A Chronological List of Yosemite Mystery Books *

*(Okay, some of them are romances and Michener-esque epics.)

1943

The Affair of the Jade Monkey by Clifford Knight. (New York: Dodd Mead & Company, 1943)

Engaged on another secret assignment for the government, Huntoon Rogers has tracked a suspicious character to Yosemite National Park. He learns that the body of an unidentified man has been found in the backcountry, and he joins a High Sierra Loop Trip to discover whether it is the man he is seeking. On the first night out one of the hikers is murdered, and a small jade monkey appears mysteriously in another's backpack. Fortunately, Huntoon Rogers is able to fit these seemingly unrelated incidents into a single pattern in time to thwart an enemy plot directed against the nation.

A reprint edition of the book is available from the Yosemite Association through its Yosemite Store.

1955

The Sinister Strangers by Clarence Budington Kelland. (Serialized in the Saturday Evening Post, then published in New York by Dodd Mead & Company, 1961)

What business could a trio of Chicago hoodlums have in Yosemite National Park? Lincoln Sawtell, an earnest young ranger assigned to the park's Protective Division, wondered with alarm if they were attracted by the unknown loadstone that had already brought the array of sinister cosmopolites to Yosemite. He had observed that these foreigners were all fabulously rich and that they all panicked at the trilling song of an invisible being they called the Warbler. Lincoln's snooping draws him into an international plot, involving him in romance as well as the killers' reign of terror.

Out of print.

1982

Nurse in Yosemite by Beatrice Warren. (New York: Avalon Books, 1982)

Quite suddenly Nurse Doralee Dahlquist became a nervous shrew. Needing a change of pace from her high-pressure work in the Intensive Care Unit of a big hospital, she took a job at the medical clinic in magnificent Yosemite National Park. Her sense of well-being quickly returned as she nursed others in the peaceful valley. Then a new siege of unrest attacked Doralee when she lost her heart to Angus McGonigal, a photography genius. For while Angus seemed to return Doralee's love, Nurse Jan Stagnetto claimed she was going to marry the handsome photographer. And when Jan put on the charm and glamour, no mere man could resist her!

Out of print.

1987

Angels of Light by Jeff Long. (New York: Beech Tree Books/William Morrow, 1987)

The rock climbers of Yosemite Valley - admired for their skill, notorious for their adventures, astonishingly innocent in their childlike devotion to climbing. The discovery of two tons of drugs and a smuggler's corpse in a frozen High Sierra lake is the death of that innocence. The crash of a marijuana-loaded plane sounds the starting gun for a race between the authorities and seekers of easy money, and the climbing deaths that follow paralyze the climbers' base camp with fear and paranoia. Protagonist John Dog Coloradas, isolated from his family of colleagues, who are broken by mistrust, must return alone to the lake for a brutal reckoning with the forces that have brought death to his friends and destroyed his world's innocence.

Out of print.

1990

A Body to Dye For by Grant Michaels. (New York: St. Martin's Press, 1990)

When a vacationing Yosemite National Park ranger turns up dead (and stark naked except for two bow ties) in the bed of one his regular customers, Boston hairdresser Stan Kraychik finds the body and is implicated in the murder. To clear his name he must find the killer. Stan follows the trail to a firm of young yuppie architects and back to Yosemite National Park, where his contacts in the gay world help him sort out a colorful cast of characters. With a sharp tongue as his best defense, a most unlikely detective uses even more unlikely techniques to close the loop and get the killer.

Available in paperback.

1993

The Hidden Gold of Widow's Mountain by Patricia Werner. (New York: Zebra Books, 1993)

For years, Hilary Fenton had dreamed of finding her father - ever since Gaspar Fenton had struck out for the gold mountains of the Yosemite Valley to claim his fortune - and never returned. Then fate summoned her to the sprawling foothills of the majestic Sierra Nevada - and the one man who could lead her to her father - rugged frontiersman Christian Reyeult. Determined to fulfill her quest - at any cost - Hilary didn't' heed the anonymous note warning her away from perilous Widow's Mountain. And as the wind howled and thunder echoed off the canyon walls, an eerie presence seemed to beckon her down a misty, moonlit trail.

Out of print.

1994

The Fires of Innocence by Jane Bonander. (New York: St. Martin's Paperbacks, 1994)

In the heart of California's rugged Yosemite Valley, Scotty MacDowell, a young naturalist's daughter, rescues a wounded stranger from a blinding snowstorm. She nurses him back to health, and as the snows melt in the mountain passes, he thrills her with searing kisses and teasing caresses. But when Alex Golovin return to Scotty's tiny cabin months later, he is not the passionate lover who swept her to the heights of rapture, but a hard and angry lawyer intent on forcing her from the land she loves. Alex will let nothing stand in the way of his plans for the Yosemite Valley - not even a sensuous spitfire he longs to make his own.

Out of print.

1995

Yosemite by Gary McCarthy. (New York: Pinnacle Books, 1995)

Before man, there was a place of breathtaking beauty. A land forever wild. Forever free. The Indians called it Ahwahnee. We know it as Yosemite. . . a timeless land of vast, unspoiled riches. . . where ancient tribes walked the sacred ground in peace and harmony. . . a paradise on earth that lured settlers like Joseph Walker to cross the mythical Sierra Nevada and brave the perils of a great unexplored wilderness. It would take visionaries like John Muir and Theodore Roosevelt to protect this pristine land and preserve it as a sanctuary. Painted on an authentic, larger-than-life canvas, filled with the men and women who made history, here is the epic story as spectacular in scope and stirringly beautiful as Yosemite itself.

Available in paperback.

1996

Snow Angel by Thom Racina. (New York: Dutton, 1996)

For Julia Larsen, a star television reporter, this holiday season was supposed to heal all the wounds between her and her family. But instead she finds her parents, the former governor of California and his wife, have been senselessly murdered. Standing by Julia's side is the devilishly handsome Matt Hinson, the man to whom she has always been attracted. Julia cannot resist Matt's charms and she falls completely under his spell. Then the worst happens. Matt is arrested for the murders, and Julia throws herself his defense. Set in Mariposa and Yosemite, this twisting thriller takes readers on a roller-coaster ride of violence and vengeance, suspense and stunning turnabouts.

Available in paperback.

2001

Intimate Falls by Lance Rucker. (Vancouver: Lochenlode Books, 2001)

It was supposed to have looked like a rock climbing accident. And to everyone but Brandon Drake that was exactly how it looked. And the murderer might have pulled it off if Drake hadn't been part of the investigation. From the rock walls of Yosemite Valley to the sleaziest bars in L.A., no one knows better than Drake that the proof he will need to reopen the police case is being guarded by someone who has already killed. Someone who, without the slightest hesitation, will kill again.

Available in paperback.

2004

High Country by Nevada Barr. (New York: Putnam, 2004)

When four young employees of Yosemite National Park disappear, ranger Anna Pigeon goes undercover as a waitress at the Ahwahnee Lodge to investigate. Living in the staff dorm, she soon discovers there's a connection between at least one of the missing girls, a crashed plane containing a fortune in drugs, and the outsiders who've moved into the tent cabin last occupied by a skilled climber who's also among the disappeared. The first attempt on her life doesn't scare her away, but the second is nearly fatal, and Anna's harrowing escape keeps the tension ratcheted up until the denouement.

Available in hardcover and audio from the Yosemite Association through its Yosemite Store.