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scottnap's review
adventurous
informative
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
bramsay55's review against another edition
mysterious
medium-paced
- Diverse cast of characters? No
4.0
kegriese1's review against another edition
adventurous
informative
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
sheltzer's review
3.0
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.
kattymac's review against another edition
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
exurbanis's review
4.0
This is the fourth installment in the Mickey Rawlings series of baseball novel. Rawlings, an up and coming baseball player living and playing in the early part of the 20th century, turns detective in the name of social justice.
There was lots of not-baseball “stuff” in this mystery: labour unions and politics play large roles. I was interested in the history and the mystery but found that the book went on overlong and the plot became convoluted. I read this when I was quite sick with the flu, though, so I could be biased. Don’t let me put you off trying this series if it’s something you think you’d like.
Read this if: you enjoy old-time baseball; or you’re interested in social politics of the early 20th century. 3½ stars
There was lots of not-baseball “stuff” in this mystery: labour unions and politics play large roles. I was interested in the history and the mystery but found that the book went on overlong and the plot became convoluted. I read this when I was quite sick with the flu, though, so I could be biased. Don’t let me put you off trying this series if it’s something you think you’d like.
Read this if: you enjoy old-time baseball; or you’re interested in social politics of the early 20th century. 3½ stars
jakewritesbooks's review
3.0
I enjoy these books more for the old time baseball and early-20th century atmosphere than I do for the mystery. It wasn't a bad one but it also wasn't anything to write home about. And Soos sketches his characters thinly. But it did what it needed to do for me.
komet2020's review
5.0
"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.
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