About this ebook
A decade before, media pundits and mental health experts alike had somberly, head-shakingly declared that Rennie’s act of plunging a letter-opener into her mother’s neck was unfathomable and without motive. Here was a lovely, seemingly well-adjusted teenage girl from a prominent and wealthy San Francisco family, suddenly gone completely mad.
But Tess knew the dark truth that helped explain the inexplicable, and understood the roots of terror and hopelessness that had driven Rennie's fury. She knew too that the long and spinning years between then and now had brought the young woman a small measure of redemption, and that she was opening the door to a new life that perhaps even included extending herself a fragment of mercy, if not forgiveness.
Baffled by the abruptness of Rennie's anguished descent into an inescapable abyss of despair, Tess vowed to uncover the impetus behind her suicidal act.
She had no idea how potentially lethal that effort would be.
About the author
As a graduate intern at a Sacramento CBS-affiliate television station, Joan became involved in the story that would ultimately form the basis for her nonfiction book, Little Girl Lost: A True Story of Shattered Innocence & Murder, which sold over 250,000 copies worldwide.
A Cruel Oblivion is the second book in the series of Tess Alexander mysteries. The first book, A Just Reckoning, was published in early 2021.
She has authored feature articles, commentaries, profiles, and columns which have appeared in dozens of national and regional magazines and newspapers. Among them are AARP Magazine, Sacramento Magazine, Sierra Heritage, and the Sacramento Bee newspaper.
Joan has been the recipient of awards from the Society of Professional Journalists as well as Writer's Digest magazine; in 2021, she received an Honorable Mention from the New Millennium Writers for her article, "Whispers of a Forgotten Plague."
She has also been honored with awards for her civic ad community work, including the Paul Harris Award from Rotary International for community service.
As the founding executive director of a county-wide child abuse prevention organization, she has a strong commitment to issues of personal violence, exploitation, and social justice.
An avid dog-lover, Joan writes two newspaper columns on life with companion animals, syndicated in four California and Colorado newspapers. She also teaches Communication Studies at a California community college.
She lives in northern California’s Mother Lode region.
