Draft:Jon Talton

• Comment: Please See WP:bio#Creative professionals CONFUSED SPIRIT(Thilio).Talk 15:34, 8 March 2026 (UTC)

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Jon Talton (September 14, 1956 - January 28, 2026) was an author and journalist, most recently as a business columnist for The Seattle Times. Born in Phoenix, Arizona, Talton was also the author of 14 books, most of them mystery novels that are set in cities where he had been a reporter and editor.

Talon worked for four years as an emergency medical technician in Phoenix, then was a theater instructor at Southeastern Oklahoma State University.

His journalism career lists reporting and editing stints in San Diego County, the Beaumont Enterprise in Beaumont, Texas, the Dayton Daily News in Dayton, Ohio, the Rocky Mountain News in Denver, Colorado, the Cincinnati Enquirer, the Charlotte Observer, the Arizona Republic and Seattle Times.

After his termination from the Arizona Republic in 2007, Talton established his personal blog, Rogue Columnist, with a focus on Arizona history and Maricopa County's economy.

Books

Talton authored 15 books, with 14 mystery novels and the 2015 nonfiction "A Brief History of Phoenix," published by Arcadia Publishing.

Talton wrote nine novels as part of the David Mapstone Mystery series, published between 2001 and 2018. The detective series draws on Talton's knowledge of Phoenix geography and history for the books' leitmotif.

A similarly structured mystery novel series, this time set in Cincinnati, has two books featuring protagonist Will Borders: "The Pain Nurse" (2009) and "Powers of Arrest" (2012).

Talton's wife said that in addition to his Seattle Times column, he had been working on a novel based upon his days as a Phoenix emergency medical technician in the 1970s.

David Mapstone Mysteries

• "Concrete Desert" (2001, St. Martin's Press/Minotaur Books, ISBN 9780312269531)
• "Camelback Falls" (2003, St. Martin's Press/Minotaur Books, ISBN 9780312304041)
• "Dry Heat" (2004, St. Martin's Press/Minotaur Books, ISBN 9780312333850)
• "Arizona Dreams" (2006, Poisoned Pen Press, ISBN 9781590583180)
• "Cactus Heart" (2007, Poisoned Pen Press, ISBN 9781590583524)
• "South Phoenix Rules" (2010, Poisoned Pen Press, ISBN 9781590588161)
• "The Night Detectives" (2013, Poisoned Pen Press, ISBN 9781464201325)
• "High Country Nocturne" (2015, Poisoned Pen Press, ISBN 9781464203985)
• "The Bomb Shelter" (2018, Poisoned Pen Press, ISBN 9781464209604)

Will Borders Cincinnati Casebook Mysteries

• "The Pain Nurse" (2009, Poisoned Pen Press, ISBN 9781590586242)
• "Powers of Arrest" (2012, Poisoned Pen Press, ISBN 9781590585566)

Other books

• "Bull," in anthology "Phoenix Noir" (2009, Akashic Books, ISBN 978-1933354859)
• "Deadline Man" (2012, Poisoned Pen Press, ISBN 9781590587232)
• "A Brief History of Phoenix" (nonfiction, 2015, Arcadia Publishing/The History Press, ISBN 9781625856487)
• "City of Dark Corners" (2021, Poisoned Pen Press, ISBN 9781464213250)
• "The Nurse Murders" (2023, Poisoned Pen Press, ISBN 9781464215759)

Personal life and death

Talton was born September 14, 1956 in Phoenix. In his Arizona Republic obituary, Talton is described as being raised by his mother, Vivian Talton, and his grandmother Ella Darrow Hammons as well as a fourth-generation Arizonan. The Taltons lived in the Willo neighborhood.

He attended Kenilworth Elementary School in Phoenix and Coronado High School in Scottsdale, where he was enrolled in the theater program. He attended Arizona State University, graduating in 1979 and studied American history at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio.

Two months before turning 18, Talton was hired as an emergency medical technician for Kord's Ambulance. He would join colleagues in establishing a rescue program in northern Nevada, then returned to Arizona and worked for Phoenix AAA, then Aid in the East Valley, and returning part-time to Kord's.

Talton died in Seattle on January 28, 2026, of organ failure. He was 69 years old. He was married to Susan Talton. Rep. Greg Stanton, who was a Phoenix City Council member when Talton was a Republic columnist and later mayor, paid tribute to him: "Jon was one of the most thoughtful, impactful writers at the Republic. His stories about Phoenix's economic growth—the good and the bad—were required reading for policy makers." In her tribute, Phoenix Mayor Kate Gallego wrote:

Jon Talton loved Phoenix—its history, its people and its promise. He challenged all of us to live up to that promise and was never timid in letting us know when he thought we got it wrong. We are a better community because of his voice and his legacy will long endure. We’ll miss you, Jon.