Jon Horton, who writes his mysteries under the pen name J. Royal Horton, is an ex-Deputy Sheriff and native of the Rocky Mountains whose pioneer family came west in the 1840s.

His ancestor Robert Gardner fled Scotland in 1821 after being imprisoned in the Gunpowder Room of Edenburgh Castle for plotting against the crown.

Jon attended the University of Wyoming before joining the military, where he was a Russian linguist.

He went on to earn a B.A. in Russian Language and Literature.