Reviews

• Jump In.....The Water's Deadly!

  I was first introduced to Nevada Barr and her Anna Pigeon mysteries when I picked up a copy of the 12th in the series, High Country, on the way home from New York. I enjoyed that so much that I just had to go back to where it all started and play catch up. Track of the Cat is a fine introduction to a character that I have now grown very fond of and Anna's story now runs through 15 novels. Anna is a park ranger for the National Park Service (NPS) in the USA and all stories have her based in one of the parks with some mystery to solve at it's heart. However there is always much more to enjoy than the mystery itself. Nevada Barr has a fabulous way of writing and her descriptions of the beautiful landscapes and natural beauty of these parks is just wonderful. She makes it so easy to picture it all. We also get to find out Anna's back story as the novels progress, her strengths and weaknesses, her journey through the NPS and her private life. Track of The Cat sees her in Guadalupe Mountains in Texas. Part of her work here is to monitor the mountain lion population but when the body of a ranger turns up and the death is blamed on the big cats she sets out to prove them innocent and find the real culprit. If you fancy a change from gritty crime dramas set in the UK and want something a little different then I can highly recommend the Anna Pigeon stories of Nevada Barr. Nevada herself has a deep love for the outdoors and spent time working as an NPS ranger herself. She clearly does a great deal of research for her books and always gives credit to those who helped her bring the realism to her tales. A word of warning though....once Anna becomes part of your life you may find yourself hooked and want to know more and more about her. That's no bad thing though, you will enjoy the ride and will have some read some "cracking" mysteries along the way. Start your journey here. Top stuff!

• My first book by N. Barr, certainly not the last

  This book combines everything I love : a good mystery, "human interest" (the characters have a well defined personnality), and a fantastic setting, a National Park - which in fact is almost a "character" as much as a "setting". The writer clearly knows what she is writing about.

• A Mystery on Cat Paws

  This is a fun read: a very engaging tale that is expertly written to keep you turning pages.

• Great thriller set in SW Texas

  Great read about a park Ranger discovering another park Ranger dead in Southwest Texas. The detail of the national Park was amazing. The people were also greatly developed in terms of character. The end will surprise you already have the second book downloaded in her series.

• Was the cat guilty?

  A well written mystery with good character development. Anna Pigeon is a Park Ranger in New Mexico. She has a great love of the mountain cats and the story focusses on a murder of another ranger which is pinned on a cougar. There are feminist and environmental discussions in the book that are interesting and not intrusive. Anna's sister, a New York psychotherapist is very sharp and her conversations with Anna as she offers interpretation of what is happening are amusing and insightful. The desert descriptions are well done and reading them you feel yourself developing a thirst! My only negative comment is the book ends abruptly and is left hanging...what did happen the next day.... Overall a good read

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