Cold Was the Ground is a neo-western crime novel in which a small Texas town becomes the crucible for a series of ritualistic murders that force Sheriff Joanne Dalton to confront not only a killer, but the moral architecture of violence, faith, and history that have shaped her life. As the investigation deepens, the book moves beyond procedural into existential turmoil where justice, guilt, and belief erode, and what remains is a stark vision of America stripped to its bones.October 1984. In the pine-thick quiet of East Texas, two bodies are found brutally murdered in Big Woods outside Coldspring.What appears at first glance to be a hunting accident reveals itself as something far more calculated. Sheriff Joanne Dalton, a decorated and world-weary lawwoman takes the case. She knows the dead. She knows this county. These were her people. This is her town. And whoever did this wanted it to hurt.Assisting her is Deputy Henry Jackson, a newly arrived lawman from Los Angeles. Together, they begin a grim investigation that pushes against the seams of their small, tightly-wound community. As the town whispers and speculates, Joanne begins to suspect something darker, something that is planned and patient and personal.Then another killing occurs.Time is running out and Coldspring is unraveling.The violence isn't random. It's ritual. And it's coming home.

Cold Was the Ground is a neo-western crime novel in which a small Texas town becomes the crucible for a series of ritualistic murders that force Sheriff Joanne Dalton to confront not only a killer, but the moral architecture of violence, faith, and history that have shaped her life. As the investigation deepens, the book moves beyond procedural into existential turmoil where justice, guilt, and belief erode, and what remains is a stark vision of America stripped to its bones.October 1984. In the pine-thick quiet of East Texas, two bodies are found brutally murdered in Big Woods outside Coldspring.What appears at first glance to be a hunting accident reveals itself as something far more calculated. Sheriff Joanne Dalton, a decorated and world-weary lawwoman takes the case. She knows the dead. She knows this county. These were her people. This is her town. And whoever did this wanted it to hurt.Assisting her is Deputy Henry Jackson, a newly arrived lawman from Los Angeles. Together, they begin a grim investigation that pushes against the seams of their small, tightly-wound community. As the town whispers and speculates, Joanne begins to suspect something darker, something that is planned and patient and personal.Then another killing occurs.Time is running out and Coldspring is unraveling.The violence isn't random. It's ritual. And it's coming home.