Murder at Wrigley Field

Chicago. 1918. Ballplayers are marching around the diamond with Louisville Sluggers raised like rifles - a patriotic warning to Germany's Kaiser that baseball is a vital part of America's defense. It seems that the whole country is gripped with anti-German fever. It's against the law to play Bach, Beethoven, and Mozart, and it's open season on Dachshunds. For Mickey Rawlings, it's a time of mixed blessings. He's starting for the Cubs, who are five games ahead of the Giants in the standings; he's hitting a career high of .274; he's making more money than he's ever made before; and he even has a regular Saturday night date for the movies. Trouble is, he also knows that other men his age are dying in muddy trenches in France. With the stands mostly empty and pro-American passions running high, things are rapidly going from bad to worse. The Cubs's owner threatens to drop him unless Mickey helps him find who's trying to sabotage the team. The Secretary of War threatens to shut down baseball altogether until the war is over. Censorship and persecution have reared their ugly heads. And Mickey can't even take a bath; somebody stole his hot-water heater. So who cares when an unknown rookie named Willie Kaiser is shot dead in the ballpark on July 4th? His best friend Mickey Rawlings. That's who. From speakeasies to the stockyards, from spitballs to silent movies, Mickey's search for answers takes him much further afield than he ever dreamed he'd go - as a ballplayer and as a man.