Jane Lasswell Hoff

Jane Lasswell Hoff was born in Hollywood, California, in 1951. Her parents, Thomas and Marcia, were both university professors. She was married to Charles Jay Hoff, an anthropologist and a Professor of Pediatrics. Together they lived in Oregon, Alabama, Washington and Utah. After her husband's death, she settled in Hilo, Hawaii, where she writes and very much enjoys island life.

Jane Hoff attended the University of Hawaii, Manoa, for undergraduate school and the University of Oregon for graduate school. As a professional forensic anthropologist and a member of the American Academy of Forensic Sciences, she has worked for tribal groups, the U.S. military, medical examiners' offices and police departments throughout the U.S., to identify human remains.

Jane Hoff published her first book, Bones of Paradise, in 2016. The story takes place in her hometown of Hilo, Hawaii, and is part of an intended series of forensic Big Island Mysteries. While researching her second mystery in the series - and looking for a good spot to discover a (fictional) body - she became side-tracked by the wonderful stories of the historic banyan trees of Hilo, and wrote a guidebook, The Trees of Banyan Drive (published in 2018). She then edited and helped to complete her friend, David Penhallow-Scott's, biography, ANNA: Who Gave Her Heart to Hawaii (published in 2020). And then edited and helped to complete another book, Portraits of Hawaii's Royalty. She is now back on track and working on her second mystery, The Bones of Banyan Drive.