My agent, Barbara Casey, has accepted my completed manuscript for "Bluff," the second installment of the Lark Chadwick mystery-suspense series.

"Bluff" is set in Southern Wisconsin in the fictional town of Pine Bluff -- a composite of the Wisconsin cities of Stoughton and La Crosse.  It also contains scenes set along the Inca Trail in Peru and is based, in part, on my hike to Machu Picchu in 2007.

"Bluff" is the sequel to "Fast Track," released in hardcover in 2005 and paperback in 2007 by ArcheBooks.  

"Fast Track" introduced the characters Lark Chadwick and Lionel Stone.  Chadwick, a spunky-feisty young woman, solved the mystery of the car-train collision that orphaned her as an infant. Stone, an irascible-crusty former New York Times editor, becomes her mentor and foil.

In "Bluff," Lark investigates the mountain-climbing accident in Peru which killed Stone's daughter, Holly, two years earlier.  

As was the case in "Fast Track," the new novel is set against a backdrop that examines grief, journalistic integrity, and mentoring relationships.

No publication date has been set, but it's hoped "Bluff" will debut in the fall of 2009. 

My blog, elsewhere on this site, chronicles the creative process of "Bluff" and will be updated soon.