Welcome to my stop on the Great Escapes Virtual Book Tour for What Lucy Heard: A PIP Inc. Mystery by Nancy Lynn Jarvis. Stop by each blog on the tour for interviews, guest posts, spotlights, reviews and more!
What Lucy Heard: A PIP Inc. Mystery
by Nancy Lynn Jarvis
What Lucy Heard: A PIP Inc. Mystery
Cozy Mystery
6th in Series
Setting – Santa Cruz, California
Publisher : Good Read Mysteries
Publication date : August 11, 2025
Paperback
Print length : 247 pages
Pat Pirard, Santa Cruz Law Librarian newly turned private investigator, is asked to help with jury selection. She has one condition before she agrees: she must meet the suspect and believe he’s innocent. The accused’s story about how his fingerprints got on the murder weapon and why he was at the murder scene seems so outlandish that he convinces contrarian Pat he must be telling the truth. But as she listens to testimony during the trial she fears she’s been duped and is helping a killer get away with murder. Pat’s life turns into a race to solve the crime before the jury reaches a verdict.
Guest Post
I’ve always been fascinated with juries
I always wanted to be seated on one, but during jury selection the question would always come up, “Are there any police officers in your family?” I was an only child, but I had cousins, two identical twins who were raised like my brothers who were both cops. Yes, I loved both of them, probably worshipped them because they were three years older than me, but I would try to explain that one became a police officer because he was a bit of a bully and probably enjoyed the power he had over others when he was in uniform and the other twin was knocked unconscious with his own billie club while trying to reason with a suspect during an arrest. He joined the police force to serve and protect (he was also deathly afraid of spiders.)
I figured knowing such different cops well made me especially qualified to be neutral and listen to the facts in a trial rather than being swayed by police testimony. Unfortunately, I never persuaded the judge and was always dismissed before I was sworn in to a jury.
My degree in behavioral science may have contributed to my fascination with juries, too. I was one of those people whose professor hired acting students to rush into the classroom unannounced and do outlandish things before rushing out again and then asking us to write down answers to questions about what we had just seen. In a classroom of thirty students, none of us agreed on everything we had witnessed. That experience taught me that firsthand witness accounts aren’t necessarily a recitation of facts but can sometimes be influenced by a witnesses’ perception of what was happening.
I relished the idea of studying the body language of witnesses during testimony and knew some of the tricks about watching where their eyes went as they recalled what happened to judge whether they were recalling an incident or making it up as they testified. I devoured articles about how to spot a lie. I wanted to use what I learned but never had a chance.
One time when I was called for jury duty but not called to the jury box, I returned to the courtroom and took notes about how the attorneys used their peremptory challenges to remove jurors. I was so fascinated by their logic, which struck me as being the reverse of what I thought it should have been, that I came back for the entire trial to see if it made any more sense to me.
What’s the cliché, “if you can’t do, teach?” I think writing about an experience you haven’t had works as well so I always wanted to incorporate jury selection in a mystery I wrote. In “What Lucy Heard,” I finally got my chance.
My protagonist, Pat Pirard, is modeled on a real person also named Pat. Both Pats were the Santa Cruz Law Librarian for many years, both carry a 357 Magnum gun and know how to use if, and both are unlicensed private investigators. I rely on the real Pat for information about some of the tools she uses in her investigations, not to mention her myriad ideas based on cases she’s worked, but it took me until this year to finally ask her if she’d ever done any jury selection. The response I got was not one I expected. She said, “Oh, yes, and never again.”
“Why, what happened?” I asked.
“It was a murder case. I wanted to meet the accused and decide if I believed his story before I agreed to work on jury selection. When I met him, I believed him, and went to work. I used every idea I had about jury selection—some of my ideas were unconventional—but they worked and he was acquitted. The only problem was that after the trial I began to have doubts about his innocence. I didn’t sleep for four months worrying about what I had done until the real killer was caught and confessed. Never again. I can’t take that kind of stress.”
Oh, what fun! I was flooded with ideas about what to look for in a potential juror and Pat shared her secrets for her work about who to fight to seat and who to challenge. The real Pat’s experience took place before the incursion of social media into everyone’s life so I added some research using it. Of course I changed details about the murder, the accused, and the motive for murder, but starting “What Lucy Heard “with jury selection and the impact Pat’s work had on the trial outcome was a joy for me to write.
About Nancy Lynn Jarvis
Nancy Lynn Jarvis wore many hats before she started writing cozy mysteries. After earning a BA in behavioral science from San Jose State University, she worked in the advertising department of the San Jose Mercury News, as a librarian, as the business manager for Shakespeare/Santa Cruz, and as a Realtor.
Nancy’s work history reflects her philosophy: people should try something radically different every few years, a philosophy she applies to her writing, as well. She has written seven Regan McHenry Real Estate Mysteries; six PIP Inc. Mysteries; a stand-alone novel “Mags and the AARP Gang” about a group of octogenarian bank robbers; edited “Cozy Food: 128 Cozy Mystery Writers Share Their Favorite Recipes,” and short story anthologies, “Santa Cruz Weird,” and “Santa Cruz Ghost Stories.” She also has an ebook on Amazon, which she keeps adding to as she writes more short stories.
Author Links
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Purchase Link – Amazon
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What Lucy Heard TOUR PARTICIPANTS
October 22 – Sapphyria’s Book Reviews – SPOTLIGHT–
October 23 – Jody’s Bookish Haven – SPOTLIGHT
October 24 – Maureen’s Musings – SPOTLIGHT
October 25 – Escape With Dollycas Into A Good Book – CHARACTER INTERVIEW
October 26 – Boys’ Mom Reads! – SPOTLIGHT
October 27 – Sarandipity’s – AUTHOR INTERVIEW
October 28 – Christy’s Cozy Corners – AUTHOR GUEST POST
October 28 – Books, Ramblings, and Tea – SPOTLIGHT
October 29 – Baroness Book Trove – SPOTLIGHT
October 30 – Wine Cellar Library – CHARACTER GUEST POST
October 30 – Books1987 – SPOTLIGHT
October 31 – Guatemala Paula Loves to Read – AUTHOR GUEST POST
November 1 – MJB Reviewers – SPOTLIGHT
November 2 – Cassidy’s Bookshelves – SPOTLIGHT
November 3 – Infinite House of Books – SPOTLIGHT
November 4 – FUONLYKNEW – SPOTLIGHT
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