nail bitter. makes you want to brave the wintery elements and hike in the snow. Even with the danger from drug smugglers and poachers. ( )

(review of the audiobook version) This is my kind of mystery. Not gimicky. Just a straightforward story with believable characters. Anna is a forest ranger who goes undercover as a waitress at a Yosemite National Forest resort to try and divine clues as to the disappearances of four young hikers in the park. As she uncovers information, she becomes embroiled in a mystery involving drugs, kidnapping and probable murder. She is surrounded by potential suspects and, potentially, further victims. The narrator did a decent job with the different character voices. ( )

Anna Pidgeon - 12 ( )

Typical for this series. Anna is sent to yet another park and leaves Paul behind. At this point she hasn’t actually married the guy, but as I’ve read the book that comes after this one, even when she is married, no one can tie her down. This time instead of acting as a park ranger, Anna is undercover to investigate the disappearance and likely deaths of 4 park employees.

She uncovers a web of lies and deceit and of course lands in grave physical danger. As usual the description and the assaults themselves are unrelenting. I almost fast-forwarded through a bunch of it at the end. Oh yeah, I know Anna makes it out, but the sheer cruelty of her tormentors is a bit much sometimes.

Anna’s calculating manner and judgmental attitudes are intact and come to the fore a lot. Barr spends a great deal of time inside Anna’s head as she figures her angles and casts her lines. She’s deliberately manipulative and plays a lot of people; justifying it with the good of the cause. She’s also is highly emotional and when things spill over into tears she is ashamed and questions herself a great deal. She also questions her sanity over the fact that she apparently has quite the capacity to disconnect and kill those who threaten her. Not a bad thing altogether, but she discovers she has no remorse, guilt or twinges of sadness over the deaths she causes. When others seem to raise eyebrows she gets defensive and searches her emotional fabric for tears. In the end she finds she’s justified and ceases to be concerned.

The solution was surprising in some ways, typical in others. I could see Jim’s role from a mile away and his sacrifice was not part of the surprise nor was his posthumous revenge on his tormentor/manipulator. I thought that in her addled and beaten state, Anna might give in to that last temptation, but a last minute swerve saved her. ( )