Rating: 
Summary: Intelligent reading
Review: Deep South is an intelligent book about life in Mississippi to an outsider, the new Park Ranger. The past haunts many of today's situations, and it is Anne Pidgeon's job to side step or fully confront many of them. Racism, sexual harrassment, and non-traditional employment is just a few of the traditions she is trying to cut through. Plenty of action, and a sound, well thought out book that flows well through the ending.
Rating: 
Summary: Fair protrayal of the South
Review: Deep South is the second of Barr's books that I have read. I picked it up expecting another superficial portrayal of the South--little factual information, cookie cutter stereotyped characters. I was pleasantly surprised. Barr shows an indepth knowledge of the location and environment she has chosen as the setting for her latest novel. I was amused by the culture shock Anna suffered--which one would expect from someone arriving in southern Mississippi from Mesa Verde! Barr's local characters all sound like people I may have met in my daily life in Mississippi. Men skeptical of working women, girls preoccupied with sex and beauty pageants, young men for whom a football scholarship is a ticket to a better life--these are real people. My one complaint about Barr's characters is the lack of development other than the heroine. I have read two of her novels and noticed the same in Liberty Falling. Also, the lack of any significant female character other than Pigeon makes the story seem somewhat artifical.Overall, an entertaining story in a setting that I found interesting.
Rating:
Summary: DEEP SOUTH
Review: Excellent read Hard to put down-yet I was sad as I progressed in that, I would discover the answer to "Who done it" but I also would end this voyage into this wonderful place Barr had created-I often stopped reading in order to enjoy-in my mind-the visions and characters she had created for a few minutes longer
Rating: 
Summary: sorry to be the only nay-sayer, but
Review: First, I buy every Nevada Barr book in hard cover, full price, asap. Second, this one was dull and had all the mystery in the last 25 pages. One of those endings that have all the motives, clues, and details just before the wrapup last chapter. I felt that I had been needlessly buried in Mississippi mud for far too long. Third, I will undoubtedly purchase the next Barr book the minute it is published because I am hopeful that Anna's next posting will be better.
Rating:
Summary: Short n sweet
Review: Having lived in in the south all my life & in Mississippi for a space of years, I found Nevada Barr's insight into the mentality of the south amazingly accurate ...having read many of her books I had made the mistake of *assuming* that she was from the southwest due to the accuracies there ... I was surprised to read that she is from Mississippi .. This book with it treatment of the racial situation twisted throughout the murder investigation with Ms Barr's other typical twists & turns to keep you guessing made this, for me, one of her best so far .. I bought my last two books by her based on her name alone ... immediately after finishing this one I ordered 5 more ... In my opinion she is one of the finest writers of this genre around today.
Rating:
Summary: good mystery, on the verge of great
Review: Hey, this is only the 2nd Barr book I have read. The other one is liberty falling, and though the entire world appears to find that to be her best work, i would give that one only three stars and i am giving this one five stars. It's not that she does anything so out of the ordinary for a mystery novel as to make you go, Wow! . . . but she does know her locale well enough to leave you feeling you know it just a little too, and that is a hard thing to manage in a simple little genre thriller. I give Barr high marks for depth of character, and of course it is easier with a serialized one like this. But it's never boring or tired. If you like murder mysteries, or if you like outdoorsy stories and aren't sure if Barr is right for you, this is a good Barr book to start off with, I think.
Rating:
Summary: An accurate portrayal of Mississippi and her people
Review: I confess to being a sporadic Nevada Barr fan. I've loved some of her earlier books, but have not enjoyed her last few. As a native Mississippian who has always loved the pastoral beauty and sense of history of the Natchez Trace, I had high hopes for her latest title. Happily, I was not disappointed. She has captured both the beauty and complexity of Mississippi and her people in a way few authors have.
Rating:
Summary: Five Stars!
Review: I could not wait for this book to be published! I'm a big Barr fan and I was NOT disappointed. The author's descriptions are so vivid, I could feel the humidity and smell the kudzu. All the new characters are compelling, but now I'll have to wait another year to read more about them. Deep South kept me up until three in the morning--my highest compliment! Way to go, Nevada!
Rating:
Summary: Deep South-Best Anna Pigeon yet!
Review: I couldn't put this one down. Ms Barr's writing has continued to mature with this book in the series being the best one yet. Even though some of the scenes are rather gruesome I was not nauseated as I am with other authors (a certain female coroner to allude to one) lately. Anna is also becoming more 'human' with a dog, a cat and a love interest. I would have liked to see some of the other characters developed more though. Perhaps since Anna will be at this Park for awhile Ms Barr will do that in the next book.
Rating:
Summary: "Deep-fried kindness and cotton-mouthed hostilities"
Review: I found this the most engrossing of the Anna Pidgeon mysteries, almost Literature in the scope of its concerns. There's more depth of characterization here and a totally convincing atmosphere of nature's thick menace to match the hostility of the good ol' employees under her new supervision. The author's fulsome nature description should be expected since Mississippi is Barr's home, but the fuller characterization may stem from the fact that Anna is running out of time for a solid love interest, as well as due to the extreme violence to which she is subjected. Only one of these terrible episodes is necessary to the plot, the other is gratuitous and features animal cruelty. My only complaint is that the conclusion is rushed and its tension drooping (or limp from the heat? :-) Barr has a light touch but is not frivolous with her heroine or with death (unlike, for example, some of Sharyn McCrumb's Appalachian Scots stories). Barr is good at letting you build up a picture of the suspects (and she subtly make everyone so), then have Anna yank you into something else with a tiny new fact, and then do it again. That should keep you on your toes! This story has everything: prejudice, murder, kids, alligators, Civil War, crazies, punks, a cat and dog, and several cases of maybe-its-love.
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