I'd like to welcome Joyce T. Strand to my blog to talk about her latest release. In a guest post she writes about writing an historical Mystery and her new book The judge's Story.
Why write a Historical Mystery?
by Joyce T. Strand
Why write a Historical Mystery?
by Joyce T. Strand
Why write an historical mystery? How could a mystery set in the past
improve on current-day sleuthing tales?
I first understood that I loved history in high school, when I
received the award for outstanding history student. I didn’t know that I
excelled at history. Quite frankly, I just enjoyed reading historical
novels—along with mysteries and some literary books by John Steinbeck and
Dostoyevsky. I recall that when I studied and learned famous dates, I was
inclined to imagine the people who made those dates significant and how they
must have lived.
So when I considered writing a novel about a judge in the 1930s, the
idea enticed me. And reading a Memoir by an actual California Superior Court
Judge dated 1941 added to the allure. (For those of you who might be
interested: Louis C. Drapeau, Senior; Autobiography
of a Country Lawyer; 1941, available at the Museum of Ventura
County/Library, 100 E. Main St., Ventura CA 93001).
As a writer of mysteries, however, I wasn’t quite sure how to create
a 1930s protagonist, deliver a book with a puzzle, clues, red herrings, and
villains—all the characteristics of a mystery—and, still attract 21st
century readers.
That’s when “history” came to my rescue. First, I delved into the
1941 memoir, which was full of descriptions of the actual judge’s cases as a
lawyer, people he met and defended, and his beliefs and ethics. So I started to
build my fictional Judge’s character based on these insights.
Next I searched for legal trends of the 1930s to buttress the
actions of my fictional judge. I was surprised to find that in Ventura County,
the Peace Officers recorded in their “Manual” [the Ventura County Peace Officers’ Training School Ventura 1939-1940] a
“pronounced change” in the “attitude of the law towards criminals.” The change
emphasized reforming a criminal and having the punishment fit the criminal
rather than the crime, with the ultimate goal of convincing a young wrongdoer
to do what was right. This trend amplified the actions of my Judge and, again,
improved both the plot and its credibility.
With the professional part of my Judge’s life underpinned by both
the actual judge in his memoir and writings from the peace officers, I next
wanted to comprehend how the judge and other characters lived in the
1930s—without the internet, cell phones, and Amazon.com. I turned to reading a
year’s worth of the daily newspaper [Oxnard
Daily Courier, January 1, 1939 to January 1, 1940). I was rewarded with
gobs of interesting details—more than I could possibly use—and also learned
that books of the day were serialized in daily papers.
But I wanted more. If possible, I yearned to actually see people
from this time period. I have viewed enough Hollywood movies from the 1930s to
appreciate their contribution to our culture and issues to our collective
psyche. So, yes, I could pull from there. But I also wanted to observe real
every-day people.
I am fortunate to have friends who are librarians who tracked down
recordings of newsreels and documentaries, which added to my understanding of
the time period. One of them sparked a scene at a drive-in movie theater, and
another documented the rise and concern for teenage crime.
I suspect that I could have continued to research the time period
for much longer. I was fascinated with the events and learned that some things
just didn’t change, such as, the argument over universal healthcare. However,
it came time to write the mystery, so I set aside my curiosity and applied what
I’d learn to produce The Judge’s Story.
Yes, it was critical to me that the history in the book be accurate.
But what was even more imperative was comprehension of how people lived in the
1930s, what events had the most impact, and who were the heroes. The mystery itself is a huge bonus, but the
story was definitely enhanced by applying the trends and character traits of
the period in which it takes place.
One final thought: what’s fascinating about studying history isn’t
just learning the dates of various battles, elections, or trends, but rather
connecting to the people of various time periods and how they lived. To me,
that is the most valuable lesson of writing and reading a novel set in
historical times—even a 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.
Inspired by a memoir of a real California
Superior Court Judge
Purchase
Links for The Judge’s Story
About
Joyce T. Strand
Joyce
T. Strand is the author of who-done-it mysteries.
Her
newest novel, THE JUDGE’S STORY, published June 23, 2015, is a
historical mystery set in a small California town (Ventura) in 1939 and
features a California Superior Court Judge.
Her
most recent contemporary novel, HILLTOP SUNSET, is the first of a trio 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. Today, in addition to creating mysteries, Strand writes and
publishes a blog, Strand’s Simply
Tips, is a writer for a regional wine magazine, and is working on
the second Brynn Bancroft mystery, to be published in November 2015.
Strand
lives with her two cats and collection of cow statuary in Southern California,
and seeks out and attends as many Broadway musicals and other stage plays as
she can.
To find out more about Joyce go to her Website or Blog, or follow her on Facebook, Twitter or Goodreads.
Joyce can also be found at Amazon Central and Barnes and Noble.
