The Spoiler: A Novel

by Domenic Stansberry

This 1987 crime classic, now in paperback for the first time, brings to light the gritty underside of minor league baseball in a way that few books have, in any genre. Nominated for an Edgar Allan Poe Award in the year it was published, the reputation of this novel has only increased over the years, and it is now regarded by many as one of the best sports mysteries ever written, and one of the best books about baseball.It tells the story of Frank Lofton, an itinerant reporter obsessed with a minor league team in a Massachusetts mill town. The town is plagued by arson, and with the burning city as a backdrop, Lofton follows his obsession, leading him from the mysterious death of a struggling ballplayer, to the owner's beautiful mistress, into an underworld of corruption and deceit.

Genres: Mystery, Baseball, Sports, Fiction

278 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1987

About the author

Domenic Stansberry is an Edgar Award winning novelist known for his dark, innovative crime novels. His latest novel, The White Devil, tells the story of a young American woman in Rome, an aspiring actress, who— together with her too charming brother— is implicated in a series of crimes dating back to her childhood days in Texas. Stansberry is also the author of the North Beach Mystery Series, which has won wide praise for its portrayal of the ethnic and political subcultures of San Francisco. Books from the series include The Ancient Rain, named several years after its original publication as one of the best crime novels of the decade by Booklist.

An earlier novel, The Confession, received the Edgar Allan Poe Award for its portrayal of a Marin County psychologist accused of murdering his mistress.

Stansberry grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area and currently lives in a small town north of that city with his wife, the poet Gillian Conoley, and their daughter Gillis.

Reviews

[tortoise dreams · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Spoiler combines America's two national pastimes: baseball and murder. Frank Lofton is short, balding, in his late thirties, thinks too much, and consistently makes poor decisions. He doesn't know his son by his first marriage, his second marriage has fallen apart, his career as a reporter is marginal, and he's chasing a story in which people who know too much are dying. Did I mention he makes poor decisions? Seems his only joy in life is going to the ballpark to watch the Holyoke Redwings lose ballgames. Frank is the unlikely hero of this introspective, noirish, and hardboiled mystery about a Massachusetts town with dying industry and too many abandoned warehouses burning. The story is a slow build. Stansberry paints a careful portrait of town and characters, as Frank spends many pages mulling over the ramifications of the many moving parts he's discovered. Typically for noir there's an aptly named femme fatale, though unusually the reader gets to share some of her thoughts. After a lengthy set-up, the ending comes fast, furious, and unexpected. The Spoiler was the first novel by Domenic Stansberry, who's written a number of other mysteries, including The Confession (2004), from the popular Hard Case Crime series. Stansberry dedicated The Spoiler to Adam Hammer, a surrealist poet and talented baseball player who died in a car accident three years before the novel was published. Adam's book of poetry, Deja Everything, is reviewed on GR (3.75) and Amazon (5.0). [4★]

[Joe · Rating 2 out of 5]

Baseball and murder are just two of the problems facing the city of Holyoke, Massachusetts in this book. Corrupt politicians, gang wars, drugs, a love triangle (quadrangle?), urban decay, and a rash of suspicious fires create an environment where most characters are either unlikeable or pathetic. The real victim is the city of Holyoke, which burns due to the inherent corruption of its leaders. This book definitely has local interest for western Massachusetts, but not much to recommend otherwise.

[Laura · Rating 1 out of 5]

The basic mystery was fine, but other than that I pretty much liked nothing about this book. It definitely read as being pretty dated, and it was a bit racist and a bit sexist. None of the characters were likable, which made it difficult to care what happened in the story. I also thought the ending was very unsatisfying. I don't think this was necessarily an awful book, but it just wasn't for me.


Received from NetGalley.