This is the first in the Anna Pigeon mystery series. Anna is a National Park Ranger who, in this book, is based in Guadalupe National Mountains park in Texas. (She moves around from park to park in future books.) As a first mystery, it was competently written though the plotting was a little weak and the characters a bit formulaic. This book deals with the death of another park ranger that the higher-ups are willing to write off as an attack by a mountain lion. But Anna, who discovers the body, disagrees due to several inconsistencies in the evidence and pursues the truth despite pressure from her boss to let it go. From other people, I've heard the books improve over time but that this is an excellent introduction to Anna's character and to what drives her. I love her sister Molly's character!

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First in the Anna Pigeon Series. Years ago I was told that this was a great series, but I just didn't believe the person who told me. Guess I should have. Anna is a National Park Ranger and when two of her fellow rangers have mysterious deaths Anna investigates, almost gets herself killed. Anna will question many things in her life, but she makes for a great character.

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Really enjoyed the mystery and how it transpired. Kept you guessing almost to the very end of the book.

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This is a great murder mystery story. The first from author Nevada Barr, she writes an intriguing mystery in a new setting. The national park setting gives the book an extra element that I really enjoyed.

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An excellent read, Nevada spins a tale that keeps you reading far into the night and her descriptive writing makes you feel as if you have seen the area she is working in.

If you love a good mystery .. and nature and intrigue .. Nevada Barr delivers

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This is the first book in the long running mystery series featuring Anna Pigeon, a ranger with the US National Park Service. I believe that each book is set in a different national park. This first book is set in Guadalupe national park in west Texas.

I don't know about everyone else, but I always get a bit of a thrill when I start a new series. Will I like the characters? Will the books interesting? And (in mystery series only of course), will the mysteries be good? Well, I'm happy to say that this book hit on all three. I took me a while to warm up to Anna, but I think that a lot of that had to do with the fact that her character has walls built up around her emotions because she's still dealing with her husband's death. After a while, I really liked Anna's no-nonsense manner and attitude. I also appreciated her love of animals.

What made the story most interesting to me - and is one of the reasons I'll keep reading this series - was that Guadalupe national park wasn't just the setting of this story. It was almost another character. The author must have done her research well, because the park itself played a major role in the story. Learning about the animals, the plants and the layout of the park was fascinating.

And lastly, the author did a great job of creating multiple options for "who done it" and creating the mystery.

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This is the first in a series of mysteries set in National Parks with the protaganist a park ranger named Anna Pigeon.
The author Nevada Barr writes from experience since she is a National Park Ranger.
This was a great read . A Park ranger is killed and the police and the Park Rangers accept it as a random mountain lion killing. But since Anna has found the body, there are things that just don't add up.
I loved this book. You get to see things through Anna's eyes and she is one sharp lady. And the feeling that you are there in the rugged wilderness with her and what you learn about the great outdoors and those that try to preserve it made it more than just a helluva mystery story which it was.

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This book was a quick easy read. Enjoyable plot line with several interesting twists. I will read more in the Anna Pigeon series. I enjoyed the descriptions of the park.

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Enjoyable and easy to read mystery.

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An exciting read. It was good to get to know Anna Pigeon from the first book written about her. I like the fact that she's portrayed as being human and not a Wonder Woman type of heroine.

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This was an enjoyable introduction to Nevada Barr. Lots of familiarity with rangers and how they operate in the desert.
Strong female lead...interesting (and a bit far-fetched?) characters.

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Since I haven't read any books by Nevada Barr, I decided to try her 1st one. I liked it; there were some twists and turns; the author kept the reader guessing who the culprit actually was, and I think it was written quite well. Ms. Barr didn't drag out the background on any of the characters, but made them seem real. A good read for a change. (On my part.)

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