Night Game

Kate Henry Mystery #3

by Alison Gordon

When Toronto Planet baseball writer Kate Henry visits the Toronto Titans' spring training camp in the retirement village of Sunland, Florida, or is that Dunedin where the very real Toronto Blue Jays train (?), she expects to have a mostly uneventful time. Sure, it will be warm and sunny but the veteran reporter would rather be back in winter-bound Toronto spending time with her lover, homicide detective Andrew Munro.

Training camp, however, gets decidedly more interesting and dangerous when an attractive young sports writer better known for her sexual skills than her reportorial talent is found dead on the beach. Domingo Avila, a promising young rookie from the Dominican Republic, is quickly arrested and charged with her death.

Kate is convinced that Avila's arrest is a mistake and undertakes the daunting task of trying to clear his name.

Librarian's note: the characters, settings, book descriptions, etc. have been done for the 5 volume series: #1. Dead Pull Hitter (1988), #2. Safe at Home (1990), #3. Night Game (1992), #4. Striking Out (1995), and #5. Prairie Hardball (1997). But improvement are welcome.

Genres: Mystery, Baseball

271 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 1992

About the author

Alison Gordon was born in New York City. She spent her childhood in New York, Tokyo, Cairo and Rome because of her (Canadian) father's work with the United Nations. She attended Queen's University but left before completing her degree. Alison held various positions in television, radio and newspaper, including five years as a baseball writer for the Toronto Star (1979-1985). Foul Balls, her first book, details her experiences as the first woman to cover major league baseball. She has served on the boards of The Writers' Union, Crime Writers of Canada, PEN Canada, and the International Association of Crime Writers. She received the Citation of Merit for sports writing. She passed away in Toronto in 2015.

Series:
* Kate Henry Mystery

Reviews

[Jack Heath · Rating 3 out of 5]

3 Stars. Enjoyable, with a surprise at the end. Comfortable and pretty good would be the best descriptors. Let's get my qualifier out of the way - I like baseball and the Toronto Blue Jays, err The Toronto Titans who are the centre of attention here. I even attended the World Series in 1993 when the Jays won it all, and once took in a spring training game in Dunedin, Florida, aka Sunland, to see the team play the Yankees. The book felt real. And the challenges Kate Henry, the lead baseball reporter for the Toronto Planet, or is that the Toronto Star where the author really worked, faces as a female reporter in a man's world felt authentic too. Kate is pining to be home in Toronto and her boyfriend, police detective Andy Munro, and is just going through the motions at training camp. Then another reporter, a beautiful young woman with a questionable reputation, Lucy Cartwright, is found dead on the beach. Kate gets interested. Had she been sexually active that evening and with whom? When a team rookie named Domingo Avila confesses to the sex but not the murder and gets arrested, Kate goes to work. A fun read. (Au2025/Se2025)

[Alannah Davis · Rating 4 out of 5]

I believe this is #3 of the Kate Henry mysteries, although it's the first and only one I've read so far. It's part of my stash of promising novels I've picked up over the years and haven't had a chance to read until now.

Canadian female sports journalist Kate Henry is covering the Toronto Titans baseball team's spring training in Florida, USA. This book came out in the early 1990s, when woman sports reporters were not nearly a plentiful or accepted as they are now. So the times to be taken into account when reading this.

Superb reading for me as an avid baseball fan! The author is a journalist and broadcaster who spent 5 years covering the Toronto Blue Jays baseball club for the Toronto Star magazine, and her authentic tone shows.

Kate doesn't have much time or respect for fellow reporter "Juicy Lucy" Cartwright, a delectable blonde who got her press pass by writing for a random fanzine and is well known for her intimate relations with anyone wearing a baseball uniform.

Then Kate and a fellow reporter find Lucy shot dead on a Florida beach. A promising young minor leaguer, really still a kid, is jailed for her murder. His teammates don't believe he's capable of the crime, and they persuade Kate - who has solved several other baseball mysteries - to do more amateur sleuting and save their compatriot. Kate doesn't believe the young baseball player is guilty, either, so she takes on the case. Along the way, she finds out more about Lucy and comes to see the sexy young woman as more than what she appeared.

The reader needs to suspend reality for the reveal of the murderer. Gathering all the suspects together (including police officers) was a staple of older mysteries, but is not likely to happen today. My only other concern is that the author includes such detailed baseball knowledge, I'm not sure that non-baseball fans would get much of the description and attention to detail that made it so wonderful for me as a longtime baseball fan.

Other than that, I loved the characterizations and the lush description. I like that Kate grows and changes her way of thinking once she learns more about the real Lucy. I recommend this to mystery fans, and I say it is an absolute must for baseball fans - especially female baseball fans!

[Carl Brookins · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another Kate Henry mystery. Henry is a wise-cracking, sometimes arrogant, yet nicely vulnerable sports reporter. She specializes in baseball, following the mythical Toronto Titans in spring training camp. Pretty routine stuff for this tough, experienced, baseball writer, you'd expect. Then another reporter, this one young, attractive and with something of a reputation for round-heeledness turns up dead on the beach and a Titan player is jailed for her murder.

Naturally, Henry is pressed to take on the task of proving the accused is innocent. So far so good. What makes this novel noticeably better than average, is the skill and knowledge of the author. Gordon has created a feminine protagonist with a very particular view of her world. It's a view that blends humor, cynicism and a quick tongue with obvious knowledge of baseball. In fact, reporter Kate Henry has a good deal in common with Author Alison Gordon. This is all to the good.

If you're a baseball fan, you'll likely enjoy this novel. If you like strong intelligent female protagonists who don't come off as Wonder Woman, but who are real, and if you enjoy puzzles, good writing and interesting characters, you'll probably enjoy this novel.

[Homerun2 · Rating 4 out of 5]

Kate Henry is a female sportswriter in the early days -- still subject (can we hope this has changed?) to snide comments and sexual harassment. She takes it all in her stride and just tries to do her job.

But it's difficult when murder keeps cropping up. In this outing, Kate has arrived at spring training for the Toronto Titans, and it isn't long before the body of a provocative young female reporter is found. She was notorious for her extracurricular liaisons and there's no lack of suspects.

These books give a great insight into what it was like being a female journalist in those days. Kate is a great character, and her usual cast with her boyfriend/homicide detective and various members of the team makes for a fun read.

[Chris L · Rating 3 out of 5]

I mentioned in the review of The Dead Pull Hitter that it felt more like a proof of concept than a full fledged book, and this entry inches closer but still fell a little short of the mark. The added stories help the characters feel real, the mystery is more in depth, but there’s still something missing. Maybe it’s the book repeatedly bringing up how weird solving crimes as a sports reporter is, which just took me out of the story every time. Yeah it's a ridiculous concept but drawing attention to it doesn't do the story any favours or add anything to the reader.

[Ben · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another fun mystery by Alison Gordon. Interesting backstory of the young woman who’s murdered. She’s not who you first assume she is, and I guess that’s part of the point. I enjoy that Gordon mixes in so many baseball-related details and even makes fun of baseball cliches.

[David Foster · Rating 3 out of 5]

Canadian mystery but set in Florida. Good read.

[Sharon Helfrich · Rating 4 out of 5]

A baseball mystery!! This third of the series was great, I wonder what Ms. Gordon is doing these days since this is the last one I've found. Wish she would keep writing with these characters!

[Calvin Daniels · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love baseball. Love a mystery.

This combines the two nicely.

[Lane · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another good baseball mystery. Really just a good mystery with a spring training setting of baseball players for characters.