Rating: 
Summary: Back on Track in the Mississippi Mud
Review: "Deep South" is Nevada Barr at her best. The lush imagery, the pervasive humid heat, quirky characters wrap around this story like the ever-present kudzu. Anna Pigeon may say she feels most at home in the high deserts of the southwest, but she has a strong feel for the south. Her affectionate, good-humored descriptions of teenage girls in Mississippi are priceless. Try as she might, she's too much in the know to be a yankee!The story has a good pace and never lags. Her characters are sharply drawn (as usual, a few too many). Anna's predicaments are well imagined and briskly carried out. You will be amazed at Anna's recuperative powers that surpass the toughest of the hard-core detectives. I hereby nominate "Deep South" for my Scariest-Scene-of-the-Year Award: the alligator in the carport. I was hyperventilating and muttering to myself. I withheld the fifth star because the motivation was a little confusing. Maybe she had one twist and turn too many. If you haven't read Nevada Barr's Anna Pigeon series, "Deep South" is a good place to begin.
Rating: 
Summary: Barr Raises the Bar
Review: "Deep South," the 8th entry in Nevada Barr's wonderful Anna Pigeon series, is definitely the best so far, especially as it comes after the somewhat lackluster "Liberty Falling." In this installment, our intrepid park ranger has at long last allowed herself to be promoted. When the book opens, Anna is on her way to the Natchez Trace Parkway, which runs from Jackson to Natchez, Mississippi. There, she will assume the reins of district ranger in a land still fraught will male chauvinism and general distrust of females. Nothing daunted (but secretly afraid of the very different flora and fauna--eg, gigantic spiders), Anna makes her way to her new job, along with her complaining cat Piedmont, and her dog Taco, a golden retriever in previous books who has suddenly morphed into a black lab (Barr's editor apparently doesn't know the difference). No matter. Once on the Trace, Anna is hit full force with two disgruntled male subordinates who refuse to accept her authority, a handsome sheriff who makes her hard heart flutter, a group of Civil War buffs who stage re-enactments in Anna's territory--and a murder. Barely able to unload her Rambler (which has mysteriously morphed from her much-loved Honda--another editorial boo boo) of her worldly possessions, Anna finds herself immersed in the particularly nasty murder of Danielle Posey, a popular high school senior, whose beaten body is found in the wilderness tied to a tree and draped in a crudely makeshift Ku Klux Klan hood. Anna is thrown into the tangled web of the murdered girl's life and a mystery as thick as the fast-growing kudzu that blankets the region. There are plenty of suspects from which to choose, from the high school's star quarterback, who was Danielle's prom date, to a mysterious and possibly mythical lover, to Danielle's own brother, an avowed racist who would love nothing better than to create an issue where none exists. The deeper the mystery, the more suspects. Anna struggles to make sense of the murder while also trying to settle in to her new cottage, her new life, her hostile office--and an alligator in her carport. There is not a false step in this intriguing, fast-paced mystery. The thicker the plot, the more the reader is rooting for Anna to solve the case. I did not guess the murderer OR the motive until Anna did. It all made sense when the pieces were put together, but I had no clue beforehand, and that's the best kind of mystery. As always, Barr's description of Anna's habitat is mesmerizing. In this case, since Barr herself was (and possibly still is) a ranger on the Natchez Trace, the descriptions are particularly evocative. I found myself smelling the hot, sultry, lazy Mississippi air along with Anna, and reaching for the air-conditioner for relief along with her. Anna Pigeon remains a thoroughly likeable and all-too-human heroine, and I look forward to reading the next in the series.
Rating:
Summary: Nevada does it again!
Review: A promotion Moves ranger Pigeon to the "Deep South" and of course this is where the fun starts! Ms. Barr does another great job of building a complex plot around a set of interesting well developed characters. The new south is still haunted by the old. All of you Barr Fans will not be disapointed! I also recomend: "A Tourist In the Yucatan" A mystery/thriller set against the Mayan pyramids hidden in the Jungle!
Rating:
Summary: Excellent Read
Review: A winner. I had just travelled through the deep south when I finally picked up the newest Nevada Barr. I have been a faithful reader since Track of the Cat and have for the most part enjoyed following Anna Pigeon's career throughout the country. There have been some ups and some downs, but this is a definite up. Read it, read it, read it. In fact read them all.
Rating:
Summary: terrific!
Review: All of Nevada Barr's books are extremely atmospheric (I still feel claustrophobic when I think about the Lechugilla Cave in "Blind Descent") and "Deep South" is no exception. Barr's descriptions of April in the southern end of the Natchez Trace are alternately lovely as she describes the spring beauty of the landscape, and cloying as she writes about the pervasive, encompassing growth. This is a terrific mystery story, expertly told with clues and red herrings woven skillfully throughout the text. I feel compelled to respond to the previous reviewer who wrote of "slogging" through yet another Anna Pigeon mystery. Life is too short to slog through books written about characters or by writers you already know you don't like. Anna does have numerous friends, male and female, but even if she didn't, why does it matter that she has a close friendship with her older sister? I only wish I was as close with my sister. And so what if she likes to drink? There are far worse personal habits then a glass or two of wine in the evening. I have thoroughly enjoyed all of the Nevada Barr books, Anna is an intelligent, tough and compassionate character. I personally would have picked fellow district ranger Steve Stilwell over Sheriff Paul Davidson, but hey, no one's perfect. I also liked the peace/piece joke on page 276 as well as the bit where Taco is described as a "tourist."
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Summary: Got my attention from page one.....
Review: and was not able to put this book down and anytime I did it called to me. Fantastic.......buy it or you will miss one of the best mysteries I have read.
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Summary: Gators and Bubbas - look out for Anna Pigeon, ranger PI!
Review: Anna Pigeon is on the move again - with cat Piedmont and dog Taco in tow. Her new assignment is in the Deep South of the Natchez Trace in Mississippi. Before she can even get to her new digs, she's given bad directions by a junior ranger and ends up in the Mississippi mud. Once she finds her way to ranger central, she finds herself up against bible-thumping campers, Confederate soldier re-enactors, and employees that embody the southern Bubba spirit. All the men seem to have a layer of fat and a condescending attitude towards the lady ranger. But there's no time to dwell on the obvious, because in her first day/night she encounters boys who have abandoned a drunk and blacked out teenage girl. Another drunken girl, Danni, in the woods turns out to be the victim of a heinous crime - she's got a sheet with eyeholes cut out over her head and a noose around her neck. Is it redneck villians? Disgruntled boyfriends? A black-on-white crime? Nothing is slow as molasses as Anna fights off a gator who bites off one dog's leg, as she meets the victim's psycho mother, as she is endangered by the Bubbas who don't want to work for a lady ranger, and when she finds out about the local homosexual lover's point. There's the handsome and sexy policeman...but there's also his wife on her doorstep. Throw in the story of Grant's soldiers who disappeared during the Civil War, and a horrific attack on Anna, and you've got another Nevada Barr page-turner that will keep you up all night!
Rating:
Summary: Another Winner from Barr
Review: As a mystery writer whose works take place almost entirely in the American Southwest, I admire the geographic diversity of Nevada Barr's series. Anna Pigeon has solved murders along the Great Lakes, in the western forests, in New York City, and in several other regions. In DEEP SOUTH, one can guess where Anna is now assigned. She's in Mississippi, and she has finally accepted a promotion. She also finds a dead prom queen. We know she will struggle to solve this homicide. The mystery is first-rate, and Ms. Barr continues with her excellent character development. Her scenic descriptions shine, as does her descriptions of contemporary life in Mississippi. Terrific book all around.
Rating:
Summary: Anna Pigeon goes to Natchez Trace
Review: As usual Ms. Barr combines a vivid desciption of yet another National Park with an excellent mystery. There is no need for further description, her descriptions can't be improved upon.
Rating:
Summary: Another winner by Barr
Review: Attitude not miles counts when measuring the distance between Colorado's Mesa Verde National Park and the Port Gibson District of the Natchez Trace Parkway. Federal Park law enforcement official Anna Pigeon learns that lesson when she accepts a promotion transfer to the South. However, Anna soon learns that the "ole boy" network still thrives in the South, especially when she concludes that her all male deputies resent working for a mere female. Their sexism reaches dangerous proportions when they refuse to provide Anna back up during a potentially emergency situation. Anna's sense of oppression fully surfaces when someone kills a teenage white girl following the prom. The victim was stomped to death. A white sheet with slits cut out for the eyes covered her face. A rope hung loosely around her neck. Someone made it look like the work of the KKK. As she begins her investigation into the racially charged crime, Anna learns how deep hatred flows in the hearts and souls of some bigots. Surprisingly, DEEP SOUTH has a literary feel that counterbalances the repulsive almost overwhelming loathing that is the creed of some of the characters. This juxtaposition adds chilling drama to a well-designed mystery. Anna's adjustment to her new home augments the tense story line by her battle with racism and sexism. Nevada Barr condemns the rural south for its deep-rooted prejudices, even as the author applauds the fact that discrimination is more in the open than the de facto segregation of most of the rest of the country. The openness and honest feelings allows Anna to deal with anything thrown her way. The social commentary cleverly wraps inside an excellent police procedural without slowing down the main plot. Harriet Klausner
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