Three Strikes You're Dead

Every now and then you pick up a novel and start to read and know after only one page that the book is going to be a winner. "Strike Three You're Dead" is one of those books. Chicago, 1938: Capone is in prison, the Cubs are in third place, and Steve Malik, Chicago Tribune police reporter, has a handle on his drinking, mostly. They say location is an important element in any mystery and that is certainly the case with this one. You walk the streets of the nation's second largest city blanketed by the shadow of the Tribune Tower, feel the breeze coming off Lake Michigan, and hear the rumble of the El as you sense the cold tension in the air caused by the remnants of Capone's organization, old time gangsters still at war with the cops and politicians. Baseball plays a supporting role in this tale. Dizzy Dean and his Cubs teammates pop in and out, frequenting Malik's hangout, Kilkenny's Bar and Grill, as they struggle to capture the National League title and ultimately face the Yanks in the '38 World Series. There's a smidgen of a romance that goes nowhere, maybe to be rekindled in a sequel, and there are walk-on parts played by the famous and near famous of the times peppered throughout the book. But this is a crime novel. The murder of a leading Republican mayoral candidate is front and center. Steve Malik must solve the crime, and find the true killer, not the suspect the cops have hung it on, before he too is another static buried in the legacy of the era. Robert Goldsborough is a writer. His diction, prose, and style reflect the many years he spent in professional journalism as a reporter with the Chicago Tribune and other prestigious publications. If you enjoy well written, intriguing mystery novels order "Three Strikes You're Dead." You won't be disappointed.