Dear Reader, 

It’s been nine months since Dingbat Publishing re-released my debut novel, Tools of the Trade, and a little more than four years since it was first released by my previous publisher. So, for many of you the wait for my second book in the Chip Hale Handyman Mystery series, Trademark of Murder, has been a long time. However, the wait is over.

I had a difficult time writing Trademark of Murder because Chip’s granddaughter, Franklynn, kept getting in my way. I’ve never had a character take over a story while I was writing it before. I had no idea where Franklynn was going or how she would wind up in relation to the one I was trying to write. Would it all make sense, or would I just wind up with one big mess on my hands. Nevertheless, I was intrigued and decided to give Franklynn her lead. 

It’s scary stuff for a writer, being out of control of the world they’re trying to create, yet at the same time quite thrilling, I hope it happens more often because, about twenty pages before I was wrapping up the mystery of why several members of the Reno community had died from carbon monoxide poisoning, the two stories magically came together and I had nothing to do with it. 

I sincerely hope that you have as much fun reading Trademark of Murder as Franklynn and I had writing it. Fortunately, the gap between Trademark of Murder and Trade Secrets, the third book in this series, won’t be nearly as long. My new publisher wants me to have it to the editor by the first of the year. So, even though the publishing world seems to move at the speed of a snail with a hangover, you should expect to have it on your bookshelves early next spring. 

Thanks for your patience and support,

Bruce Rolfe