Sherrill Joseph was a shy kid whose BFF was Nancy Drew. From her, the author learned to seek adventures, be kind and fair, help others everywhere, and become a mystery author someday.Convinced early on that she was an architect in a former life, Sherrill was receptive to the magic of her Southern California neighborhood's historic houses. To this day, she dramatizes those old "castles," filling them with captivating mysteries, conspicuous staircases, a ghost or two, and exaggerated occurrences. The author graduated Phi Beta Kappa and summa cum laude from San Diego State University. Once retired in 2013 after teaching kids for thirty-five years in the San Diego public schools, the inner child in Sherrill created the multi-award-winning Botanic Hill Detectives Mysteries series so her grandkids and all kids can gallop with her and her four forever-thirteen-year-old sleuths in their standalone cases after clues to nab the bad guys.