Boar Island (Anna Pigeon #19)

Boar Island by Nevada Barr is the nineteenth book in her Nevada Barr series about a national park ranger. Each book takes place in a different US nation park, this one in Acadia.

Anna has a small family. Biologically, it is just her and her sister Molly, who is a therapist in New York. Anna recently married Paul, a sheriff and pastor in Mississippi. And she has a few friends close enough to consider them family - Heath and her adopted daughter Elizabeth, Anna's goddaughter, and Heath's aunt Gwen. So when Heath calls in a panic about Elizabeth, Anna races over to help.

Elizabeth is the victim of cyber-bullying. Online and on her phone she is receiving photos and messages that are filled with lies and threats. When Heath finds out, she calls in reinforcements - Anna and Gwen. Together they decide to get away for the summer and let things cool off. The police are not very helpful - some issues over the jurisdiction in cyberspace.

Anna is being sent to Acadia National Park, Maine to cover for the district ranger. And Gwen has an old friend who owns an island in the area - really just a big rock with a lighthouse.

But the online stalker follows them. The threats get more violent and it sounds like he/she is in Bar Harbor. Who would follow a teenage girl almost three thousand miles to harass her?

Barr has been writing Anna Pigeon books for a while (since 1993) and the character has grown over the years. While she has changed a bit, she is still one of the best female characters solving mysteries. If you have any interest in the out of doors or the national parks, check one out.

Barr, Nevada. (2016). Boar Island. New York: Minotaur Books.

Burn (Anna Pigeon #16)

Burn by Nevada Barr is the sixteenth book in her Anna Pigeon series - a park ranger with the National Park Service.

Anna is on leave following a couple of intense situations and injuries. In order to get away from just sitting at home - she has never been great at being idle - Anna decides to visit a colleague in New Orleans.

Geneva works at the New Orleans Jazz National Historical Park. She is a ranger, but spends her days singing - most of the rangers assigned to New Orleans are singers and musician who educate about the history of the area and its music. 

Anna runs into a group of what she thinks of as gutter punks. When one of their dogs gets away, she automatically follows the dog. When she catches him, the man who lost him is not grateful - he lashes out at her. And when she returns to one of the apartments behind Geneva's house, he is there. Jordan rents one of the other apartments. 

Geneva, who is blind, has a different image of Jordan that Anna sees. Geneva pictured a woman, and Jordan always pays rent on time. Anna is convinced that Jordan is up to something and decides to follow him to find out what.

Barr has created a great character in Anna Pigeon. She has seen a lot through the series of books - each set in a different national park. Mystery readers will devour this series. Adventure and outdoor enthusiasts will love the setting and harrowing situations in which Ranger Pigeon finds herself. If you don't know the series, you can start at book one - Track the Cat - or book 17 which is a look back at Anna's first park assignment: The Rope.

Barr, Nevada. (2010). Burn. New York: St. Martin's Press.

Borderline (Nevada Barr #15)

Borderline by Nevada Barr is the fifteenth book in her Anna Pigeon mystery / suspense / adventure series which follows a National Parks ranger on her assignments in some of the most beautiful places in the United States.

After a harrowing experience, Anna is taking a little time off to recover. She and her new husband, Paul, are going on a rafting trip on the Rio Grande in Big Bend National Park. It will be a few days on the river with strangers where Anna will not be in any type of leadership role.

Joining four college students and a river guide, Anna is getting used to people again. She is working through PTSD after an attack and is finding it refreshing to be around young people.

Due to some rain upriver, the water levels rise and the rapid around a previous rock slide become more intense - leading to the raft wrapping around a rock and dumping everyone out.

Once on the shore, looking for their gear and each other, one of the college student screams. The body of a woman is tangled in some branches. She appears to be dead. Forming a human chain, Anna reaches her and tries to free her, only to discover that the woman is alive and very pregnant.

Barr's books about Anna Pigeon make up one of my favorite series. Each setting plays a role in the story. The recurring characters - Anna and now Paul - are great people I would love to befriend. If you like mystery, suspense or the great outdoors read these books!

Barr, Nevada. (2009). Borderline. New York: G.P.Putnam's Sons.

Winter Study (Anna Pigeon #14)

Winter Study by Nevada Barr is the fourteenth book in her Anna Pigeon series, a ranger in the US National Parks. Each mystery takes place in a different park.

On loan from her current posting, Anna Pigeon is going back to Isle Royale National Park located on an island in Lake Superior between Minnesota and Ontario. Isle Royale is closed to the public for the winter when a fifty-year plus study is being conducted on wolves and moose on the island. Anna is going to learn more about wolves, as a pack has been reintroduced to her park, Rocky Mountain NP.

With the new government focus on terrorism, a representative from Homeland Security is also joining the team - to evaluate whether the remote park could be used by people trying to sneak across the border. Depending on his report, the wolf study could end and the park opened up to winter visitors.

Anna arrives to a winter wonderland on an island you can only be flown into - when weather permits. The scientists there can be trapped for weeks without a supply run if the cloud cover does not cooperate. Due to the Homeland Security man and his research assistant, the team has a strange dynamic.

A few days later, the research assistant goes missing. Alone on the island with no electricity in a frozen land, the team must find her. And when they do, Anna's background in investigation will compel her to find out what happened.

Barr's series featuring Anna Pigeon is wonderful for both mystery fans and those who love the outdoors. The setting always plays a part in the story. Anna Pigeon is someone you would want on your side in the great outdoors.

Barr, Nevada. (2008). Winter Study. New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons.

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.