Joyce T. Strand
Fact Sheet

About the Books

Inspired by criminal cases of the black marketing of Native American artifacts and bones.

Finding a corpse buried with Native American artifacts wasn’t the first delay of the renovation Emily faced. But she was not prepared for what followed. A murder investigation, excavation to uncover more artifacts, and drug dealers looking for missing product further delay the mansion’s restoration into an iconic B&B. While facing these setbacks, Emily is also realizing her growing attraction to a local chef, a man who believes a relationship isn’t possible due to his commitment to care for his brain-injured brother.

Inspired by an FBI case involving a ten-year mortgage fraud scheme involving the Matsubi family in the Los Angeles area.

A series of events rattle Emily Lazzaro. A near-death encounter with a pickup on a narrow mountain road. The murder of a would-be client. And an ex-fiancé who won’t let go. Can she survive a police investigation, pressure from her ex’s company, and the suspicions of a possible new love-interest–so that she can make the changes to create a meaningful new life in a special town in southern California?

Inspired by the reporting and approach of Marjorie C. Driscoll*, who originally worked for William Randolph Hearst and then in 1921 joined the San Francisco Chronicle and eventually moved to the Los Angeles Times.

A house burglary in 1912 San Francisco that the victim denies happening piques Emma Matheson’s reporter instincts. Why would a businessman deny that recovered loot was his and forego collecting his $8,000 worth of stolen jewelry? Why did he fire his maid and butler who originally reported the theft? The more she pursues the burglary that wasn’t a burglary, the more she sees it as a major story, involving murder, intrigue, and smuggling. Can she solve it and write the story that could project her to become the world-famous reporter she so covets? Or will she become one of its victims?

*A graduate of Stanford University in 1913, Driscoll wrote an article in The Stanford Illustrated Review in 1920, titled “In the Newspaper Field” that describes the features of a successful reporter, including the mantra “know a little of everything.”

Inspired by California cases of wine Ponzi schemes, a 2004 million dollar wine embezzling at a storage facility, fire in a Vallejo wine warehouse, burglaries of solar panels, and the ‘Gone in 60 Seconds’ Bank Fraud at casinos.

Brynn Bancroft’s enjoyment at running her former husband’s winery is overcast by a rash of troubling burglaries and her inability to reconnect with her ex. When she receives an urgent phone call from an old college friend requesting that she speak to an investor, she welcomes the interruption. Unfortunately, her friend’s business activities intrude on her routine. Then her ex-husband threatens her re-marriage hopes when he considers selling the winery. When the burglaries escalate, a sense of foreboding plagues her, hinting at trouble to come.

Inspired by news stories of a variety of wine burglaries in the Sonoma/Napa wine regions.

A friend’s murder. An unconnected cast of suspects, including the victim’s missing adult daughter. As if that wasn’t enough, Brynn Bancroft’s winery has been broken into. Can she deal with her co-owner ex and help the police find her friend’s murder so she can finally overcome her troubled past and enjoy family life with her teenage ward?

Inspired by the memoir of a California Superior Court Judge*

A Superior Court Judge with a passion for social justice as well as the law strives to discover the truth behind the mystery of a robbery-murder in a small California town in 1939.

When the Judge hears testimony against a 14-year-old teenager, he realizes that the boy participated in a robbery-murder. However, the accused did not actually pull the trigger. But unless the boy identifies his partner, the Judge must sentence him as a murderer, which would result in prolonged jail time. The Judge’s investigator, along with the precocious 16-year-old girl who identified the boy as one of the thieves, explore different approaches to uncover the murderer. In the backdrop of escalating war in Europe, the financial scarcities of the Great Depression, and the Judge’s caseload, their attempts to find justice for the accused boy and unmask the killer lure the Judge and his friends into sordid criminal activities.

*Louis C. Drapeau, Senior; Autobiography of a Country Lawyer; available at the Museum of Ventura County/Library, 100 E. Main St., Ventura, CA 93001.

Inspired by an FBI case involving embezzlement by a corporate executive and a subsequent murder of the boss of the embezzler.

A mystery set in wine country pitting financial exec Brynn Bancroft against a determined stalker, a troubled love interest, and career clashes.

Brynn Bancroft learns that a former employee who beat her nearly to death has returned to stalk her and her friend, Jillian Hillcrest, also a former victim. Recently divorced, Brynn turns to a new love interest only to encounter additional unwelcome issues. Meanwhile, short-timer Brynn, who has resigned from her Silicon Valley company, becomes bored fulfilling her remaining responsibilities there. She begins to prefer supporting the launch of her ex-husband’s new hilltop winery while waiting to move to her next position. Between her stalker and her new love interest, Brynn faces a series of life-changing events.

Inspired by a murder of a retired biotech executive in La Jolla, Calif.

Murder intrudes on Jillian Hillcrest’s routine as head communications executive at a small Silicon Valley biotechnology company. She is eagerly staying “on message” to inform investors, the media and the community about her company, Harmonia Therapeutics, and its latest drug candidate being tested as a therapy for lupus.

The arrival of a strange package initiates a series of unusual events followed by a call from a homicide inspector and highlighted by murder. The determined San Francisco police inspector involves Jillian in the investigation, convinced she is key to solving the crime. She co-operates fully only to discover that solving a murder is more hazardous than writing press releases.

Inspired by a case in the San Francisco Bay Area of a network of retired and current police officers.

PR Executive Jillian HIllcrest is having lunch with a reporter colleague when a woman enters and begs him not to print anything she’s told him because they will kill her if he does. A few days later, the reporter tells Jillian that the woman was killed in a car crash in his hometown. The police ruled her death an accident caused by driving under the influence of alcohol, although she had not had a drink in more than three years.

Although Jillian is busy promoting her Silicon Valley biotech company, the reporter draws her into an investigation of his hometown’s police department, located in California north of the Napa-Sonoma wine region. Coincidentally, Jillian’s neighbor Cynthia Anderson wonders about the untimely death of her policeman husband 20 years earlier as part of the same police department with the same police officers. Meanwhile, Jillian’s ex-husband hovers over her to reverse the “ex” status. Unfortunately, none of them anticipates the frightening events that follow.

Inspired by a networking expert firm in the San Francisco Bay Area involved with a large hedge fund that exploited insider trading through a nation-wide network.

Jillian and ex-husband Chad are enjoying a play at a local community theater when a scream interrupts the production upon discovery of a bludgeoned volunteer. When it turns out that the victim is someone Jillian interviewed for a job at her company, she becomes involved in another crime, drawn ever deeper by a second murder, an irate investor, the participation of law enforcement amateurs, an increasingly unreliable assistant, and suspicious trading of her company’s stock. Meanwhile, Chad is pressuring Jillian to say “yes” to a second marriage.

About the Author

Joyce T. Strand is the author of the Jillian Hillcrest Mysteries — On Message, Open Meetings, and Fair Disclosure; the Brynn Bancroft Mysteries — Hilltop Sunset, Landscape for Murder, and Overcast Sunset; and the Emily Lazzaro mysteries — Dangerous Changes and Dangerous Delays. She has also written two historical mysteries: The Judge’s Story, set in 1939 Ventura, Calif. and The Reporter’s Story, set in 1912 San Francisco.

Much like Jillian, Joyce headed corporate communications at several biotech and high-tech companies in California’s Silicon Valley for more than 25 years. Unlike Jillian, however, she did not encounter murder in her career. She focused on writing by-lined articles, press releases, white papers, and brochures to publicize her companies.

Joyce has been a mystery fan since she read her first Nancy Drew and Hardy Boy stories as a teenager. She has always enjoyed the challenge of following clues to solve a mystery before it is revealed. Therefore Joyce relished the transition from writing press releases to writing fiction.

Today she she lives with her collection of cow statuary in Southern California near San Diego and serves on local boards involving promotion of the up and coming San Diego County wine industry; and the beautification of her town. She enjoys seeing Broadway musicals, eating at gourmet restaurants, and tasting fine wine—in addition to reading mysteries, of course.

Joyce received her Ph.D. from The George Washington University, Washington, D.C. specializing in international relations and her B.A. from Dickinson College, Carlisle, PA specializing in political science.

Annotation Information

Title: Dangerous Delays: An Emily Lazzaro Mystery
Author: Joyce T. Strand
ISBN print: 978-0-9993848-1-7
Pub Date: November 2018
Price print: $9.99
Price ebook:$3.99
Category: Fiction Mystery
Pages: 323
Trim: 6 x 9
Format: Paperback and ebook
Distributor: Amazon and Barnes and Noble Nook
Publisher: McCloughan and Schmeltz

Title: Dangerous Changes: An Emily Lazzaro Mystery
Author: Joyce T. Strand
ISBN print: 978-­0-9961454-9-7
Pub Date: November 2017
Price print: $9.99
Price ebook:$3.99
Category: Fiction Mystery
Pages: 309
Trim: 6 x 9
Format: Paperback and ebook
Distributor: Amazon and Barnes and Noble Nook
Publisher: McCloughan and Schmeltz

Title: Overcast Sunset: A Brynn Bancroft Mystery
Author: Joyce T. Strand
ISBN print: 978-­0-9961454-7-3
ISBN ebook: 978-­0-­9839262-­3-­8
Pub Date: November 2016
Price print: $8.99
Price ebook:$3.99
Category: Fiction Mystery
Pages: 299
Trim: 6 x 9
Format: Paperback and ebook
Distributor: Amazon and Barnes and Noble Nook
Publisher: McCloughan and Schmeltz

Title: Landscape for Murder: A Brynn Bancroft Mystery
Author: Joyce T. Strand
ISBN print: 978-0-9961454-2-8
ISBN e-book: 978-0-9961454-3-5                                                                               Pub date: November 2015
Price print: $7.99 at Amazon.com
Price e-book: $3.99 Amazon.com and BarnesandNoble.com                                                                                                           Category: Fiction Mystery
Pages: 279
Trim: 6 x 9
Format: paperback and e-book
Distributor: Amazon and Barnes and Noble Nook
Publisher: McCloughan and Schmeltz

Title: The Judge’s Story
Author: Joyce T. Strand
ISBN print: 978-0-9961454-0-4
ISBN e-book: 978-0-9961454-1-1                                                                             Pub date: June 2015
Price print: $7.99 at Amazon.com
Price e-book: $3.99 Amazon.com and BarnesandNoble.com                    Category: Fiction Mystery
Pages: 274
Trim: 6 x 9
Format: paperback and e-book
Distributor: Amazon and Barnes and Noble Nook
Publisher: McCloughan and Schmeltz

Title: Hilltop Sunset: A Brynn Bancroft Mystery
Author: Joyce T. Strand
ISBN print: 978-0-9839262-9-0
ISBN e-book: 978-0-9839262-8-3                                                                              Pub date: November 2014
Price print: $7.99 at Amazon.com
Price e-book: $3.99 Amazon.com and BarnesandNoble.com                  Category: Fiction Mystery
Pages: 299
Trim: 6 x 9
Format: paperback and e-book
Distributor: Amazon and Barnes and Noble Nook
Publisher: McCloughan and Schmeltz

Title: Fair Disclosure: A Jillian Hillcrest Mystery
Author: Joyce T. Strand
ISBN print: 978-0-9839262-7-6
ISBN e-book: 978-0-9839262-6-9                                                                          Pub date: November 2013
Price print: $7.99 at Amazon.com
Price e-book: $3.99 Amazon.com and BarnesandNoble.com                 Category: Fiction Mystery                                                                                Pages: 313
Trim: 6 x 9
Format: paperback and e-book
Distributor: Amazon and Barnes and Noble Nook
Publisher: McCloughan and Schmeltz

Title: Open Meetings: A Jillian Hillcrest Mystery
Author: Joyce T.Strand
ISBN print: 978-­0-­9839262-­2-­1
ISBN ebook: 978-­0-­9839262-­4-­5
ASIN: B008N04ZD2
Pub Date: July 2012
Price print: $7.99
Price ebook: $3.99
Category: Fiction Mystery
Pages: 307
Trim: 6 x 9
Format: Paperback and ebook
Distributor: Amazon and Barnes and Noble Nook
Publisher: McCloughan and Schmeltz

Title: On Message: A Jillian Hillcrest Mystery
Author: Joyce T. Strand
ISBN print: 978-­0-­9839262-­0-­7
ISBN ebook: 978-­0-­9839262-­3-­8
ASIN: B007ZU2CV8
Pub Date: May 2012
Price print: $6.99
Price ebook:$3.99
Category: Fiction Mystery
Pages: 299
Trim: 6 x 9
Format: Paperback and ebook
Distributor: Amazon and Barnes and Noble Nook
Publisher: McCloughan and Schmeltz

Contact: Joyce T. Strand
joycetstrand50@gmail.com