Mystery Women Authors
Nevada Barr
Biography
The
daughter of two pilots, Barr grew up at a little mountain airport in Johnsonville,
California. After attending college at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo and completing
her graduate studies at the University of California at Irvine, she moved to
New York City to pursue a career in theatre. She stayed there for five years,
as a member of the Classic Stage Company, performing in Off-Broadway shows.
From New York, Barr went to Minneapolis, where she tried her hand at more theatre work, landed some spots on television commercials, and worked on industrial films, among other things. Her former husband was involved in the park service, which inspired her interest in wildlife and conservation, and eventually lead to the profession she holds when she isn't writing and that she shares with her main character - National Park Service Ranger, Anna Pigeon.
When she felt she could afford to, Barr began to work summers at various parks, and spent her winters pursuing a career in writing. Her first break came in 1984 with Bittersweet, a novel about the love shared between two women. During her tour of duty in Guadalupe Mountain Park in Texas, Barr turned her writing talents toward an entirely different genre -- the mystery. Track of the Cat, published in 1993, was her critically acclaimed debut. The book won the 1994 Agatha Award for Best First Novel of 1993 and the 1994 Anthony Award for Best First Novel of 1993.
Barr continued her successful new mystery series set in various National Parks with the publications of A Superior Death in 1994, Ill Wind in 1995, and Firestorm, which the San Francisco Examiner-Chronicle called "a remarkable leap forward for a writer who already is one of the best in the genre" and The Denver Post lauded as "the most exciting book so far in this exceptional series," in 1996. Endangered Species, Barr's fifth novel featuring Park Ranger Anna Pigeon, was published by G.P. Putnam's Sons on March 31, 1997.
Recently married, Nevada Barr lives with her husband in Clinton, Mississippi.
From Putnam Berkley Online and Photo by Tommy Bennet
Books
Anna Pigeon Mysteries
Liberty Falling
National
Park Service Ranger Anna Pigeon would never feel lonely even if she were the
only person in Yosemite national Park. On the other hand, place her in a teeming
metropolis like Manhattan and she feels both claustrophobic and lonely. However,
when her sister is in a Big Apple intensive care unit, fighting for her life,
Anna visits her, residing at a friend's home on Liberty Island.
Anna explores the ruins of Ellis Island, the locale where millions of immigrants entered
this country. However, strange happenings occur on both isles. A teen tumbles from the
statue with a witness screaming that a security person pushed the victim. In turn, the
accused seemingly commits suicide. Anna has doubts and begins to snoop. For her troubles,
someone breaks the crumbling stairwell from under her feet, an incident that
could have led to Anna's death. At a subway station, an unknown assailant tries to push
her in front of an oncoming train. The attacks on her person continue, but nothing deters
Anna from trying to ferret out the truth.
Looking at New York City, and Liberty and Ellis Islands from the perspective of a person
who enjoys the vast outdoors is an interesting treat. Liberty Falling
succeeds because of the attitude of Anna, who is not just tourist, towards the large
metropolis. Nevada Barr
has the uncanny ability of hiding her clues in plain sight, leaving the reader to struggle
with determining who is the perpetrator. The historical research on the two smaller
islands adds depth that leaves the audience feeling like they made a recent visit to the
Gateways National Park that includes Liberty and Ellis Island. Any Anna Pigeon novel is a
treat, but Liberty Falling is a special delight in a top series.
(Harriet Klausner)
Published Putnam Group March 1999
Read a review of LIberty Falling - click here
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(Hard
cover)
Blind Descent
Nevada
Barr's sixth mystery featuring protagonist Anna Pigeon descends into a cave
in the midst of Carlsbad Caverns to seek out the best place for a murder. Pigeon's
mental and detective skills are tested by her claustrophobia as she rappels
into a rescue effort for an injured colleague. With every tortuous step Pigeon
takes into the deep, the tension increases as it becomes clear that more is
at stake than just a rescue effort. Classically, there is the shortest of lists
of possible suspects: as Anna herself realises, it's unlikely that the convenient
tramp could find his or her way hundreds of feet underground. However, Barr
manages the restraints of the convention beautifully, and the suspense remains
taut until the perpetrator is revealed. (From Amazon.com)
Published Putnam Group March 1998
Read a review of Blind Descent - click here
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from
Track of the Cat
Track
of the Cat introduced park ranger sleuth Anna Pigeon and won the Agatha
and Anthony Awards for the Best First Mystery Novel of the Year. Anna Pigeon
fled the turmoil of New York to become a national park ranger, only to discover
she hasn't escaped murder and violence. When a colleague is killed, claw marks
on the victim's throat and paw prints around the body are too perfect to be
those of an alleged killer mountain lion.
Published Putnum 1993
Order Track of the Cat
from
A Superior Death
U.S.
National park ranger Anna Pigeon is adjusting to her new surroundings at Lake
Superior. While fulfilling the routine requirements for a diving permit, Anna
discovers the body of a drowned man--linked to an old cargo ship that rests
on the lake floor, 260 feet below the surface. (From Amazon.com)
Published Putnum 1994
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Illwind
Newly
assigned National Park Ranger Anna Pigeon seeks solace from some pretty severe
personal demons only to find people are dying from an illness and a murderer.
But an inexplicable illness affecting visitors to the popular Colorado landmark
has dragged her from reverie, as have two mysterious tragedies--the death of
a child and the murder of a friend. (From Amazon.com)
Published Putnum 1995
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Endangered Species
In
Endangered Species, Nevada Barr's latest mystery featuring park ranger
Anna Pigeon, the landscape changes from the stern beauty of Anna's beloved Southwest
to Georgia's Cumberland Island National Seashore. Here, in an alien world of
loggerhead turtles and wild ponies, Anna finds herself embroiled in mystery
when a drug- interdiction aeroplane crashes, the result of espionage.
Though the territory may be unfamiliar to her, Anna never loses her head as she navigates a sure path through eccentric islanders, fellow rangers, and many unexpected twists and turns to discover the heart of the riddle. (From Amazon.com)
Published by Putnam Pub Group April 1997
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Firestorm
A
raging fire in a national park seems an unlikely setting for a murder, but that's
exactly the circumstances that crime-fighting park ranger and medic Anna Pigeon
confronts in this mystery thriller. A suspicious fire breaks loose in Northern
California's Lassen Volcanic Park and Pigeon assists in battling the blaze and
treating the wounds of other fire fighters. As if that's not enough, Pigeon
finds herself without food and water trapped with a group of fire fighters,
one of whom is a murderer. She tries to figure out who the culprit is before
he, or the weather, strikes again. (From Amazon.com)
Published Headline 1996 USA
To read an excerpt of this book click here
Order Firestorm from
Non Mystery Books
Bittersweet
Is about two nineteenth century women who try to live independent lives in the frontier West. The women live for many years in the Nevada desert.
Published by St Martins Pr (Trade) August 1984
Web site address
Other sites for Nevada Barr
http://www.mca.com/putnam/authors/nevada_barr/txt_author.html
http://www.hycyber.com/MYST/barr_nevada.html
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Page created by Leone Moffat
Last updated February 26, 2002
