Track of the Cat (An Anna Pigeon Novel)

If you love the outdoors as much as I do, you will love this book. The author gives vivid descriptions of the flora and fauna of the Southwest. There is a lot of action in this murder mystery with a surprise ending. I read a lot of mysteries and am pretty good at figuring out the "who done it" but I couldn't figure out this one. I will be reading every book in this series!

what better place for a murder than a national park

Barr can mislead reader. Ha!!!! Clues lead to over sure killer. Anna also a Kat of nine lives. tough read.

This was a decent mystery, but very slow in developing. My main complaints are too much superfluous drama, jerky connection of events, and incomplete descriptions of the landscape, especially in key situations (like the “cliffhanger”). An example of the drama was much too much time spent on teasing a possible love affair with a suspect. That became its own little mini-drama, and it did nothing to advance the plot or mystery. Likewise, Christine’s husband being a controlling SOB was never developed and had no bearing whatsoever on the story. On connecting events, Anna seems to come up with leads and conclusions out of thin air. It’s great that she has these plot solving epiphanies, but as a reader, it would be nice being lead a little more as to how she came to these leads. The Molly device (talking to her sister) could be used effectively to help this criticism. Finally, I got some of the sense of the area and terrain, but felt like I was missing the whole picture. To that effect, I wanted to actually see a picture. A glaring example is the lifesaving chimney that miraculously appears at the cliff’s edge. Is that type of structure typical of that area? Overall, the book did hook me in the last third (couldn’t put it down), and I will read the next book in the series. I guess I am a sucker for park ranger / game warden mysteries.

Nevada Barr has a way of describing the national parks that make you feel as if you have actually been there. There is mystery, adventure, romance and likeable characters that will keep you reading all night long.

Book has beautiful descriptions of Texas Park and the animals there. Anna takes a beating more than once making an intense read.

I had read several of MS Barr,s books in the past and had forgotten to look her up again. So the report reminded me to read another one of her books. I chose the first Anna Pigeon book, and it was a enjoyable entertaining read. MS Barr has a talent for describing the environment and the characters in a way that the reader is engrossed to the point of non stop reading. As always she has an ability to keep the reader guessing of who was the murderer and always surprised as to who the culprit is. Her action narratives are riveting.

I noted so many well written passages, the book is mostly yellow highlighting! I'll be following Ms. Barr. Highly recommend this book.

So I glad I discovered these books! On my second one now, loving that too. Intelligent writing with good plots. Just the ticket!

This book combines everything I love : a good mystery, "human interest" (the characters have a well defined personnality), and a fantastic setting, a National Park - which in fact is almost a "character" as much as a "setting". The writer clearly knows what she is writing about.

A well written mystery with good character development. Anna Pigeon is a Park Ranger in New Mexico. She has a great love of the mountain cats and the story focusses on a murder of another ranger which is pinned on a cougar. There are feminist and environmental discussions in the book that are interesting and not intrusive. Anna's sister, a New York psychotherapist is very sharp and her conversations with Anna as she offers interpretation of what is happening are amusing and insightful. The desert descriptions are well done and reading them you feel yourself developing a thirst!My only negative comment is the book ends abruptly and is left hanging...what did happen the next day....Overall a good read

I was first introduced to Nevada Barr and her Anna Pigeon mysteries when I picked up a copy of the 12th in the series, High Country, on the way home from New York. I enjoyed that so much that I just had to go back to where it all started and play catch up.Track of the Cat is a fine introduction to a character that I have now grown very fond of and Anna's story now runs through 15 novels.Anna is a park ranger for the National Park Service (NPS) in the USA and all stories have her based in one of the parks with some mystery to solve at it's heart. However there is always much more to enjoy than the mystery itself. Nevada Barr has a fabulous way of writing and her descriptions of the beautiful landscapes and natural beauty of these parks is just wonderful. She makes it so easy to picture it all. We also get to find out Anna's back story as the novels progress, her strengths and weaknesses, her journey through the NPS and her private life.Track of The Cat sees her in Guadalupe Mountains in Texas. Part of her work here is to monitor the mountain lion population but when the body of a ranger turns up and the death is blamed on the big cats she sets out to prove them innocent and find the real culprit.If you fancy a change from gritty crime dramas set in the UK and want something a little different then I can highly recommend the Anna Pigeon stories of Nevada Barr. Nevada herself has a deep love for the outdoors and spent time working as an NPS ranger herself. She clearly does a great deal of research for her books and always gives credit to those who helped her bring the realism to her tales.A word of warning though....once Anna becomes part of your life you may find yourself hooked and want to know more and more about her. That's no bad thing though, you will enjoy the ride and will have some read some "cracking" mysteries along the way.Start your journey here. Top stuff!

It was ok, but I expected more about the animal and bushranger experiences to be in there...the story was just ok