The Rope (Anna Pigeon #17)

The Rope by Nevada Barr is the 17th book in the Anna Pigeon series, but a great place to start as it is the story of Anna's first summer as a National Park Service employee. Loyal fans will finally hear the story of how Anna ended up on her way to becoming a park ranger who solves mysteries all over the country.

Anna took a job with the Park Service to get away from memories that were haunting her in New York. She ended up in Dangling Rope, part of the Glen Canyon National Recreation Area at Lake Powell. It was about as far as she could get from her job as stage manager in an off-Broadway theater.

Then she finds herself in the bottom of a solution hole - a place carved out of the stone by water - shaped like a jar. She does not remember how she got there or who may have done it. Unfortunately, that someone also packed up her clothes and cleaned out her room, so the other Park employees think she quit and went back to New York.

Barr has created a thrilling back story to a character already well loved and given us the example that Anna copied to become a resilient, unstoppable Park Ranger. This first adventure is a great place to pick up the series if you have not read Barr. You will become addicted to the beauty of the various National Parks, the tenacity of a small spitfire of a Ranger, and the adrenaline that fills the pages.

Barr, Nevada. (2012). The Rope. New York: Minotar Books.