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 1927 Yankees, Babe Ruth, and Murderers’ Row Photo Gallery
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My Review of Bill Gutman’s Book,

Murder on Murderer’s Row

Bill Gutman has been an integral part of our team here on Baseball History Comes Alive for two and a half years. Over that time, Bill has developed quite a following, as our readers have come to realize what a skillful and prolific writer he is, with over 200 books to his credit.

I first became acquainted with Bill after I stumbled onto his baseball-themed Murder on Murderer’s Row, an action-packed murder-mystery set in the Roaring Twenties starring a street-wise, smart-mouthed New York cop named Mike Fargo. The book is the centerpiece of Bill’s Mike Fargo mystery series. After I read it, I was so impressed that I contacted Bill to let him how much I enjoyed it. One thing led to another, and I soon asked Bill if he’d like to join our writing team. He readily accepted and has been contributing high-quality articles and essays ever since. We’ve very fortunate to have a writer with Bill’s talents on our team. 

I have to say that for those of us who love baseball’s glorious past, Murder on Murderer’s Row is right up our alley. I’m not one who reads a lot of fiction, but I actually had trouble putting this one down. And just to make things better, the Bambino – Babe Ruth himself – is right in the center of the action.

Set as a backdrop running throughout is the 1927 home run race between the Babe and Lou Gehrig, and the Babe’s attempt to break his own home run record set in 1921. Even though you knew it would happen, Bill’s on-going depiction of the contest between the two great Yankee sluggers was so vivid that I actually recall having goose-bumps when the Babe hit number 60. This was baseball and life as it existed back in the Roaring Twenties.

In the featured photo above, we see a beautiful colorization by Chris Whitehouse of the real “Murderer’s Row,” Lou Gehrig, Babe Ruth, Earle Combs, and Tony Lazzeri. 

Now that our readers are much more familiar with Bill and his work, I thought this would be a good time to repost my Amazon review. If you’re looking for a good page-turner to read over the Christmas holidays, I’d highly recommend Murder on Murderer’s Row. I’ve placed an Amazon link to the book in the sidebar on the right. After you read it, if you’re as impressed as I was, you might want to consider reading Bill’s entire Mike Fargo mystery series. 

Below is my review of Bill Gutman’s Murder on Murderer’s Row which I posted on Amazon a couple years ago –GL

I’m not one who reads a lot of fiction, but Bill Gutman’s Murder on Murderer’s Row held my interest all the way to the end. If you enjoy action-packed, fast-paced detective thrillers loaded with great character and plot development – and with a heavy dose of Roaring Twenties local color thrown in – this one is for you. The underlying baseball theme centered on the great Bambino, Babe Ruth, adds a lot of interest to the plot, but don’t worry. You don’t have to be a baseball fan to enjoy this one.

Author Bill Gutman develops the protagonist into a likable and believable character: a smart-mouthed, hard-nosed “good cop” who accepts the dangerous assignments thrust upon him unflinchingly. They all come with the job description for streetwise New York city detective Mike Fargo, best described as a “cop’s cop.” The plot, as it unfolds under author Bill Gutman’s skillful pen, keeps moving and never drags. Although full of unexpected twists and turns, I found myself able to stay with it to the end, and never lost sight of where it was going.

The depth of Gutman’s knowledge of the Roaring Twenties is truly something to behold, with nuance and subtlety amply intertwined throughout the text, never contrived or forced. Only someone with an intimate familiarity with the era could pull this off. Plus, the 1920’s “lingo” was spot-on, exact, and had me chuckling out loud on numerous occasions.

The way Bill weaved the Babe into the story added an element of realism and enjoyment for an old baseball buff like me. He captured the Babe’s persona to a tee and made it an intricate part of the plot. Not only that, but to my rather prudish temperament, he left most of the romantic sub-theme between Fargo and his beautiful “song-bird” Lola, up to the imagination, and never once allowed it to devolve to the level of a trashy novel.

Baseball history fans, do yourself a favor and download Murder on Murderer’s Row, now available in both paperback and ebook formats” (a real steal at only $2.99 for the ebook). Thanks to the wonders of modern technology, you can be reading it almost immediately.