I have read 4 of this series by Nevada Barr but have missed a lot of the earlier ones. When I got an email from Whodunit Mystery Bookstore that they were putting all of their used books on sale for half-price I thought I might be able to fill in some of the gaps. I really lucked out since they had 7 Nevada Barr books on their shelves and 6 were ones I hadn't read. I got all 6 books for $12 plus GST.

This book is set on the Natchez Trace in Mississippi.

I'm going to take this book on vacation and release it somewhere we visit, maybe a National Park, but certainly not the Natchez Trace.

I read this before I released it. The following is my review:
According to the author info on the back cover, Nevada Barr lives in Mississippi and worked as a ranger on the Natchez Trace. Little wonder that this book, in which Anna Pigeon leaves Mesa Verde and goes to work on the Natchez Trace, seems so authentic.
Anna has taken a promotion to leave the desert that she loved and she may have cause to regret it. Her two subordinates, Randy Thigpen and Bartholomew Dinkin, exhibit behavior reminiscent of men before women’s lib. They are insubordinate, messy, lazy and generally lacking in social graces. On the other hand, the chief ranger in the next district, Steve Stilwell, is helpful and funny and the sheriff for the district, Paul Davidson, is more than helpful and he’s pretty good looking.
Anna’s housing is right next to one of the NPS campgrounds so she has to field all the campers’ questions and complaints even when she’s not technically on duty. So when the head of a boy scout troop comes to complain about teenagers driving at high speeds and shouting obscenities through the campground Anna has to go investigate. What she finds is two boys dressed in tuxedos in a graveyard next to an old church. After scaring them half to death Anna hears someone crying. After some searching she finds a young girl in a prom dress hiding in one of the enclosures. The girl is almost incoherent with drink and can hardly move. Anna manages to get her back to her new housing and in the morning is able to contact her parents. However, the young girl, Heather, is reticent about what occurred the night before claiming she doesn’t remember anything because of the drink.
When Sherriff Davidson comes looking for a young girl who didn’t make it home from the prom, Anna assumes it is Heather he is talking about and tells him she has already been reunited with her parents. The Sherriff thinks that’s great news and says he is going to phone Danielle’s parents. Then Anna realizes that it’s another girl who has gone missing. So the search continues. Anna goes out to go over the area she found Heather in which has the added benefit of orienting her to her turf in the daylight. She takes her dog, Taco, with her and lets him off leash. When he returns with a bloody scarf she realizes they may be looking for a dead body. She calls in some help, including Randy Thigpen, and eventually they find Danielle who is indeed dead. Bizarrely she is wrapped in a sheet with eyeholes, like the Ku Klux Klan would wear, and she has a piece of clothesline around her neck.
Since Sherriff Davidson has concurrent jurisdiction he and Anna spend a lot of time trying to solve the mystery of Danielle’s death. Anna gets a late night call out about a road accident and when she goes into the garage an alligator is under her car. Anna is slightly hurt but her dog is severely injured when he comes to her rescue. It’s pretty obvious that the alligator was put there to intimidate her. Not one to be easily deterred Anna continues to pursue the case and thinks the perpetrator may have been Danielle’s date for the prom. She and Paul (because they have gotten to first name basis and more) hold off charging him. That night Anna finds out Paul is married when his wife comes to visit. She goes for a late night stroll and almost doesn’t make it back alive. She runs into Danielle’s killer who beats her up pretty badly. Anna manages to inflict her own damage that makes finding the man easy. With the case solved she is convalescing at home when Paul arrives. He tells her that he has filed for a divorce and that he has been separated from his wife for three years. It looks like Anna’s love life is looking up!

I left this book at the Visitor's Centre in the entrance to the park after we had camped there for the night. I wish we had more time to explore the park because it was very interesting what we did see of it.

This release is for the 2010 52 Towns in 52 Weeks release challenge and for the 2010 You're Such an Animal release challenge.