A Split Decision: A Southern Small-Town Cozy Mystery

By Juniper Starling

A dead developer in the parking lot. A small Gulf Coast town on the brink. One bowling-alley manager who refuses to let the lanes go dark.

When Ruby Mae Fletcher, 43, unlocks Sunset Lanes after the charity tournament, real-estate hotshot Rick Castellanos is slumped against a silver rental-very still, very wrong. The official whispers say "accident." Ruby Mae's gut says "staged." Yesterday he prowled White Sands Springs hinting at "security consultants" for anyone who won't sell, and somehow he knew everyone's secrets-medical bills, old arrests, even immigration paperwork-like he'd built a dossier on the whole town.

As fear fractures friendships and property offers turn predatory, a professional fixer arrives to "clean up" loose ends. Reading danger the way she reads oil patterns-patiently, precisely-Ruby Mae teams up with a steady deputy and her tight-knit regulars to trace the blackmail pipeline, smoke out the local leak, and face a killer who makes murders look like mishaps. To save a sixty-year-old bowling alley-and the heart of her community-she'll risk becoming the next "accident."

A cozy with thriller snap: found family, small-town grit, clue-driven sleuthing, and a heroine in her forties you'll root for to the final frame.

A Split Decision is book 1 in A Ruby Mae Fletcher Mystery series. It's a clean, cozy mystery read that is perfect for fans of Ellie Alexander, Tonya Kappes, Kim Davis, and Murder, She Wrote.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: B0FQJCL14Q
• ISBN13: 9798264512537
• Release Date: September 2025
• Publisher: Independently Published
• Length: 116 Pages
• Weight: 0.27 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.3" x 5.0" x 8.0"