Anna Pidgeon - 9 ( )

As interesting and well paced as this was, the solution was obvious from the beginning. The experienced bear researcher Joan remarked how uncharacteristic the attack on their camp actually was. And the strange Bear Incident Management reports that had come in of a 1200-pound blonde Grizzly who could juggle and dance. And then all the signs of human digging in bear feeding grounds. And the abandoned truck with attached horse trailer that was gutted and smelled funny. And the fact that the woman was killed by a blow powerful enough to snap her neck but soft enough not to break bone or tear flesh. And the weird clacking sounds heard when the bear attacked. All of it pointed to someone bringing a bear into the park. A trained bear. It took Anna forever to figure it out.

And that’s what it was. But why was it there? Because the new owner was going to ship it to a park where it would be hunted and killed. The boy who loved the bear and felt almost as a brother to the bear decided to let him go in this protected park. The new owner and step-brother of the boy came after him. The bear hated the older brother and because the woman was wearing his coat when she came across the boy and the bear, he charged and accidentally killed her. He scratched her face and the boy had to take the rest of the flesh off to hide the fact that it was bear claws. Much larger than the Grizzly bears native to that part of the world. It would be a dead-giveaway and Balthazar would the destroyed.

In the end he’s not destroyed but given to a man who trains wild animals for movies. And the orphaned boy is taken on as an apprentice as well. The older brother goes to jail for kidnapping and attempted murder.

The writing was pretty good. Just enough scientific detail to help readers understand the plot and characters but not too much. Same with the environmentalist pitch, it wasn’t over done and preachy. Anna was an interesting character. She was a lot like me – not terribly appreciative of most of humanity and also childfree. One of the best lines in the book was something like. “Another reason not to have children list – it’s so disturbing when wild animals eat them.” Hilarious!! ( )

Park ranger Anna Pigeon, the fortyish heroine of Barr's popular series, is back, tracking grizzlies through the unforgiving landscape of Glacier National Park as part of a scientific investigation. However,the project, obtaining DNA, tagging and counting the bears is just the back story in this newest Pigeon adventure. Anna and the biologist, Joan, who is heading up the project, amazingly survive a grizzly bear attack on their tents unscathed, only to find that Rory, their young inexperienced volunteer, has gone missing. As park rangers and rescue teams hike the mountainous park looking for the missing teenager, they find instead the dead body of a woman whose face has been horribly mutilated. Rory is an obvious suspect, as is the bear who attacked the camp. Barr focuses on the wilderness park and its endangered population of grizzlies rather than on Anna's personal life and problems, and this makes for a tightly plotted, satisfying read. The author's masterful descriptions of the natural world immeasurably enhance an exciting, suspenseful story . ( )

Another excellent Anna Pigeon mystery by National Park ranger Nevada Barr. This time, the story is set in Glacier National Park, a true wilderness in which the bears are as much of a danger as the human villains. Barr's prose is quick and sharp and very readable, and her background as a park ranger provides a setting that is as fascinating as the mystery itself. ( )

One of my favorites by Nevada Barr ( )