The Feathery
“I’m having trouble coming to grips with why a person would commit murder and attempt to kill someone else over a golf ball,” says a confused New York City detective midway through author Bill Flynn’s delightful novel/mystery The Feathery (BookSurge Publishing).
“But Detective Riley, this is not just a golf ball,” explains Scotland Yard Chief Inspector Trevor Bradshaw. “This is the golf ball, the Holy Grail of golf balls.”
As competitive as the world of professional golf has become, Flynn tells a fictitious story of the cutthroat world of golf antiques and paraphernalia, rooted of course in Scotland, the cradle of golf itself, and centered on one old little ball.
The first “real” golf ball was known as a “feathery,” a leather sack filled with boiled goose feathers, then stitched up and painted. Feathery golf balls were expensive to make, easily damaged, and only the privileged few could afford to use them.
The book revolves around a very specific feathery – one used on the legendary Links of St. Andrews by Hugh McNair in 1849. McNair was not only a feathery golf ball maker but also a golf champion. McNair used the ball in question to set what was, at the time, a course record.
The ball finds its way into the possession of Sandy McNair, a relative of Hugh who currently works at a U.S. golf course to help straighten out wayward boys. Two in particular, Scott Beckman and Matt Kemp, come under Sandy’s tutelage and reform to the point that Scott becomes a professional golfer on tour and Matt a topnotch caddie.
But before their transformation, Sandy dies, leaving his valuable golf possessions, including the Hugh feathery, to Scott. As Scott struggles to finance his up-and-coming golf career, he contemplates selling or auctioning off the legendary ball.
That’s when dangerous mobsters and greedy collectors step into the narrative, all conniving to make the ball theirs.
The story stays on a dual course, following the track of Scott’s golf career as well as the path of the ball, which finds its way into the wrong hands and brings in top investigators from Scotland Yard, among others, to discover its whereabouts.
The author clearly knows his way around the game of golf and around the art of writing mystery. He puts the story in historical perspective, providing details from the early days of the sport, the nuances of playing the game and the ins and outs of what it’s like for professionals on the tour. He creates believable, likable characters that readers will root for, in life and on the links. One does not need an interest or background in golf to enjoy this book.
Suffice to say, Flynn introduces sinister types, romantic interests both simple and complicated, and keeps readers guessing as to how the mystery will end. For a fun ride through legendary golf courses, a touch of history and an intriguing yarn to boot, we recommend that you pick up The Feathery.
