An Atlanta Braves pitcher delivers from the mound during 2026 Spring Training game. Photo by Wes Roberts.

There is a new detective on the prowl in the literary world, armed with the sharp insight of trial lawyer and competitive streak of a former Major League Baseball player. The detective is Scott Davis, a character created by Lakewood Ranch resident David Feldman and the protagonist of Feldman’s debut novel, Murder on the Mound, which was published this September. Murder on the Mound follows Davis, a former World Series-winning shortstop with the Boston Red Sox, as he defends his best friend Doug Simons in the murder trial of star pitcher Pete Marcus. Simons and Davis are brothers-in-law and former college teammates, but when Marcus is brutally murdered, all the evidence points to Simons, his teammate on the San Diego Padres.

The idea for the murder mystery—the first in a planned series of Scott Davis legal-thrillers—was directly inspired by Feldman’s 20-year career as a practicing attorney. “Spending 20 years as a trial lawyer gives you a big insight into life as a storyteller,” says Feldman. “Once I retired, I wanted to find a way to combine the things that I enjoy the most, which are baseball and the law, in a way that was useful and enjoyable to myself and others.”

The story of Murder on the Mound, Feldman insists, had been rolling around in his head for 20-some odd years. The character of Scott Davis, like any great protagonist, has bits and pieces of himself. Feldman, a Boston Red Sox fan, hails from Hamden, Connecticut. “Scott’s character is sort of fantasy-biographical, because while it would’ve been a dream of mine to play for the Red Sox, it was never going to happen,” says Feldman. “When the murder investigation happens, Scott’s coming off an emotionally devastating career-ending injury. Everybody around him fears that if this murder trial goes badly, it could be the blow he couldn’t come back from.”

Murder on the Mound is available on Amazon, Barnes & Noble and bookstores via Ingram.

An Atlanta Braves pitcher delivers from the mound during 2026 Spring Training game. Photo by Wes Roberts.

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