When a ferocious snowstorm buries Freeport, Michigan, medical examiner Dr. Emily Hartford is called to a snowbank and the frozen body of a high school senior, in the latest Coroner’s Daughter Mystery from Jennifer Graeser Dornbush.
Every preorder of Walking on White opens a case file of its own. Preorder from any retailer above and you’re eligible for two rounds of bonus material built just for this book: nothing recycled from anywhere else in the series.
Tier 1: The Pre-Read Case File (included with every preorder). A seven-page digital dossier built to read like an actual Freeport County Medical Examiner briefing on Ethan Quon: the scene report, the postmortem worksheet, a redacted witness statement, and Detective Aditson’s open questions, all sealed until you open it. Verify your receipt after preordering and it lands in your inbox before the book does, so you walk into chapter one already inside the case.
Tier 2: The Freeport Field Kit (unlocked when we hit our preorder goal). Once enough readers preorder, six more pieces from the investigation unlock for everyone who did: Jennifer’s own essay on the true story behind Jace Hill, Aditson’s field guide to interviewing a witness who won’t speak, the fold-out corkboard pulled straight from his office, pages from Emily Hartford’s field notebook, a map of Freeport worth getting lost in, and the Winter Dance playlist that scored the writing of this book.
Preorder now to lock in your case file, then check back here as the goal gets closer. The sooner Freeport fills up with readers, the sooner the rest of the file opens.
The coroner’s daughter is back when a ferocious snowstorm buries Freeport, Michigan, and with it, a deadly secret.
When the frozen body of high school senior Ethan Quon is found wedged deep in a snowbank, medical examiner Dr. Emily Hartford is called in to determine how and why he died. What should be a routine case quickly turns thorny: the evidence is inconclusive, the timeline fractured, and the town’s citizens close ranks. As Emily digs deeper, she uncovers a tangle of lies, betrayals, and half truths that ignite outrage among Freeport’s residents. Tensions explode when local teenagers begin receiving chilling text messages, apparently sent by Ethan himself. A dead boy is speaking, and the town is listening in horror.
As the investigation intensifies, Emily’s personal life begins to unravel. Her closest friend is leaving town. Her half sister, Anna, newly divorced, may take her children and move out of the Hartford home. Emily is also forced to rule on the death of a violent criminal killed during a struggle with Nick Larsen, the man she loves, a ruling that could determine the future of not only his career but his life with Emily.
Racing against time to uncover the truth before anyone else dies, Emily exposes long buried family secrets, a dangerous teenage conspiracy, and disturbing sexual transgressions. In a town where lies spread faster than the storm, truth comes at a devastating cost.
A Coroner's Daughter Mystery
384 pages
English
Available
October 20, 2026
Dornbush does it again. If you start reading Walking on White before bed, you’ll never get to sleep.
—Reed Farrel Coleman, New York Times bestselling author
The unexplained death of a high school student takes a dark turn as medical examiner Emily Hartford and her team investigates whether he died of exposure or from a vindictive act of revenge. This enthralling, sharp, and twisty tale of deception and scandal will keep you enticed to the final pages.
—Deborah J. Ledford, award-winning author of Shadow Cast and Havoc
Jennifer Graeser Dornbush has such a gift for making Michigan winters feel alive, because they are, and seriously dangerous in the best possible way. In Walking on White, she masterfully blends atmospheric tension with real emotional depth, creating a story that’s as chilling as the snowstorms she describes so vividly. Her writing is sharp, immersive, and just a little haunting, all while staying deeply rooted in small-town Michigan life. I loved how she balanced a gripping mystery with genuine heart and quiet devastation. This one feels like a standout in the series, and I can’t wait to read what she writes next!
—Erin Bledsoe, author of The Forty Elephants and Mob Queen
The Coroner’s Daughter Mystery Series
Dr. Emily Hartford has lived with death since the day she was born. It’s hard not to when your father is the medical examiner and his office is your family home. Emily is now a tenacious, curious big city surgeon. Strong and competent. Vulnerable and kind. Sometimes too insular and self-dependent. It’s hard to peel back her layers– especially when it comes to family.
But as Emily continues to get reeled back into the investigative life she left behind when she became estranged with her father, she begins to see how she’s broken and what’s missing in her life… and discovers that home is where the bodies are.
The Coroner
(Book 1)
Secret Remains
(Book 2)
(Book 3)
Frozen Lives
(Book 4)
What Darkness Does
(Book 5)
