Murder at First Pitch by Nicole Asselin is the first book in the “Ball Park” cozy mystery series. Publisher: Pandamoon Publishing, coming September 4, 2019.

32-year-old Madeline Boucher’s Grandfather instilled a love in the Boston Red Sox into her from an early age and increased that love by purchasing a local Independent League Baseball team, the Abington Armadillos.

After losing her corporate job in Boston, Madeline realizes her best option is to join the family baseball business. As the new “Social Media Director” for the team, Madeline attends her first business function and witnesses an argument between her brother Ben, and a strange man.

A few days later when walking the ballpark during her early morning hours, she finds the body of a man beaten to death with a baseball bat in the Visitor’s Dugout. It was the man her brother was arguing with at the party. Madeline is concerned that her brother would be considered a suspect. Through the local Detectives and Davis – the head of security for the ballpark she learns the victim is Christopher Dailey, a local baseball scout and prior felon.

When her brother is arrested and taken to the police station, she realizes she needs to figure out who the real culprit is, so her brother doesn’t take the fall for something she knows he didn’t do.

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I like this book where America’s favorite pastime takes center field. We meet the Boucher family who own a small baseball team. Coming back to work for the family is marred when her brother becomes the prime suspect in a murder that takes place in their dugout. Maddie sets out to prove her brother innocence and protect the family’s business.

All in all, this was a fun book to read and I enjoyed the pacing of this story which was like hitting a home run with a strong plot and a well-fielded mystery. The author did a great job in providing suspects and clues and it was fun watching Maddie take the helm and go with it by asking questions and reporting what she knows to the security team and the detective. The more questions she asked, the more she became caught up in the crosshairs of the killer. I like the role she portrayed as well as the role of other characters that were pivotal to when the killer’s identity was reveal. Overall, I had a good time with Maddie and her friends and I look forward to more adventures with the team.

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FTC Full Disclosure – I received a digital ARC of this book from the author.