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contact: tironesmith@aol.com

Watch the Standells playing Dirty Water, the Red Sox victory song, at Fenway Park.

“Smith’s latest mystery, written with her son, Jere, features murder, blackmail and baseball: the seamy underside of recruiting foreign ballplayer, all with an unerring eye for detail.”

“David ‘Big Papi’ Ortiz, superslugger and larger-than-life personality, adds zest to a plot that’s already as tricky and slick as an unassisted triple play.”
“Dirty Water takes us inside the Sox clubhouse and out into the neighborhood around baseball’s little green chapel. I can verify that the authors know its territory.”
“Mary-Ann Tirone Smith, author of the acclaimed memoir Girls of Tender Age is no stranger to the mystery genre with three novels featuring FBI agent Poppy Rice among her books. Jere Smith, her son, is no stranger to all things Red Sox, being a fourth-generation fan and founder of the blog A Red Sox Fan in Pinstripe Territory. The mystery develops nicely, and the most fun is the Red Sox and Boston lore, interaction between the players and punchy dialogue.”
“Dirty Water is like a David Ortiz at-bat with the bases loaded in the bottom of the ninth--loaded with drama and suspense.”
“To truly enjoy this extremely clever novel and its extra-innings ending, it helps if you are a fan of the Boston Red Sox, intimately familiar with Boston's Fenway neighborhood and conversant with the online practice of blogging. But should you strike out on these topics, never mind. The book is a good read, and, as a bonus, David "Big Papi" Ortiz, the team's superstar slugger and larger-than-life personality, adds a bit of zest to a plot that's already as tricky and slick as an unassisted triple play.”
“Even if you root for the Rox, not the Sox, you've gotta admire this baseball-filled mystery for its deep and knowledgeable love of the game. An apparently motiveless murder affects a warm Boston family, and at the same time, the Red Sox clubhouse and its denizens come to life when an abandoned baby turns up. The compelling conclusion entertains while making a point about how the game is run today. Final word: The story ends well before Boston came to Denver and gave us a drubbing [to win the World Championship]. Grade: A.”
“The gripping novel Dirty Water begins inside Fenway Park in the midst of the Red Sox' 2007 championship season. From that opening scene, in which a newborn in seemingly dire health is mysteriously abandoned in the Red Sox clubhouse, the well-plotted, plausible novel hurtles forward with the help of well-drawn characters and a deep and satisfying sense of setting. The Red Sox themselves show up periodically to contribute to both of these rich elements of the book. At the core of the lived-in, baseball-saturated world of the novel is the police detective working to solve the case, which comes to involve not only the abandonment of a baby but kidnapping, murder, and international human trafficking. This detective, Rocky Patel, is an excellent character, unusual and compelling, and unshakably dogged in his pursuit of the truth. Because of his magnetic presence, I would have been drawn forward by the book even if it hadn't so richly and authoritatively portrayed a world in which the Red Sox are as intrinsic to life as water or air.”
“One of our favorite blogs is Jere Smith's A Red Sox Fan in Pinstripe Territory, where Yankee-hating is flung to bold new heights almost every day (and his recent All-Star game rants were things of beauty). Jere and his mom, author Mary-Ann Tirone Smith, have collaborated on a mystery novel that skillfully combines everything we love about the Red Sox--the players, the Park, the fans--into a gritty, suspenseful tale that begins with an abandoned baby found in the Olde Towne Team's clubhouse. In a cool technique, much of the plot advances through the posts of a mysterious blogger. Reading Dirty Water is like sitting in your favorite Fenway-area pub, watching the game while seated between Dennis Lehane and Peter Gammons. And that's my kinda place.”
“Dirty Water is a solid, intricately plotted mystery speckled with the 2007 World Champion Red Sox and a backdrop of Fenway Park. What more could you want?”
“These authors know Boston, they know baseball, and they definitely know the Red Sox. Real-life Sox players walk right onto the pages of this mystery—along with bloggers, bad guys and Boston’s finest.”