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Home » Reader Participation Day: Do You Read Nevada Barr's National Park-Based Anna Pigeon Mysteries?

Reader Participation Day: Do You Read Nevada Barr's National Park-Based Anna Pigeon Mysteries?

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By Bob Janiskee - April 4th, 2012

Many writers have used national parks as settings for novels, but none have managed to do it more successfully or more durably than Nevada Barr. The books in her Anna Pigeon Mysteries series have consistently made the best seller lists, won prestigious awards, created a large base of fans who eagerly await her next book, and established Barr as the premier writer of national park-focused novels.

If you've read any of the 17 books in the Anna Pigeon Mysteries series, please take a few moments to share your thoughts. 

Tell us about anything that's relevant.  Which books in the Anna Pigeon Mysteries series have your read? Do you believe that Barr's descriptions of park physical and cultural resources are reasonably accurate?  Have you ever visited a park because you read about it in a Nevada Barr novel?  Would reading a Nevada Barr novel set in a particular park be a good thing to do before visiting that park?  How much do you think the characters inhabiting Barr's novels resemble the real-life rangers, superintendents, concessioners, and others who work in, manage, and protect our national parks?

Comments

Submitted by admin on April 4, 2012 - 11:54am.

I HAD to visit Mesa Verde because of her book.  Enjoyed the visit but didn't have much time there. 
Our daughter has worked in National Parks for 20 years, so we know quite a lot about them, the living conditions for rangers, etc.  I enjoy the books just for the mystery and the characters.  I do not critique them.


Submitted by admin on April 4, 2012 - 12:32pm.

I devour the Anna Pigeon mysteries.  I've even got my husband hooked on them now.  I like that they are placed in real national parks and monuments.  I always research about the places mentioned in the books.


Submitted by Bob Janiskee on April 4, 2012 - 1:13pm.

I'm not distressed if the parks and the people who manage them are not depicted entirely accurately. These books are, after all, fiction.

   Good point, Laurel. Readers of Nevada Barr's Ann Pigeon murder mysteries shouldn't forget that these books are not written as visitor guides, and that a certain amount of fact-jiggering can be expected. I credit Ms. Barr with being up front with us about these manipulations -- literally as well as figuratively. Here is what Ms. Barr had to say in her "Confession" just before the prologue to Borderline, her book set in Big Bend National Park:

For purposes of mine own I have done many terrible things.  I have moved thousands of tons of rocks from Mexico to America at the rock slide in Santa Elena Canyon.  I have rerouted roads and allowed horses to be ridden where they are banned by park regulation. I have changed park protocols and, in some dire cases, rewritten a rule or two. In my defense, I have given the park a shiny new helicopter and updated a few other sundry pieces of machinery.  Now that the book is finished, I promise to return Big Bend to the pristine and well-run park that I found it.


Submitted by Rick B. on April 4, 2012 - 1:42pm.

I've enjoyed them all, although I found the most recent [although chronologically the first] "Rope" to be a very dark and bleak story that wasn't much fun to read.

I recommend both her stories and Dana Stabenow's stories to folks who want to read fiction about parks. I actually prefer Stabenow's, but still read all of Barr's.


Submitted by admin on April 4, 2012 - 5:53pm.

I've read all but the most  recent and really love them, both for the parks
and for the stories.  I've yet to visit a park after reading the book but
look forward to doing so (e.g., esp. Natchez Trace and Rocky Mountain).  I did
find the Carlsbad Caverns volume too claustrophobic for my comfort.


Submitted by admin on April 4, 2012 - 5:56pm.

A visitor recommended Barr's books while I was a Park Ranger at Oregon Caves NM so the first one I read was "Blind Descent"  where I learned a lot about caving and the NPS.  When I was hired to work at Mesa Verde I read the book based from there, sorry can't remember the name now, and again learned a lot specifically about the park.  I think Barr does a great job of representing the parks and the rangers. 
Visitors often tell me I look like Anna Pigeon.  Has there ever been a picture of Anna, I think not.


Submitted by Bob Janiskee on April 4, 2012 - 6:18pm.

The book set in Mesa Verde National Park is Ill Wind. A complete list of the Anna Pigeon series books, with related parks indicated, will be found at this site.


Submitted by admin on April 4, 2012 - 10:20pm.

Rick B. - If you like Barr and Stabenow you will likely enjoy John Straley.


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