by Nevada Barr
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Product Description
Park Ranger Anna Pigeon stumbles upon a gruesome murder with frightening racial overtones in the latest installment of the bestselling series.
"What lifts the Anna Pigeon novels far above most of the other contemporary amateur sleuth mysteries is Barr's exquisite writing--it swoops, it soars, sails then catches you unawares beneath the heart and takes your breath away," proclaimed the Cleveland Plain Dealer of last year's Liberty Falling. In Deep South, Nevada Barr takes our breath away once again as her heroine travels cross-country to Mississippi, only to encounter terrible secrets in the heart of the south.
The handwritten sign on the tree said it all: REPENT. For Anna Pigeon, this should have been reason enough to turn back for her beloved Mesa Verde. Instead she heads for the Natchez Trace Parkway and the promotion that awaits her. Almost immediately, she finds herself in the midst of controversy: as the new district ranger, she faces resentment so extreme her ability to do her job may be compromised, and her life may very well be in danger. But all thoughts of personal safety are set aside with the discovery of a young girl's body in a country cemetery, a sheet around her head, a noose around her neck.
The kudzu is thick and green, the woods dark and full of secrets. And the ghosts of violence hover as Anna struggles for answers to questions that, perhaps, should never be asked. Deep South proves that, "like the parks and monuments she writes of, Nevada Barr should be declared a national treasure" (The Bloomsbury Review).
Amazon.com Review
After her urban adventures on New York's Ellis Island in Liberty Falling, park ranger Anna Pigeon has finally "heeded the ticking of her bureaucratic clock" and signed on for a promotion in the boonies: district ranger on the Natchez Trace Parkway. Anna's mental images of Mississippi come from black-and-white stock photos from the civil rights movement of the 1960s, so it's not surprising that she finds it beautiful but strange, its residents caught in a teased-hair, fried-food time warp. But she's got more than an unhealthy diet to worry about--as the first female district ranger on the Trace, she immediately encounters more than a few good ol' boys and local miscreants who resent her authority, especially after a 17-year-old beauty is murdered on a booze-soaked prom night near the Trace, her head covered with a KKK-style sheet. There are plenty of reasons her friends and family might have wanted Danielle Posey dead, ranging from her $40,000 insurance policy to jealousy to flat-out insanity. Anna wonders whether the sheet's a red herring, but she can't dismiss it entirely. Though the local culture's no longer built around segregation, racism still exists at a deep level that Anna finds unsettling. Both Danielle Posey and the prime suspect--her boyfriend--are white, but Danielle had secrets her friends won't reveal. Still, no one else appears to be in danger, until a prankster--or could it be a murderer?--sets an alligator loose in Anna's garage (nearly killing her faithful black Lab, Taco) and a local preacher commits suicide. With the help of the handsome local sheriff, Paul Davidson, Anna pulls together clues from local history, Civil War reenactors, and the Mississippi mud and kudzu. Anna Pigeon's one tough bird--she survives not only a little alligator wrestling but also a brutal attack that leads her to the truth of what happened to Danielle Posey and why. What's most fascinating is how much of her famous emotional shield she lets slip in the process. --Barrie Trinkle
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Average Customer Review:
0 of 0 people found the following review helpful:
 Southern Reflection, 2008-08-29
This was an excellent book for giving the feel for the south and its unique natural environment. As usual for Barr, the blend of mystery,romance, nd community together with a special understanding of the environment made this a really fun novel to read. In addition, her understanding of the challenges of leadership makes the novel even more relevant to our times.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
 Death Road, 2008-03-25
I have not traveled the Natchez Trace since the parkway was build, but the old road is one from which not even Meriwether Lewis, of Lewis and Clark fame, returned. The Trace is steeped in mystery, death and kudzu, which covers everything if allowed free rein.
Anna Pigeon accepts a promotion and finds, a not unexpected wall of resentment, from male Park Service members under her supervision. What she didn't expect to find on her first watch was the murder of a popular high school coed, whose life had dredged up resentment.
DEEP SOUTH by Nevada Barr leads the reader alone with Anna to a fine conclusion. No guessing on this one, you will be surprised along with Anna when Barr tips her pen.
Nash Black, author of WRITING OF A SMALL BUSINESS and SINS OF THE FATHERS.
0 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
 Took so many tries to get through!, 2008-01-03
I'm a very fast reader, easily starting and finishing a book within a day or two. I bought this book, along with another Anna Pidgeon book, back in June, and have been trying since then to get any further than the third chapter in either book. I pick up the books, start them, plug through the first chapter, make myself get through the second, and by the third chapter both books are being laid back down. Over Christmas I found myself with no book to read, so out of desperate boredom, I picked up Deep South, again, and was determined to finish it.
I did finish the book, and I know I'll never read another book written by Nevada Barr. This is an author who literally writes her stories to death. Every sentence takes the long way around, and so often by the time I finished reading a paragraph I'd have to just go back and read it again, forcing myself to hold onto that long winding train of thought.
Descriptive writing is good, it's a talent, but there's a definite line at which you cross over into utter tediousness. There were also small inconsistencies, which immediately lowered my expectations of this writer, for example, when describing the hood over the body's head, Ms. Barr writes about only the nose and part of a cheek being visible. Then, a few paragraphs later she writes "...and she hoped there was a head under there!"...well, if the nose and a cheek were visible then it's obvious there WAS indeed a head under that hood! Slip ups like that, slight as they may be, cause me to lose respect for the writing.
Anyway...sometimes a sentence, or a paragraph, can be presented simply and directly and have far more effect than a sentence or paragraph that is overstocked, crammed jammed full of descriptions and qualifiers and adjectives and nouns and pronouns and verbs and adverbs and...well, you get the point.
As I said before, this author literally writes her stories to death.
0 of 0 people found the following review helpful:
Southern experience all 'round, 2007-11-19
Set in Mississippi, this is a great fun book. No, it's not going to pass as high art, but it is a page turner, especially when you get about half way through.
There's a love interest also, for those into that sort of thing, and then the "who dunnit" aspect which keeps you on your seat.
I was impressed that Barr has actually worked as a park ranger and it shows in the details in this book. Her plotting is also excellent and I'll look forward to reading more of her works.
I found this book in a discount bin and decided to give it a shot. Glad I did as it turned out to be so much better than the usual stuff "they" try to sell you. While it's not perfect, it is pretty darn good.
0 of 0 people found the following review helpful:
 Ending was a let down, 2006-08-15
This was my second Nevada Barr book - the first I read was Hidden Truth, which I found entertaining and well written. I enjoyed this book up until the last 50 pages or so. I got the feeling that the writer was struggling with a suitable/plausible ending to an otherwise enjoyable story. It dragged on a bit and the final who-done-it & more so - why - felt weak and far fetched for such a big story.
I did enjoy the info and data on the NPS, racism and sexism in the south, and the strength of the character. But perhaps the end could have included more info about topics such as did the people behind the alligator incident ever get prosecuted?
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