In the same vein as Eric Larson’s Devil in the White City, Jonathan Knight juxtapositions two events in the history of Cleveland, Ohio, one sports related and another murder, which still today has its residents discussing and surmising: The talented 1954 Cleveland Indians and the Marilyn Sheppard murder trial. Both events had the citizen’s of this city on the edge of their seats and drawn to their local newspapers to learn of the latest developments.
The Indians were in a bitter pennant race with the powerfully consistent New York Yankees and in this the newspapers did what they were made to do, report the details and outcomes of the games.
As the Indians were plowing through 111 victories that year, Marilyn Sheppard, wife of affluent doctor, Sam Sheppard was ruthlessly murdered in her bedroom as her husband slept on the downstairs sofa. Being a very uncommon occurrence in the affluent suburb of Bay Village, citizens were in an uproar and feared that unless the murderer was brought to justice their lives would be in jeopardy. The Cleveland Press reports the murder, the lack of law enforcement expertise in the community to handle the case which brings in the County Coroner who does his own inquisition and the Cleveland Police Department who then takes the reins of the investigation. Soon afterwards, The Press, comes to the forefront in demanding the murderer be arrested and brought to trial for despite the lack of evidence they know who the perpetrator is and for the good of the community should be brought to justice. It is interesting to see how a newspaper which is designed to report the news becomes and makes the news.
From a lifelong resident of the area, it is obvious that Knight carefully researched his subjects and Clevelander’s born after 1954 will finally understand why Cleveland was once coined “The Best Location in the Nation” but it, none the less, saddens me that it is a book such as this that reaffirms that Cleveland is stuck in the past and rehashing old news does little to advance the community. ( )

This enjoyable, interesting book tells three stories. First, it’s a baseball book about the 1954 Cleveland Indians, one of the greatest teams of all time. Second (and secondarily), it tells the story of the Sam Sheppard case, in which the suburban Cleveland doctor was accused of murdering his wife, Marilyn, on July 4, 1954. Third, the author spends some time talking about the decline of the city of Cleveland, which in 1954 was still called “the best location in the nation” but, by 1969, was called “the mistake by the lake.”

As for the baseball part, I’ve read many similar books and the author does a decent job talking about the great Indians team, which won 111 games (out of 154), and its players, such as Bob Feller, Early Wynn, Bob Lemon, and Al Rosen, along with its manager, Al Lopez, and its GM, Hank Greenberg. What is off-putting, however, is how he talks about each World Series game as an “Autumn Interlude” throughout the book. It disrupts the flow of the narrative as the reader needs to think about whether the author is talking about the regular season pennant chase or the World Series. Also, once the final Autumn Interlude is done, I had no interest whatsoever in going back to the text and reading about the anti-climactic pennant chase.

The parts of the book dealing with the Sam Sheppard case were interesting though I wish the author had done more with how the Sheppard case changed the law. He does do a good job of talking about how the crime scene was contaminated—star Cleveland Browns quarterback, Otto Graham, lived nearby and was allowed to traipse through the house after the crime as was a neighbor boy who was looking for his lost pet turtle. The author also talks of how the Sheppard case ended up being a “trial by newspaper” and the legal reforms the U.S. Supreme Court eventually imposed on how newspaper reporters operate in the courtroom.

I enjoyed how the author put the year, 1954, into context, talking about such events as window air conditioners and also frozen dinners coming into widespread use.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book and would highly recommend it, though I’d caution readers to be prepared for an author who jumps around a bit too much. ( )

This is the story of Cleveland, Ohio in the summer of 1954. The city billed itself as “The Best Location in the Nation” and experienced a great summer that year as the Cleveland Indians battled for the pennant against the hated New York Yankees. That same summer, much of the country kept at least one eye on the city following the mystery of the murder of Marilyn Sheppard. Her husband Dr. Sam Sheppard was tried and convicted of the murder.

This book by Jonathan Knight combines these two stories as the summer progresses. Knight does an excellent job of transitioning between them. Being a bit of a baseball fan, I always enjoy reading about the teams from several decades ago. I was caught up in the excitement of the pennant race and the huge disappointment the Indians players and fans suffered in the World Series.

I was a huge fan of "The Fugitive" television series which has been thought by many to be based on the Sheppard case. Growing up in the 50s, I remembered hearing about the murder so I was interested in reading more about it. Whether or not Dr. Sheppard was guilty, his treatment by the media and the courts was unbelievable and clearly showed how much legal reforms were needed.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book and would recommend it for a quick easy read of a different time in our country. ( )

An intriguing and complicated book relating 3 interwoven tales: the season of the 1954 Cleveland Indians, the trial of Dr. Sam Sheppard for the murder of his wife, and the story of Cleveland, Ohio - the Greatest Location in the Nation - during the summer of 1954.

The details are in-depth and sometimes slow things down but the completeness of the story is solid. I found myself reading this in spurts which worked best. I am a baseball fan - especially of the old teams - and have been interested in learning more about the Sam Sheppard murder case. It was a very informative and well-written book with lots of passion for the game of baseball, the city of Cleveland, and accurate historical writing. Knight's writing was colorful and poetic as well as factual.

I enjoyed the book very much. ( )

Murder and baseball would not seem to go together very well, but this book does an interesting job of combining the two stories. On reflection, both the '54 Indians and the Sheppard murder case were tragic stories set (sort of) in Cleveland. Further, they both occur (sort of) during the same summer. Further, both included convoluted plot changes one might not have anticipated.
The story lumbers a bit to get running until about the halfway point. During this first half, the murder story is darkly hinted at, but has not happened, so the Indians are in the sharpest focus. The book does a nice job of laying out a sense of time and place, and the reader will often be shocked by the tales of discrimination against athletes from ethnic and religious backgrounds that are almost unimaginable today. But once the murder itself enters the story, the book takes on a sort of gripping readability. Overall, I was put in mind of Devil in the White City, Erik Larson's tale of the construction of the White City of the Chicago World's Fair and a serial murderer preying on young women who attended. That work has a lot more murders to draw on, of course, but the construction story is perhaps less gripping than the baseball account that parallels the Sheppard case. I found the attempt to tie all this to the decline of Cleveland a bit of a stretch. Whatever the case, this was an enjoyable book with something for the baseball fan and mystery buff alike. ( )