My sixth novel, a cozy mystery called The Handyman, should be available in a few weeks. As the publication date nears, lots of things are happening: final editing, proofreading, writing the back cover description, and designing the book cover.

To give you a taste of what the book is about, here is the book’s description:

Twenty-six-year-old American banker, Joshua Clayton, is on vacation in Paris with his fiancé and parents, when he discovers they’ve betrayed him. Wanting physical distance from them while he sorts through his emotions, he accepts a job over the phone as handyman for an elderly woman, Paulette Lapierre, in a French village.

Paulette doesn’t tell him until he arrives that she’s dying and hired him because she needs a caregiver who is strong and reliable. He’s not happy that she misled him, but he’s not ready to go home and deal with his troubles, so he reluctantly agrees to do double duty—as caregiver and handyman—and stay with her until the end.

The job isn’t easy, because of their age-and-cultural differences and because Paulette lives in a hilltop troglo—a cave home. But living in France brings unexpected friendships with two very different women: the free-spirited retired dancer Paulette and a young semi-reclusive baker, Isabelle Bernot, who help him heal.

As he gets to know Paulette better, he discovers she has secrets she’d hoped to take to her grave, but now those secrets are surfacing and drawing the three of them into an investigation that changes everything.

Ken Dawson of Creative Covers, a UK company, designed the front cover for The Handyman and is currently working on the back cover. I’m really excited to reveal the front cover. I hope you like it!