Why am I passionate about this?

As a retired psychotherapist, I love a good book with complex characters that stand up to analysis. As a moody introvert, I especially enjoy untangling a set of clues in an atmosphere of suspense. Given that I live in a remote, wild area with plenty of snow and extreme weather, I am a good judge of stories about people being pitted against the elements. Finally, I am always curious to learn more about indigenous cultures since I live near more tribal land than anywhere in the US except Alaska. And, of course, I’m a mystery writer!


I wrote

Murder at Sleeping Tiger

By Cedar Koons,

Book cover of Murder at Sleeping Tiger

What is my book about?

Sleeping Tiger Zen Center in the mountains of Taos County, New Mexico, is about to start an eight-day Zen retreat…

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The books I picked & why

Book cover of Dance Hall of the Dead

Cedar Koons Why did I love this book?

This is one of Hillerman’s best mysteries.

His writing is as crisp and startling as the turquoise skies over the New Mexico desert. Laconic Lieutenant Joe Leaphorn quickly felt like a familiar friend.

The story haunted me, especially the scary scene at the Shalako ceremonial in a Zuni village.

By Tony Hillerman,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Dance Hall of the Dead as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Don’t miss the TV series, Dark Winds, based on the Leaphorn, Chee, & Manuelito novels, now on AMC and AMC+!  

The Edgar-Award winning second novel in New York Times bestselling author Tony Hillerman’s bestselling and highly acclaimed Leaphorn and Chee series

“Hillerman is a wonderful storyteller.”—New York Times Book Review

Two Native American boys have vanished into thin air, leaving a pool of blood behind them. Lieutenant Joe Leaphorn of the Navajo Tribal Police has no choice but to suspect the very worst, since the blood that stains the parched New Mexico ground once flowed through the veins of one…


Book cover of Snow

Cedar Koons Why did I love this book?

John Banville writes like the Booker Prize winner he is.

Set in remote Ireland in 1957, this book made me glad my ancestors got out of there when they did!

I enjoyed the contrast between the secretive Catholic villagers and the tough, pragmatic detective, a Protestant. I saw my relatives in this moody book.

By John Banville,

Why should I read it?

2 authors picked Snow as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

THE LOCK-UP - A THRILLING NEW STRAFFORD AND QUIRKE MYSTERY - IS AVAILABLE NOW FOR PRE-ORDER

'Outstanding.' Irish Independent
'Exquisite.' Daily Mail
'Hypnotic.' Financial Times
'This is crime fiction for the connoisseur.' The Times

'The body is in the library,' Colonel Osborne said. 'Come this way.'

Detective Inspector St John Strafford is called in from Dublin to investigate a murder at Ballyglass House - the Co. Wexford family seat of the aristocratic, secretive Osborne family.

Facing obstruction from all angles, Strafford carries on determinedly in his pursuit of the murderer. However, as the snow continues to fall over this ever-expanding…


Book cover of Smilla's Sense of Snow

Cedar Koons Why did I love this book?

Since I’ve traveled a lot above the Arctic Circle, I relish a good Nordic noir.

Smilla, part Greenlander and part Dane travels from Copenhagen back to Greenland on a quest for truth about a brutal death deemed an accident.

The gripping ending included elements I found fascinating, Inuit culture, human evil, and extreme weather. 

By Peter Hoeg,

Why should I read it?

3 authors picked Smilla's Sense of Snow as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

A Time Best Book of the Year · An Entertainment Weekly Best Book of the Year · A People Best Book of the Year · Winner of the CWA Silver Dagger Award · A Finalist for the Edgar Award for Best Mystery Novel

First published in 1992, Peter Høeg's Smilla's Sense of Snow instantly became an international sensation. When caustic Smilla Jaspersen discovers that her neighbor--a neglected six-year-old boy, and possibly her only friend--has died in a tragic accident, a peculiar intuition tells her it was murder. Unpredictable to the last page, Smilla's Sense of Snow is one of the…


Book cover of The Sanatorium

Cedar Koons Why did I love this book?

I love suspense, and this is a scary book that grabbed me early and never let me go.

Set in an old sanitorium refurbished as a minimalist hotel in the Swiss Alps, the book is creepy, fast-paced, and atmospheric. I read feverishly to find out if Elin, the fragile detective, would come out okay.  

By Sarah Pearse,

Why should I read it?

4 authors picked The Sanatorium as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

REESE'S BOOK CLUB PICK | A New York Times bestseller!

"An eerie, atmospheric novel that had me completely on the edge of my seat." -Reese Witherspoon

"This spine-tingling, atmospheric thriller has it all... and twists you'll never see coming." -Richard Osman, New York Times bestselling author of The Thursday Murder Club

Sarah Pearse's next book, The Retreat, is forthcoming.

You won't want to leave. . . until you can't.

Half-hidden by forest and overshadowed by threatening peaks, Le Sommet has always been a sinister place. Long plagued by troubling rumors, the former abandoned sanatorium has since been renovated into a…


Book cover of Death in Holy Orders

Cedar Koons Why did I love this book?

I’ve read every book by P. D. James and especially love her Adam Dalgleish series.

While the landscape in this book isn’t snowy, it is emotionally evocative, as it is a boy’s school attended by Dalgleish as a boy.

I was utterly stumped by the outcome and had to reread to find the clues I’d missed. 

By P. D. James,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Death in Holy Orders as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?


The setting itself is elemental P. D. James: the bleak coast of East Anglia, where atop a sweep of low cliffs stands the small theological college of St. Anselm’s. On the shore not far away, smothered beneath a fall of sand, lies the body of one of the school’s young ordinands. He is the son of Sir Alred Treves, a hugely successful and flamboyant businessman who is accustomed to getting what he wants—and in this case what he wants is Commander Adam Dalgliesh to investigate his son’s death. Although there seems to be little to investigate, Dalgliesh agrees, largely out…


Explore my book 😀

Murder at Sleeping Tiger

By Cedar Koons,

Book cover of Murder at Sleeping Tiger

What is my book about?

Sleeping Tiger Zen Center in the mountains of Taos County, New Mexico, is about to start an eight-day Zen retreat when a sudden storm dumps heavy snow in the region. Airports are closed, stranding meditators at the monastery, and one of the attendees is a killer. When the bodies start to drop, Ulysses Walker and his friend, Ray Pando, War Chief of nearby Picuris Pueblo, investigate. They find connections to seemingly unrelated murders that show how determined an adversary they face. Ulysses and Ray attempt to apprehend the psychopath who has put everyone in the vicinity, including Ulysses and Ray’s families, at grave risk.  

Enjoy the unique atmosphere of Northern New Mexico portrayed in the book’s complex characters, surprising backstories, and remote and wild landscapes. 

Book cover of Dance Hall of the Dead
Book cover of Snow
Book cover of Smilla's Sense of Snow

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The Nightmarchers

By J. Lincoln Fenn,

Book cover of The Nightmarchers

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Why am I passionate about this?

Growing up in New England, my mother had a set of books that she kept in the living room, more for display than anything else. It was The Works of Edgar Allen Poe. I read them and instantly became hooked on horror. In the seventh grade, I entertained my friends at a sleepover by telling them the mysterious clanking noise (created by the baseboard heater) was the ghost of a woman who had once lived in the farmhouse, forced to cannibalize her ten children during a particularly bad winter. And I’ve been enjoying scaring people ever since.

J.'s book list on horror that will make you cancel your travel plans

What is my book about?

In 1939, on a remote Pacific island, botanical researcher Irene Greer plunged off a waterfall to her death, leaving behind a legacy shrouded in secrets. Her great-niece Julia, a struggling journalist recovering from a divorce, seeks answers decades later.

Tasked with retrieving Dr. Greer’s discovery–a flower that could have world-changing properties–Julia unearths a story rife with hidden agendas and a missionary community unwilling to share the truth. As she confronts the eerie legends and a fellow traveler with his own motives, Julia finds that the longer she stays, the thinner the line between reality and the fantastical becomes until she…

The Nightmarchers

By J. Lincoln Fenn,

What is this book about?

From the award-winning author of Dead Souls and Poe comes an all-new bone-chilling novel where a mysterious island holds the terrifying answers to a woman's past and future.

In 1939, on a remote Pacific island, botanical researcher Irene Greer plunges off a waterfall to her death, convinced the spirits of her dead husband and daughter had joined the nightmarchers-ghosts of ancient warriors that rise from their burial sites on moonless nights. But was it suicide, or did a strange young missionary girl, Agnes, play a role in Irene's deteriorating state of mind?

It all seems like ancient family history to…


5 book lists we think you will like!

Interested in the Navajo, Denmark, and murder?

The Navajo 27 books
Denmark 40 books
Murder 1,077 books