to go to any of them. (Sheesh, Troy, give it a rest.) But if professional baseball; the labor movement; and anti-labor activities in America, mostly Detroit, in the years immediately following the first World War are subjects you might have interest in, this is certainly a book you might want to read.
The mystery itself is not bad and many of the facts needed to unveil it are hidden by the fact that the book is written from the viewpoint of the main character and we don't learn these things until he does. The baseball is, well, the Detroit Tigers that year were pretty awful even if some of the individual players would end up in the Hall of Fame. The inner workings of the IWW (part of the radical labor movement of the time) and those opposing that and any other attempt to organize either Ford Company workers or major league baseball players are described ad nauseam but I'll give Soos a break here because my background knowledge may well exceed that of the average reader of this book. The prose is adequate.
All in all, a quick and mostly enjoyable read. But nothing that will stay with you.
Troy Soos, the author, does take the settings of his Mickey Rawlings baseball mysteries very seriously, maybe even too seriously. On occasion, you know that sentences are in there just to add to the verisimilitude of the time. Troy Soos wants us to know that he's done his research.
Okay, so maybe we really didn't need to know the names of three movies showing in Detroit on a given evening. Especially since the main character names them only to let us know that he's not in the mood to go to any of them. (Sheesh, Troy, give it a rest.) But if professional baseball; the labor movement; and anti-labor activities in America, mostly Detroit, in the years immediately following the first World War are subjects you might have interest in, this is certainly a book you might want to read.
The mystery itself is not bad and many of the facts needed to unveil it are hidden by the fact that the book is written from the viewpoint of the main character and we don't learn these things until he does. The baseball is, well, the Detroit Tigers that year were pretty awful even if some of the individual players would end up in the Hall of Fame. The inner workings of the IWW (part of the radical labor movement of the time) and those opposing that and any other attempt to organize either Ford Company workers or major league baseball players are described ad nauseam but I'll give Soos a break here because my background knowledge may well exceed that of the average reader of this book. The prose is adequate.
All in all, a quick and mostly enjoyable read. But nothing that will stay with you.
May 9, 2011
This review applies to the audio version.
#4 Mickey Rawlings historical baseball mystery series, this one set mostly in Detroit in 1920, where Mickey is currently playing ball as a utility infielder. Mickey, at a union organizing rally, ends up accused of shooting one of the principals, Emmet Siever, although he's not charged as it's termed self-defense. Trouble is, Mickey didn't shoot him at all, and he wants to know who's set him up so conveniently--and who the real killer is.
The publicity has turned his Tiger teammates against him, and a union-busting 'personnel manager' with the backing of the Tigers owner wants him to badmouth the union--when what Mickey wants is not to be involved at all. Add in a mysterious fake policeman (whom Mickey later learns is actually a federal agent in the organization that was the predecessor of the FBI) and Marguerite Turner, an actress that Mickey had a relationship with a couple of books ago and the story gets really interesting. Karl Landfors, Mickey's socialist newspaper reporter friend also makes an appearance to help Mickey navigate his way through all the different radical groups trying to organize workers.
Very enjoyable listen as always. The reader does a great job at setting the tone and with the various voices throughout the book. The author picks a social issue of the times in each book, one that intersects somehow with baseball. In this book, it's the birth of the unions, the attempts to organize baseball players and the beginnings of the FBI and the power they wield over those whom they target as radicals, regardless of the truth. Great sense of time and place, infused with the spirit of baseball when it was young.
#4 Mickey Rawlings historical baseball mystery series, this one set mostly in Detroit in 1920, where Mickey is currently playing ball as a utility infielder. Mickey, at a union organizing rally, ends up accused of shooting one of the principals, Emmet Siever, although he's not charged as it's termed self-defense. Trouble is, Mickey didn't shoot him at all, and he wants to know who's set him up so conveniently--and who the real killer is.
The publicity has turned his Tiger teammates against him, and a union-busting 'personnel manager' with the backing of the Tigers owner wants him to badmouth the union--when what Mickey wants is not to be involved at all. Add in a mysterious fake policeman (whom Mickey later learns is actually a federal agent in the organization that was the predecessor of the FBI) and Marguerite Turner, an actress that Mickey had a relationship with a couple of books ago and the story gets really interesting. Karl Landfors, Mickey's socialist newspaper reporter friend also makes an appearance to help Mickey navigate his way through all the different radical groups trying to organize workers.
Very enjoyable listen as always. The reader does a great job at setting the tone and with the various voices throughout the book. The author picks a social issue of the times in each book, one that intersects somehow with baseball. In this book, it's the birth of the unions, the attempts to organize baseball players and the beginnings of the FBI and the power they wield over those whom they target as radicals, regardless of the truth. Great sense of time and place, infused with the spirit of baseball when it was young.
April 20, 2014
Mickey Rawlings is accused of shooting the head of the IWW union in self-defense, although he knows he didn't do it. The police consider it a shut case and unless Mickey can find definitive proof that someone else was involved, he won't be able to clear his name. Mickey winds up as a pawn in the battle between the baseball owners and players during the fledgling labor movement.
This one was not my favorite, although it may be colored by my recent reading of The Daring Ladies of Lowell, which also covered the same subject matter. Like Mickey Rawlings himself, I have a hard time getting behind unionized baseball players when the working conditions for children were terrible. There was almost a little too much going on between the labor movement, suffrage movement and the Detroit auto-factories that no subject was scratched very deeply.
However, as always, the baseball details are wonderful and Mickey is a truly delightful protagonist.
This one was not my favorite, although it may be colored by my recent reading of The Daring Ladies of Lowell, which also covered the same subject matter. Like Mickey Rawlings himself, I have a hard time getting behind unionized baseball players when the working conditions for children were terrible. There was almost a little too much going on between the labor movement, suffrage movement and the Detroit auto-factories that no subject was scratched very deeply.
However, as always, the baseball details are wonderful and Mickey is a truly delightful protagonist.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 45 reviews