The Spoiler Book

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.