The Screwball King Murder

Max Roper #7

by Kin Platt

LA detective Max Roper investigates death of Dodger pitcher in a condo swimming pool.

Genres: Mystery, Ebooks, Sports

185 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1978

About the author

Pseudonyms: Kirby Carr, Guy West, Alan West, Guy York & Wesley Simon York

Kin Platt (1911–2003) was the author of the perennially popular I Can Read Book Big Max, as well as several outstanding young-adult novels and the Max Roper mystery series for adults. Mr. Platt was also a noted cartoonist.

For more information, please see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kin_Platt

Reviews

[Dave]

Each of Kin Platt's Max Roper detective novels (except for Pushbutton Butterfly which is about hippies) centers around the death of a professional athlete in golf, tennis, horse racing, bodybuilding, etc. Screwball King features the death of a screwball throwing Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher, Hondo Kenyon, who is also a Hugh Hefner level ladies man about town. And that leaves just about a gazillion suspects for his mysterious death. Typical of this excellent mystery series are the vague clues, the sordid nightclubs, the lurking hoods, and the vivacious and eye catching women who cross Roper's path. His investigative techniques are sort of nothing more than poking around till you stumble in something, but it makes for a terrific series of novels. Like the others in this series, a top notch choice for entertainment.

[Chris]

Don't normally read mystery books. This one wasn't bad, but like I said I don't really have a lot to compare it to within this genre. It was an easy read, but seemed as though the author was a bit of an amateur. The plot moved along in a pretty repetitive fashion. Lots of interviews with possible subjects, and eventually all the pieces fit together at the end to reveal the the guilty party. Probably won't be reading another mystery for a while, but for a free book, it was worth a few days to read.

[L.T. Fawkes]

Kin Platt, $3.03 on Kindle *** A screwball pitcher for the Dodgers is a screwball off the field, too. Between the batters he's hit, the victims of his practical jokes, and the women he's two-timed, he's made a lot of enemies in his short life.

When he's found electrocuted in his apartment complex's swimming pool, a fan and ex-cop doesn't think it's an accident. Good plot, good characters, nicely-paced.

[Kenny]

Strong characters and a plot that kept me guessing. I liked this novel more and more as I got farther into it. Snappy patter is a big part of the novel and I usually found it a bit boring. But the characters were more than stock and the plot was a mystery until the end. Recommended.

[Anne-Kathrine]

On kindle

[Rachel Fischer]

This book moves quickly, has great period language, and keeps the reader guessing with a suspenseful plot . I really liked the tone of the writing and the style.