Strike Three You're Dead: 1 (The Harvey Blissberg Mysteries) - Softcover

"A superb first novel." -The New York Times Book Review "The literary equivalent of a home run. Rosen has a deadly eye for detail." -Newsday "One of the best sports detective novels of all time!" -The Denver Post

A slugger struggles with an empty ballpark and a murdered teammate The Providence Jewels, an American League expansion team, have been taking a beating all season. Worse, relief pitcher Rudy Furth has just suffered a beating of a more lethal kind-and been left to die in the clubhouse whirlpool among whispers of mob corruption and violently lovesick fans. When the police investigation stalls, veteran Providence center fielder Harvey Blissberg, who knew Furth as well as anyone, decides to play detective. While trying to keep his eye on the ball, and his head above water with the spunky, beautiful sports newscaster Mickey Slavin, Blissberg quietly stalks Furth's killer through major-league locker rooms and the dark streets of Rhode Island's capital city. Lots of ballplayers keep their batting averages above .300-but how many have chased a murderer at the same time? "A superb first novel." -The New York Times Book Review "The literary equivalent of a home run. Rosen has a deadly eye for detail." -Newsday "One of the best sports detective novels of all time!" -The Denver Post R. D. Rosen's writing career spans mystery novels, narrative nonfiction, humor books, and television. Strike Three You're Dead, the first in Rosen's series featuring major league baseball player Harvey Blissberg, won the Edgar Award for Best First Novel from the Mystery Writers of America in 1985. Blissberg's adventures continued in four sequels, including Fadeaway (1986) and Saturday Night Dead (1988), which drew on Rosen's stint as a writer for Saturday Night Live. Rosen's three nonfiction books include Psychobabble (1979), inspired by the term he coined, and A Buffalo in the House: The True Story of a Man, an Animal, and the American West (2007). Over the past decade, he co-created and co-wrote a bestselling series of humor books: Bad Cat, Bad Dog, Bad Baby, and Bad President.