Ruth Buys, M.B.A. ’80, has released her fourth mystery novel, “e-llegal treasures,” writing under the pen name C.V. Alba. The novel follows Mat Briscoe, who is drawn into a distant war zone after the sudden reappearance of her brother, missing for more than 15 years. Tasked with deciphering a computer disk linked to stolen diamonds and multiple murders, Mat races against time as bodies pile up and the danger closes in on her family.
Buys draws on her background working in high-tech business in her writing. She is known for action-driven mysteries set in 1990s Washington, D.C. Her work has appeared in the “Blue Ridge Writers Journal” and the “Journal of the Virginia Writers Project,” with additional short mysteries forthcoming in “Mystery, Crime and Mayhem” in 2026.