Frank Merriman, P.I.

I N T R O D U C T I O N

Since I began writing my debut novel The Aspiration of Detective Broderick Throckmorton , I wondered who is Franklin Ernest Merriman, a private investigator born in 1998 in Santa Monica, California? This is the answer: Yes, he was born over two decades ago. Now, through the magic of Hachette Book Group, along with my colleagues at Disney Consumer Products and Interactive Media and the good folks over at Wattpad, Frank Merriman, P.I., the main character of this novel, has become a success story.

With compelling clues, fun-loving punchlines, pranks and rapid-fire action, Frank Merriman, P.I.. is my best novel ever developed online. Earning the nickname "Trigger Happy" at the age of four years old, Frank is a silly, offensive and more zany comical detective who has been breaking the rules of justice in Los Angeles; and this novel will be a global success! Wow! Would've had this published online just like any other private investigator in the history of  law enforcement-themed fiction. Ha!

Ever since I began earning the nickname "The Comedy Answer Man" in 2000, I relocated to Oak Park Heights and lived for 11-and-a-half years. However, I came up with a pitch for the Comedy Central original series The Minority Report With Larry Wilmore, which evolved into The Nightly Show With Larry Wilmore, and my transition to writing fiction began in earnest.

Led by a crack team of detectives, Frank Merriman, P.I. spoofs private investigator-themed motion pictures and television programs concerning various areas of California's criminal underworld. This is one of the cheapest books I have ever written online; and, because of the wacky, offbeat characters in Frank Merriman, P.I. represent a new chapter in my book publishing career, Frank Merriman, P.I. him-self never looks so good to all detective-novel fans and devotees - especially in difficult time. What a laugh it is; oh, what a crime Frank solves.

Over the past five decades since my birth in my native home state of Minnesota, I've written several children's books when I was a child transitioning to a teenager for six year (1971-1977); to me, Frank Merriman, P.I. is at the tip of the literary iceberg, as I say it.

But what makes Frank Merriman, P.I. a great detective?

Frank earns the nickname "Trigger Happy," meaning "irresponsible in the use of firearms" in the English language. He wears a three-piece wardrobe, carries a .500 caliber revolver hand gun known as the Interrogator, and drives a sporty, technologically advanced luxury motor car named after him. For Detective Merriman, the plots are complex, the clues are riveting, and the result is hilarious but highly comedic, yet bizarre, interrogative, and in your face. Woo!

For all of its zany plots and outrageous private investigator-oriented laughs and suspense, I commit my life to write Frank Merriman, P.I. This will be the best part of the next generation of detective mystery novel franchises; and I can expect all readers across the country and the globe, respectively, just by sharing the secret of Frank "Trigger Happy" Merriman, P.I. every day of the year for years to come.

This book is dedicated to everyone at Disney Publishing Worldwide's family of publishing partners throughout the world, including everyone at Penguin Random House in Canada and Europe, Egmont in Norway, HarperCollins in Australia and New Zealand, Simon & Schuster in Africa and the Far and Middle East and Macmillan Publishers in the United Kingdom and Japan.

My special thanks go to all the people at Hachette Book Group USA and their colleagues at Lagardere Publishing North America; and the management of Bayport Printing House in Bayport, Minnesota for their cooperation in the printing of this book.

Lastly, I wish to dedicate this book to my nephews, Alex - who's called himself "Clash" - and his brother Drew the Contraption Patrolman - as well as my brothers Dan, a.k.a. "Schlock," and David for their devotion to Frank Merriman, P.I. You're the best!

Until my next three books published in 2019 and 2020 by Grand Central Publishing and its Hachette Book Group sister imprint Little, Brown Books for Young Readers - Shadow Busters, Capt. Men and the recently announced superhero-themed novel Flash Danforth - thanks for your support and dedication.

I ain't got time to blog!

Mark T. Watson

November 2017