Liberty Falling

Molly Pigeon, Anna's older sister, lives in New York City. When Molly's unhealthy lifestyle leads her to bypass surgery and then pneumonia, Anna makes an extended visit to be with her. Anna also runs into her ex, Fredrick Stanton, an FBI agent she had a brief relationship with, who is now in love with Molly. Awkward!

While in NY, Anna stays with a friend at Liberty Island State Park, where the Statue of Liberty is located. A short boat ride away is Ellis Island National Park (closed in 1954), consisting of three islands connected by covered walkways. Islands II and III are closed to the public, leaving their buildings to rot. Through Anna's wanderings all over the park, including Island II and III, we experience the decaying remains of show more the old hospitals, detention centers, and staff housing once used for processing new immigrants coming into America. Preoccupied with her sister's illness, it isn't until after two people fall to their deaths from the base of the statue that Anna realizes something is seriously wrong on the islands.

Due to her insatiable curiosity and unbending need to bring all the bad guys to justice, Anna gets beaten up badly in this story. There's the usual cast of quirky NPS workers and several outside bad actors with their own agenda to wreak havoc on the Statue of Liberty in the name of an ugly cause. This book has lots of action, a bit of history, and even some romantic drama to entertain and captivate any reader. show less

Digital audiobook read by Barbara Rosenblat
3.5***

Book number seven in the mystery series featuring U.S. Park Ranger Anna Pigeon. In this episode, Anna is in New York because her sister Molly is hospitalized with a serious case of pneumonia. Eschewing a hotel, she chooses to bunk with friends on Liberty Island. While exploring some of the ruins on Ellis Island, Anna falls through a decaying staircase. The fall temporarily halts her ramblings, but then a young girl falls (or is pushed) to her death on Liberty Island and Anna gets suspicious. Of course, she has to investigate.

I like this series. I really like Anna as a main character. She’s intelligent, observant, diligent, level-headed, and mentally and physically strong. She does show more have a tendency to take some – to my mind – unnecessary changes, but there wouldn’t be much tension or suspense if she didn’t do that. Barr populates the book with a cast of supporting characters which include older, seasoned rangers as well as colorful eccentrics, and some young, eager newbies.

The novel includes a considerable subplot involving Molly, and Anna’s former boyfriend. I have not been reading the series in order, so some of the relationships were a surprise to me, but these are really subplots and not the focus of the mystery. Still, I think it’s probably best to read them in order so that you can watch the relationships between Anna and these other characters develop over time.

Barbara Rosenblat does a fine job of narrating the audiobook. She sets a good pace and has very clear diction, so that even when I listen at double speed, I don’t miss anything. show less

Book 7 of Anna Pigeon. She's on Ellis Island, or one of the neighbouring islands, helping out with the Statue of Liberty. A young girl falls/jumps/is pushed off one of the balconies and Anna investigates almost without being able to help it. Switching to an urban setting was interesting. Mystery was pretty rewarding and compelling. It's cool to have Molly, Anna's sister, physically present in the story as well.

In this seventh book of the Anna Pigeon mysteries, park ranger Anna Pigeon has come to NYC because her sister Molly is gravely ill. She’s visiting Molly in the hospital, staying on Ellis Island, and trying to avoid FBI agent Frederick Stanton, who used to date her, but who is now dating Molly (because, ouch.) While she’s at Ellis Island, several people are discovered dead at the base of the Statue of Liberty, presumably having jumped… but Anna isn’t so sure, and the further she investigates the matter, the more she begins to wonder if the investigators assigned to the case may have missed something. This series is one of my favorites because of the wonderful descriptions of each national park—a different one in every book. I show more enjoyed this book and its descriptions of New York especially. The author always leaves me guessing as I’m trying to solve her mysteries…

Please excuse typos/name misspellings. Entered on screen reader. show less

This book is set in New York City and the federal park involved is Lady Liberty and the close by Ellis Island. Anna Pigeon lived in NYC before with her husband but after he was killed by a motor vehicle she left for the life of a ranger in the national parks. At this point in her life she is stationed in Mesa Verde park (scene of the book Ill Wind) but she comes back to New York when her only sibling, her sister Molly, is gravely ill in hospital. Anna is staying on Liberty Island with a friend who works for the National Parks Service so she is somewhat removed from the hustle and bustle of big city life. However, since it is late June the harbour is lively with boats some of which place their music loud late into the night. Anna just show more isn't used to big city noise anymore but she has to stay until Molly gets better. However, she can't stay at the hospital all the time, especially since her ex-boyfriend, Frederick Stanton who has fallen in love with Molly, shows up and is wooing Molly in her hospital bed. So Anna spends some of her free time exploring the decrepit ruins of Islands II and III of Ellis Island. She almost comes to grief when one of the staircases crumbles under her but ends up with nothing worse than a gash to her thigh. Then she discovers one of the actresses hired at Ellis Island for the summer historical pageants bashed on the head and close to death. When a guard at Lady Liberty falls to his death one evening and it doesn't seem like suicide, it is starting to look like it is dangerous even on Lady Liberty. Of course, Anna is right in the thick of it.

Maybe because all the other books by this author I have read have been set in the outdoors I wasn't as taken with the setting. As a Canadian, Lady Liberty and Ellis Island don't mean anything to me but I'm sure for Americans, especially ones who emigrated through New York, this would be a fascinating read. However, like Anna, I can hardly wait to get back into the open spaces in her books. I've sort of read this series higgeldy-piggeldy. Two of the other books that I have read (Ill Wind and Flashback) took place before this one but two are set after (Blood Lure and High Country). I have to admit that I have forgotten some salient details about Anna's life (like Frederick Stanton) but it doesn't really seem to matter. Each book stands on its own well so I guess I'll just keep reading the series as books come my way. show less

Anna finds herself in New York! Calling attention to the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island National Monument. Our parks system is not all wilderness. However, in this mystery, Anna finds herself exploring the deteriorating "Islands II and III" on Ellis Island - buildings that were part of the immigration center but that have not yet been restored (although efforts have begun). These parts of the national monument are not open to the public, as they are not safe. Anna finds this particularly true when she is pursued by some unknown person through precarious structures.

Anna is sharing space on Liberty Island with other park rangers, primarily so that she can spend time with her sister Molly, who is critically ill. Her status allows her show more free run of the islands in return for being available as needed.

When a young woman appears to throw herself off the statue of liberty, to her death, there are many questions. Anna is interested in part because she had spent some time talking to the ranger who was chasing the young woman and who, some said, might have pushed her. In addition to this friendly guy, Anna meets Charlie De Leo, a real person, who gave her a tour of the flame and explained how Liberty was his life.

We follow Anna through her investigation into the death and into the hospital, where she meets her former lover, Frederick, who has come to be with Molly. Personal and professional complications abound.

As always with the Anna Pigeon novels, we are treated to aspects of national parks and monuments that we may never otherwise know about. Barr has a gift for showing us, through her words, the beauty and special qualities of these places. I have been to Ellis and Liberty but of course did not know about islands II and III, and now I am most curious. show less

Liberty Falling by Nevada Barr is the seventh in the Anna Pigeon mystery series. It is set in New York City, Liberty Island and Ellis Island. Anna is there because her sister is in intensive care. When she's not working as a park ranger, she's sitting at her sister's bedside in the hospital.

Anna, though, is preoccupied at work by two very similar deaths at the Statue of Liberty. Her anger over both of them, combined with her sister's ill health put her in a very poor and self destructive mood all the way through.

She spends her late nights exploring the ruins of Ellis Island, often putting herself in danger from the poor repair of the structures. While I normally love following along as a character explores old, crumbling buildings, I show more felt a disconnect here that just pulled me out of the story. Part of that disconnect was the realization that fictional Anna was there at the same time my family and I were there. The other part, stemmed from Anna's own recklessness — going at night without a partner, no ropes or other safety equipment.

Finally, there's the mystery itself. Once all of Anna's anger and self destruction is pushed aside, the actual who done it and why is pretty basic. I think for this volume of the series, too much time was spent on character development at the cost of the mystery. show less