The Judge's Story

A gripping murder mystery

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.

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Reviews

'This murder mystery will keep you guessing until the end! At least it did for me.

     I first wrote a review for author Joyce T. Strand just over a year ago for her very first book - On Message, book 1 of the Jillian Hillcrest Mystery series. I became a fan of Ms. Strand with that book.

     I love her easy writing style, how situations seem so normal and not at all over-the-top. So relatable. Her books are always a pleasant read even with the backdrop of the murder mystery. Her characters are fully developed and so richly interesting. In fact, I'd love to read more about each one of the main characters of The Judge, especially Clara.

     I really enjoyed reading The Judge and highly recommend it to fans of the murder mystery genre.'

Heather Murray

'The author has read the casenotes of a 1930 judge and created an excellent novel. Mark Twain meets Harper Lee is the best way to describe the authors writing and storyline in this book. An excellent read which will touch the hearts of everyone who reads it.

     It will make you think about how you treat and make decisions about the people you come into contact with. She uses the judge thoughts to remind us that not everyone has been taught right from wrong by their peers and follow the only way they know. The novel also tries to show us with the right treatment and lessons and someone to believe in them people can be put on the right path and atone for previous misdemeanours.
     In times of the papers reporting bad news this book is a timely reminder that if time is given to help people the problems for the future can be solved. A book that will and can inspire you to do more and will have a positive impact on your life.'

Beck Valley Books

About the author

Joyce T Strand is the author of who-done-it mysteries set in the San Francisco Silicon Valley and Napa-Sonoma wine regions of California, including the Jillian Hillcrest Mysteries and the Brynn Bancroft Mysteries.

     Her most recent novel, HILLTOP SUNSET, is the first of a new series featuring protagonist Brynn Bancroft, a financial guru in transition to winemaker from corporate executive. Brynn Bancroft is a minor character in Strand’s novels ON MESSAGE, OPEN MEETINGS, and FAIR DISCLOSURE—three mysteries solved by Jillian Hillcrest, a publicist whose boss was Chief Financial Officer Brynn Bancroft.

     Much like her protagonist Jillian Hillcrest, Strand 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 and their products.

      Strand has been a mystery fan since she read her first Nancy Drew and Hardy Boy stories as a teenager. She admits that in between reading Agatha Christie, Ian Fleming, Erle Stanley Gardner, and John McDonald in her youth, she also checked out Tolstoy, Steinbeck, Faulkner, and Dostoyevsky, but her love of the “puzzle” always drew her back to the latest fictional detective. Today she favors John Grisham, Louise Penney, Linwood Barclay, Michael Connelly, and Stieg Larsson. She has always enjoyed the challenge of following clues to solve the puzzle of a mystery before it is revealed.

      Therefore Strand relished the transition from writing marketing copy to creating fictional sleuths.

     However, one other confession: her most favorite novel ever is Shogun. Even though the historical James Clavell novel is not a “mystery,” it is full of puzzles inside puzzles in medieval Japan. And the tale is told so well that readers feel like they’re actually there.

      Today, in addition to creating mysteries, Strand writes and publishes a blog, Strand’s Simply Tips, is a reporter for a regional wine magazine, and is working on the second Brynn Bancroft mystery, to be published in November 2015, and an historical fictional story about a judge in 1939 California, to be published in June 2015.

       Strand lives with her two cats and collection of cow statuary in Southern California. 

      Strand received a Ph.D. from the George Washington University, Washington, D.C. and a BA from Dickinson College, Carlisle, PA.

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