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Book Review of Track of the Cat (Anna Pigeon, Bk 1)

Track of the Cat (Anna Pigeon, Bk 1)
reviewed on + 6 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 1


Ms. Barr has been writing this wonderful series for quite some time, and my wife was after me to read about Anna Pigeon. I'm glad that I did.

This is the first of the books in the series. While it's not really important to read them in sequence, those of us who are "type A" will appreciate doing so.

Anna is a 40'sh park ranger with an interesting personality which is revealled slowly over the course of the books (some characters to pop up in many). She's a strong and resilient female heroine, not without her own demons.

I found that the mystery involved in this volume was not particularly difficult to solve, so in a way, the character interplay, dialog and descriptions are more important that the resolution of the mystery itself.

I guess in that way, Ms. Barr is like Robert Parker, whose Spenser books are less about the mystery than aboput Spenser's interaction with his loves and friends. Ms. Barr, however, is much more detailed in her description of events (particularly scenery and details about the various parks where Anna works) than Parker ever is, and she uses dialogue much less frequently to advance the plot.

Anna Pigeon has become one of my favorites, and this is a great place to start.