FIRST AT BAT
A Deacon Cross Baseball Mystery Thriller
One dead coach. One hidden secret. One scout caught between the truth and the career he built his life around.
Deacon Cross knows baseball.
He knows pitching mechanics. He knows talent. He knows how to spot the difference between a future superstar and a million-dollar mistake.
But when he arrives in a small Mississippi college town to evaluate a once-in-a-generation pitching prospect, the only thing waiting for him is a murder scene.
The star pitching coach is dead.
The weapon? An aluminum baseball bat.
The suspect? The angry mother of the young pitcher Deacon came to scout.
The problem?
Deacon knows she didn't do it.
Because the night before the murder, he was with her.
Now the only evidence that can clear an innocent woman is the truth Deacon can't afford to reveal. If he tells the police what he knows, he destroys his career, loses his future with the major league front office, and becomes the headline instead of the investigator.
But Deacon has spent his life reading players, coaches, and the hidden games played behind the scenes.
And someone in this baseball town is lying.
Behind the college stadium lights is a world of pressure, money, gambling, broken dreams, and powerful people willing to do anything to protect their next big star.
To find the killer, Deacon must step outside the rules.
Because this time, he isn't scouting a player.
He's hunting a murderer.
FIRST AT BAT is a fast-paced baseball mystery thriller featuring a reluctant investigator, a small-town murder, a high-stakes college sports conspiracy, and a hero who knows the game better than anyone-but has to learn when the game is rigged.
If you enjoy sports mysteries, amateur sleuth thrillers, private investigator stories, Lee Child-style lone heroes, and gripping crime novels with twists and secrets, you'll love the first adventure of Deacon Cross.
Grab FIRST AT BAT today and discover the mystery that puts Deacon Cross on the case.
