SPORTS FREAK

by Shannon OCork ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 14, 1980

The most memorable aspect of this first mystery novel may be author OCork's oddly un-apostrophe'd name--but it's a pleasant enough debut, introducing sleuth T. T. Baldwin, spunky girl photographer for the New York Graphic. Covering the opening game of the High Mountain Climbers, a new NFL team in upstate N.Y., T. T. is right on the scene when Lou Lamont, rookie superstar, hits the ground during the game and doesn't get up--it's murder. T. T. investigates, of course, and uncovers a veritable Peyton Place-ful of illicit couplings, starting off with team owner Marcella Snowfield--a sixtyish widow with a more than motherly interest in football players. But the none-too-substantial motive in fact reaches back to the past; and it's tracked down by routine police work while the body count rises and T. T., in the idiot-heroine manner, nearly gets herself killed. No points for plotting or originality, but OCork writes a spontaneous, easy narrative, T. T. is moderately charming, and the news-hound milieu is intermittently engaging--so this is a fairly welcome arrival, with perhaps dandy things ahead if OCork can clean up her plot act.

Pub Date: March 14, 1980

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: St. Martin's

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 1980

Categories: FICTION