Reno Splits: Mystery on a Nevada Divorce Ranch

This summer I'll be e-publishing  Reno Splits: Mystery on a Nevada Divorce Ranch, a novel of mystery and suspense set in post World War II  Reno, Nevada.  This post introduces you to the story.  Later posts will delve into the culture of the time, specifically the divorce ranches that sprang up around Reno in the 1940s and 1950s.  If  you have specific questions, I would be pleased to try and provide answers.

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Bustling 1949 Reno featured flashy casinos, dazzling nightlife, high-stakes gambling, majestic scenery and alluring women.  Some of the women were eastern socialites and Hollywood starlets who had come to the gambling mecca for another of its offerings--a 'quickie divorce'. 

During their time in Nevada, many of the split-seekers lived on dude ranches, exclusive enclaves the locals called  'divorce ranches'.  Those oftentimes rustic establishments catered to their guests' every wish, providing whatever entertainment and companionship the women desired to fill the forty-two days and nights required by the state before it would grant them a divorce.  It was a luxurious and pampered life for most--but not all the women.  Some mysteriously disappeared .  One of those was Sally Renfield who vanished on the day her divorce hearing was scheduled.  Days later, when her animal-ravaged body was found in the desert north of Reno, her twin brother, New York lawyer Sam Carr, traveled west to find her.  As Sam explored the divorce ranch culture, getting ever closer to his prey, he uncovered some unexpected truths about his sister--and about himself.  He also found himself in the crosshairs of a madman, leaving him only one option--succeed in his quest or die.