High Country

High Country comes back to the things I first loved about Barr's Anna Pigeon mysteries: compelling plots with plenty of twists and turns, and Anna's knowledge of the natural world around her. You won't be able to put it down.

This latest Anna Pigeon finds her working undercover at Yosemite National Park. She is working as a waitress at the Ahwahnee Hotel located in the park instead of her normal duties as a Park Ranger. Four park employees have vanished and Search and Rescue teams, some of the best in the business, have been unable to find the missing employees. The Deputy Superintendent puts it down to their youth and thinks they went hitchhiking to Mexico or somewhere warmer. Lorraine Knight, Superintendent of the Park, suspects something sinister and after an interview where the two women made an instant connection, Anna jumped at the assignment. Not that she was thrilled with working undercover as a waitress. But Anna has never been able to let a good mystery go and this one, where all were seen in separate places and times in the Park before vanishing, has her intrigued. Then there is the factor that, as long time readers of the series know, Anna is happiest when surrounded by soaring mountains where she can find her blessed solitude. This is a chance to do both. But from her first minutes in the park on the valley floor, known as "the ditch" by employees, she senses evil in man made form has taken root in the historic park. Her suspicions are quickly confirmed in very different ways and she begin to pull the wildly disparate pieces together which will lead to several violent confrontations.Unlike the last several books, Anna, for the most part, is calm and levelheaded. Gone are the delusions used to limited effect in her most recent novel, "Flashback." She isn't vacillating emotionally as she has done in the last several and while occasionally and understandably homesick, she manages to stay focused on the problems at hand. This novel is grounded firmly in reality and the danger of the moment and despite a nod to the evil that lurks within us all that can be unleashed at the right moment, it does not use artificial storytelling instruments such as flashbacks to ostensibly move the work forward. No letters from dead relatives or dreams in the night either. Instead, author Nevada Barr has gone back to what made her successful in the first place-straightforward intense storytelling like in her first novel "Track of the Cat." While no new ground is turned in terms of character development, this novel is a refreshing read. Anna seems more poised and competent than in the last several novels, as she should be considering her age. She still bumbles her way into trouble now and then but at the same time, she comes prepared in this one. Despite some of the negative reviews here, this novel works on all levels and becomes a fast paced intense read that features some of Nevada Barr's best wring in years. This one is well worth the read and hopefully showcases the author back in stride once again.

Ranger Anna Pigeon is back, graying and pushing fifty, and very much her own person. Going undercover in Yosemite's prestigious resort, she works as a waitress caught between a temperamental chef and a dictatorial head waitress. Anna has been detailed to the park because four young workers have disappeared, mysteriously, and investigators hope she will pick up clues by blending in as a lowly staff person.High Country is archetypal Nevada Barr. As usual, Anna meets a cast of characters who seem larger than life because her Park world is so claustrophobic. And as usual, she's matter-of-fact about everything, always the detached observor. She belongs but she's always a little on the outside.As usual, Barr serves up scenery. We get a vivid picture of Anna in the High Country, using her wits to outmaneuver two murderers, includes every detail. Anna realizes how far she's willing to go to save herself, accomplish her mission and return to Paul, her fiance back in Mississippi. We see a new side of Anna as she transports herself to New York, where her sister lives, and to Mississippi, where Paul takes care of her animals. I'm reminded of Martha Beck's visions in Expecting Adam. The grayness of a Yosemite December seemed real. In summer, Anna would be dodging tourists at every corner. I think she's remarkably patient about being separated from her fiance -- surely they'd have a way to communicate? Anna grows and some readers may not be comfortable watching. Her sister, now married, seems less available. Engaged to Paul, she tentatively reaches for the traditionally feminine symbols. She slows down, physically, and accepts the aging process with grace. So I'm not ready to see Anna retire! And authors are human, so Barr undoubtedly will change the way she writes about Anna. So far, I'm still a fan. This series remains one of the most literate and sensitive on the market. Let's hope the publishers and the bookstores keep it there.

Four young park workers have gone missing from Yosemite and after an extensive search by the search and rescue teams the Park Service asks Ranger Anna Pigeon to go undercover and see if she can find anything out. She goes into the park as a waitress at the Ahwahanee Hotel in the shadow of the Sierra Nevadas.Ever alert and a sophisticated eavesdropper, it doesn't take long for Anna to figure out that the missing employess are only the first sign that there is something very wrong going on in the Park. Her young twenty-something-year-old roommates seem to be afraid and suspisious, then an assisstant chef tries to scald her with boiling water.When she learns that the brother of one of the missing waitresses might know more about her disappearance than he's admitted, her life is threatened. Then an encounter with a group of city-slicker types leads Anna into the high country where she finds the remains of a small plane stuffed full of drugs. She gets shot, is hunted by a group of very bad guys and is pushed to her limit as she struggles to survive.As usual Nevada Barr has painted wonderful out door scencs and filled them with tension and suspense. If you haven't read an Anna Pigeon mystery yet, I think it's about time you did, and if you thought this was just a safe little cozy, well, you're wrong, this ain't no cozy, it's a full on action adventure mystery that will keep you on the edge of your seat.Haley Lawford, S/V Cheerleader Too

Our favorite NPS ranger Anna Pigeon has been called to California in order to quietly investigate the disappearance of four young people. While she "works" as a waitress in the Ahwahnne Hotel restaurant, she keeps her eyes open, asks questions, and noses around a bit. After she takes a long hike and finds a secret lurking in a remote area of the park, the action takes off and this book is difficult to put down. (Turns out the elevation isn't the only thing in the park that's "high.") Anna ends up finding some rather nasty folks in the midst of the spectacular glacial scenery. Thank goodness she's a trained and capable law enforcement officer and outdoors-person. A lesser woman wouldn't make it past page 155! Following the style of Nevada Barr's earlier titles, this engaging story ends with the best moral of all: There's no place like home.