Joyce T. Strand, Author
LANDSCAPE FOR MURDER
HILLTOP SUNSETMy protagonist, Brynn Bancroft, has returned to tell us more about her new mystery, LANDSCAPE FOR MURDER, just released.
As her fans know, Brynn was a character in my Jillian Hillcrest mysteries where as Chief Financial Officer she served as Brynn’s boss. She was a bit risqué in those books but began to evolve into a more meaningful character in her first mystery, HILLTOP SUNSET.
In LANDSCAPE FOR MURDER, where she now is managing a winery with her co-owner ex-husband, we see her become a more caring individual—with still a few rough edges—as she learns to support her teenage ward and begins to appreciate her ex.  She also exhibits a new kind of exuberance when she experiences the thrill of launching a new killer cabernet.
In the following interview, she explains how the murder of an artist friend intrudes on her new outlook. 

Don't miss the giveaway opportunity following Brynn's interview.
Q: What can you tell us about your artist friend and how you learned about his murder?
Brynn Bancroft: I met my friend, Kenneth Sterling, while painting a landscape near the village of Point Reyes Station, California. It’s so, well, scenic in the area—dramatic seascapes versus calming pastoral meadows surrounding the quaint California village. I love it there.
Anyway, I was painting a landscape of one of the meadows when this elderly gentleman walks up next to me with his easel, palette, and paints and asks quietly if he could join me.

He says, “I don’t want to intrude, but I would love to share your landscape.”
It was just the right thing to say so that I didn’t mind the intrusion on my solitude.
At first we just painted and said nothing. But by the end of that first meeting I had invited him to Thanksgiving dinner. I learned that he was a retired CEO, and that other than painting, his primary goal in life was to find his daughter who had run away as a teenager more than 30 years ago.
Q: Would someone have killed him for his money? A retired CEO was probably wealthy.
Brynn Bancroft: Oh, no. He retired early because he got sick and tired of the issues of running a company. He also deeply regretted how he’d treated his daughter. He wasn’t wealthy. There appeared to be no reason for his murder that I could tell. He was just a friendly, amusing man who wanted to paint and find his daughter.
He was quite a good landscape artist, by the way, and I really loved his portraits as well. 
It’s quite a mystery why anyone would want to kill him, but he was definitely murdered.
Q: So, besides painting landscapes, what else are you doing?
Brynn Bancroft: Most of my time is spent at the winery preparing to launch our new cabernet, which is the best that many have ever tasted. I am really excited to be part of its marketing and am involved in many activities, despite some disturbing happenings in the area and at our Hilltop Sunset Winery.
About the author, Joyce T. Strand
Joyce T. Strand writes who-done-it mysteries that typically involve a murder or two, often a touch of romance, and always a few red herrings.
Jillian Hillcrest, a public relations executive at a Silicon Valley biotechnology company, or Brynn Bancroft, chief financial executive turned winemaker in the Sonoma valley—solve her contemporary mysteries, including her most recent whodunit, LANDSCAPE FOR MURDER.
Her novel, THE JUDGE’S STORY, is her first historical mystery. Set in a small California town (Ventura) in 1939, the novel features a California Superior Court Judge.
Although fiction, the Jillian Hillcrest and Brynn Bancroft mysteries are inspired by real California cases. She based THE JUDGE’S STORY, also fiction, on the memoir of a California Superior Court Judge (1941).
Like her character Jillian Hillcrest, Strand headed up public relations at several Silicon Valley biotech and high-tech companies for more than 25 years. Today she lives in the San Diego area where she enjoys exploring the growing Ramona Valley wine industry.
About LANDSCAPE FOR MURDER: A Brynn Bancroft Mystery (2)
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 own troubled past and enjoy family life with her teenage ward?
About HILLTOP SUNSET: A Brynn Bancroft Mystery (1)
A mystery set in wine country pitting financial exec Brynn Bancroft against a determined stalker, a troubled love interest, and a haunting past.
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.



Links
Purchase Links
LANDSCAPE FOR MURDER Amazon Kindle and Paperback Barnes and Noble Nook
HILLTOP SUNSET Amazon Kindle and Paperback Barnes and Noble Nook 
Autographed copies of all paperback booksUnicorn Book Store  

Author Links
Web site http://joycestrand.comFacebook http://www.facebook.com/JoyceTStrandAuthorGoodreads http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5385246.Joyce_T_StrandTwitter: @joycetstrand

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