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Anna Pigeon #4
Firestorm
Park ranger Anna Pigion and her companions discover a slain firefighter in a Northern California park, sending them on a search for a murderer in the midst of a winter firestorm
298 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1996
407 people are currently reading
1954 people want to read
About the author
Nevada Barr
66 books2,292 followersNevada Barr is a mystery fiction author, known for her "Anna Pigeon" series of mysteries, set in National Parks in the United States. Barr has won an Agatha Award for best first novel for Track of the Cat.
Barr was named after the state of her birth. She grew up in Johnstonville, California. She finished college at the University of California, Irvine. Originally, Barr started to pursue a career in theatre, but decided to be a park ranger. In 1984 she published her first novel, Bittersweet, a bleak lesbian historical novel set in the days of the Western frontier.
While working in Guadalupe Mountains National Park, Barr created the Anna Pigeon series. Pigeon is a law enforcement officer with the United States National Park Service. Each book in the series takes place in a different National Park, where Pigeon solves a murder mystery, often related to natural resource issues. She is a satirical, witty woman whose icy exterior is broken down in each book by a hunky male to whom she is attracted (such as Rogelio).
Currently, Ms. Barr lives in New Orleans, LA.
http://us.macmillan.com/author/nevada...
Barr was named after the state of her birth. She grew up in Johnstonville, California. She finished college at the University of California, Irvine. Originally, Barr started to pursue a career in theatre, but decided to be a park ranger. In 1984 she published her first novel, Bittersweet, a bleak lesbian historical novel set in the days of the Western frontier.
While working in Guadalupe Mountains National Park, Barr created the Anna Pigeon series. Pigeon is a law enforcement officer with the United States National Park Service. Each book in the series takes place in a different National Park, where Pigeon solves a murder mystery, often related to natural resource issues. She is a satirical, witty woman whose icy exterior is broken down in each book by a hunky male to whom she is attracted (such as Rogelio).
Currently, Ms. Barr lives in New Orleans, LA.
http://us.macmillan.com/author/nevada...
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 605 reviews
June 15, 2024
This park ranger murder mystery series is so interesting to me because each book takes us to a completely different setting. In this fourth installment, Anna Pigeon is with a team of rangers battling a forest fire in California. The firefighting scenes are intense! I’ve read a few firefighting books and this one goes into quite a bit of detail. And of course, being a murder mystery, there is a killing along the way. What makes this one especially interesting is that the team is trapped up in the dangerous fire zone, they can’t get out, and one of them is the killer. Felt very much like a good Agatha Christie novel where you’re all trapped on an island waiting for the next person to die.
March 7, 2018
This series is getting better and better. I'm glad I'm late in the game because there are a ton more books in the series to read. I like that Anna is an older heroine (40 years old) and that she's trying not to act like a teenager which is hard when you're feeling depressed and tired. There were some really sad parts of this book and some really sweet. I'm glad Anna isn't a black and white person.
April 4, 2020
I was looking for a quick, entertaining read to take me away from home and give me a bit of adventure and suspense. Nevada Barr’s
Firestorm
fit the bill. I’m not sure how I missed this one, the fourth in a series of gazillion –well, 19 – Anna Pigeon National Park Ranger mysteries. This one takes place in California's Lassen Volcanic National Park, where a fire is raging and Anna is working as an EMT. Things are winding down, and the crew is thinking they’ll be heading home when one guy is found with a badly injured leg. As Anna and several others attempt to rescue him, a massive firestorm hits.
From there, all hell breaks loose, and in the aftermath, one of the team members is found dead, not from the fire, but murdered. Anna trades her EMT gear for a detective’s thinking cap and goes about trying to solve the murder, which is no easy task. Nor is it a safe one, given that the killer is one of her team members.
Who you gonna call? Boyfriend FBI Agent Frederick Stanton, that’s who. While Stanton has been sitting at home in Chicago alone with his budgerigar and a glass of scotch, Anna knows she needs someone with experience and resources to help her come up with some answers. And, she wouldn’t mind some comforting arms to hold her when this is all over, either.
Ms. Barr does a great job describing the wear and tear firefighting takes on this band of men and women. I could feel their exhaustion, their hunger, and their irritation with one another. Having to fight a fire and the elements and also deal with assorted personalities while under duress makes things challenging for everyone. Although this book was published more than 20 years ago, I am reminded that fires have always, and still are, a threat to wildlife, to our environment, and to human beings. One scene struck me as particularly poetic: What had once been a living forest, a kaleidoscope of life and color, now resembled a Chinese brush painting. Black ink on white rice paper; starkly beautiful but without welcome.
As in every Anna Pigeon book that I have read, Anna tends to get in over her head, which leads to a nail-biting scene near the end. It’s a bit predictable, but it was fun trying to guess along with her who that bad guy or girl was. I did have trouble keeping some of the characters straight for quite a while, but by the time most of the innocent ones had been eliminated as suspects, I had pretty much sorted out who was who.
I have always loved who Anna is. She is small in stature but mighty in competence, intelligence, and spirit.
4 stars
From there, all hell breaks loose, and in the aftermath, one of the team members is found dead, not from the fire, but murdered. Anna trades her EMT gear for a detective’s thinking cap and goes about trying to solve the murder, which is no easy task. Nor is it a safe one, given that the killer is one of her team members.
Who you gonna call? Boyfriend FBI Agent Frederick Stanton, that’s who. While Stanton has been sitting at home in Chicago alone with his budgerigar and a glass of scotch, Anna knows she needs someone with experience and resources to help her come up with some answers. And, she wouldn’t mind some comforting arms to hold her when this is all over, either.
Ms. Barr does a great job describing the wear and tear firefighting takes on this band of men and women. I could feel their exhaustion, their hunger, and their irritation with one another. Having to fight a fire and the elements and also deal with assorted personalities while under duress makes things challenging for everyone. Although this book was published more than 20 years ago, I am reminded that fires have always, and still are, a threat to wildlife, to our environment, and to human beings. One scene struck me as particularly poetic: What had once been a living forest, a kaleidoscope of life and color, now resembled a Chinese brush painting. Black ink on white rice paper; starkly beautiful but without welcome.
As in every Anna Pigeon book that I have read, Anna tends to get in over her head, which leads to a nail-biting scene near the end. It’s a bit predictable, but it was fun trying to guess along with her who that bad guy or girl was. I did have trouble keeping some of the characters straight for quite a while, but by the time most of the innocent ones had been eliminated as suspects, I had pretty much sorted out who was who.
I have always loved who Anna is. She is small in stature but mighty in competence, intelligence, and spirit.
4 stars
November 28, 2021
I discovered Nevada Barr's Anna Pigeon series this year. The first I read, Flashback was the best, with a great location and a nifty dual plot. The next was just OK, but this one, an early entry, was super.
Working in Lassen Volcanic National Park as an EMT during a wildfire, Anna Pigeon is attached to a small crew that is cut off from the outside when the blaze shifts and a snowstorm sets in. One of their number is murdered, and Anna is forced to put on her security officer cap to keep a lid on the situation, and try to figure out what happened.
Barr makes the most of the location: the hydrothermal features, the rugged terrain, and the wildfires. I was struck by the difference in attitudes toward the fires then and now. There was no years-long drought in the mid-1990s, and the fire was perceived as a normal event that could, within a few days, be contained. Given climate change and the persistent drought, California wildfires today take on such a different character.
I will definitely be reading more in this series, and I now know how to select the ones that are likely to appeal to me most - those in natural settings, where Anna Pigeon can use her skills and sense to outwit the bad guys.
Working in Lassen Volcanic National Park as an EMT during a wildfire, Anna Pigeon is attached to a small crew that is cut off from the outside when the blaze shifts and a snowstorm sets in. One of their number is murdered, and Anna is forced to put on her security officer cap to keep a lid on the situation, and try to figure out what happened.
Barr makes the most of the location: the hydrothermal features, the rugged terrain, and the wildfires. I was struck by the difference in attitudes toward the fires then and now. There was no years-long drought in the mid-1990s, and the fire was perceived as a normal event that could, within a few days, be contained. Given climate change and the persistent drought, California wildfires today take on such a different character.
I will definitely be reading more in this series, and I now know how to select the ones that are likely to appeal to me most - those in natural settings, where Anna Pigeon can use her skills and sense to outwit the bad guys.
September 1, 2015
Part of my Reading Around the World challenge. Please visit my blog: http://highlanddrive.blogspot.com/201...
This is a very enjoyable mystery. Has a lot of similarities with a country house mystery. You have a limited group of suspects and they are isolated. Though, they are isolated in a stressful situation while being trapped by a wildfire.
This is the fourth of the Anna Pigeon mysteries that are all set in National Parks. This one is no different, being set a Lassen Volcanic National Park during a wildfire.
I really enjoyed it and the ending was very good, except for one thing. Anna's "boyfriend" is back at Base Camp yet we don't see the together at the end. That seemed a little odd.
This is a very enjoyable mystery. Has a lot of similarities with a country house mystery. You have a limited group of suspects and they are isolated. Though, they are isolated in a stressful situation while being trapped by a wildfire.
This is the fourth of the Anna Pigeon mysteries that are all set in National Parks. This one is no different, being set a Lassen Volcanic National Park during a wildfire.
I really enjoyed it and the ending was very good, except for one thing. Anna's "boyfriend" is back at Base Camp yet we don't see the together at the end. That seemed a little odd.
June 2, 2014
My favorite Nevada Barr book so far
Fast-paced, Firestorm kept me at the edge of my seat. Couldn't put this book down until I finished it. The murderer was a complete mystery until almost the end
, and the ending had a very satisfying twist.
Fast-paced, Firestorm kept me at the edge of my seat. Couldn't put this book down until I finished it. The murderer was a complete mystery until almost the end
, and the ending had a very satisfying twist.
October 2, 2025
I read 'Track of the Cat' (1993), the first Anna Pigeon book, back in the 1990s when I was travelling through American National Parks. I re-read the book last year and was pleased to see that the writing held up. I realised that I was probably better able to appreciate Anna, a widow in her forties, now that I'm older, rather than younger, than her. I wanted to see what she did next, so I started to read my way through the series.
'Firestorm’ was my fourth visit with Anna Pigeon. I think it is the strongest in the series so far. It differed from its predecessors in three ways that made it a stronger mystery and a more intense read.
Firstly, it was effectively a version of a locked-room mystery. In this case, the locked room was the space occupied by the people who survived a flashover fire in the mountains of California by sheltering under their individual ‘shake and bake’ aluminium covers. One of the party doesn't survive - a knife in the heart will do that to you- meaning one of the survivors is a murderer.
Secondly, it had a compressed timeline. Anna and the other survivors are trapped on the mountain by extreme cold weather for a few days after the murder. So, Anna has to try and find the murderer while knowing that he or eating and sleeping meters away from them. She spends most of the investigation cold, exhausted and feeling very vulnerable.
Thirdly, part of the story is told from the point of view of FBI agent Frederick Stanton, whom Anna worked with in 'A Superior Death' and 'Ill Wind'. Stanton inserts himself into the investigation when he hears that Anna is involved and that she is trapped on the mountain. He never makes it further than the Base Camp, but he has the resources of the FBI at his disposal. Stanton's perspective helped the exposition along nicely. His growing relationship with Anna also helped develop Anna's character.
As usual, Nevada Barr did a sterling job of bringing the setting of the story to life. The description of the fire is spectacular. The description of waiting for rescue in the mountains in the depth of winter made a great contrast and provided a dramatic backdrop for what is a fairly static story.
I didn’t guess who the murderer was, so I was kept hanging until almost the end of the book, and even then, things didn’t go the way I’d normally expect them to.
I enjoyed the book. I was impressed by how contemporary (communications technology to one side) the twenty-nine-year-old book felt. I have another fourteen books to go in the series. I'm looking forward to them.
'Firestorm’ was my fourth visit with Anna Pigeon. I think it is the strongest in the series so far. It differed from its predecessors in three ways that made it a stronger mystery and a more intense read.
Firstly, it was effectively a version of a locked-room mystery. In this case, the locked room was the space occupied by the people who survived a flashover fire in the mountains of California by sheltering under their individual ‘shake and bake’ aluminium covers. One of the party doesn't survive - a knife in the heart will do that to you- meaning one of the survivors is a murderer.
Secondly, it had a compressed timeline. Anna and the other survivors are trapped on the mountain by extreme cold weather for a few days after the murder. So, Anna has to try and find the murderer while knowing that he or eating and sleeping meters away from them. She spends most of the investigation cold, exhausted and feeling very vulnerable.
Thirdly, part of the story is told from the point of view of FBI agent Frederick Stanton, whom Anna worked with in 'A Superior Death' and 'Ill Wind'. Stanton inserts himself into the investigation when he hears that Anna is involved and that she is trapped on the mountain. He never makes it further than the Base Camp, but he has the resources of the FBI at his disposal. Stanton's perspective helped the exposition along nicely. His growing relationship with Anna also helped develop Anna's character.
As usual, Nevada Barr did a sterling job of bringing the setting of the story to life. The description of the fire is spectacular. The description of waiting for rescue in the mountains in the depth of winter made a great contrast and provided a dramatic backdrop for what is a fairly static story.
I didn’t guess who the murderer was, so I was kept hanging until almost the end of the book, and even then, things didn’t go the way I’d normally expect them to.
I enjoyed the book. I was impressed by how contemporary (communications technology to one side) the twenty-nine-year-old book felt. I have another fourteen books to go in the series. I'm looking forward to them.
February 14, 2013
The good: I learned a ton about wildfires and wildfire survival. The book itself tends a bit towards the infodump, but the information is generally so interesting that this is not too problematic. Barr herself has worked as a seasonal park ranger, later a full park ranger, and she clearly knows what she is talking about. I love books where a specialist uses fiction as a means to teach in an enjoyable way, and Barr's books always fall under this category.
The bad: As usual in Barr's books, I had real difficulty warming to or even differentiating the characters. Part of the reason for this, I think, is the style: Barr uses dialogue more sparingly than perhaps any other contemporary author I can think of. Pages and pages go by uninterrupted by more than an occasional single word or sentence from the characters. Part of this is due to the wilderness survival setting, part to what seems like a set of atypically terse personalities. However, it means that most of the personalities are of the show-rather-than-tell variety, which in turn makes the whole mystery, already weak, a little more futile. I also must admit that I've never warmed to Anna Pigeon, the protagonist. Most of my repulsion comes from a previous book, in which Anna apparently leaves a murderer to die a horrific death of exposure, and the impression I got of her there is not surmounted by an otherwise weakly delineated personality.
The ugly: speaking of awful deaths, all the characters that I warmed to, and I mean all, died absolutely horrific, nightmarish deaths, and the end of the book left me depressed.
The bad: As usual in Barr's books, I had real difficulty warming to or even differentiating the characters. Part of the reason for this, I think, is the style: Barr uses dialogue more sparingly than perhaps any other contemporary author I can think of. Pages and pages go by uninterrupted by more than an occasional single word or sentence from the characters. Part of this is due to the wilderness survival setting, part to what seems like a set of atypically terse personalities. However, it means that most of the personalities are of the show-rather-than-tell variety, which in turn makes the whole mystery, already weak, a little more futile. I also must admit that I've never warmed to Anna Pigeon, the protagonist. Most of my repulsion comes from a previous book, in which Anna apparently leaves a murderer to die a horrific death of exposure, and the impression I got of her there is not surmounted by an otherwise weakly delineated personality.
The ugly: speaking of awful deaths, all the characters that I warmed to, and I mean all, died absolutely horrific, nightmarish deaths, and the end of the book left me depressed.
March 11, 2020
This 4th Anna Pigeon book has the backdrop of a wildfire in Lassen Volcanic National Park. That made for a dramatic setting and an action filled, harrowing plot. Anna Pigeon is working as a medic during the wildfire. Right before they are due to leave, a team member breaks his leg, and as they try to get him out of the area, a "firestorm." erupts. The team takes refuge in their individual fire shelters, and when they finally emerge and try to check on everyone, one of them has been murdered. Cut off and unable to get out on their own, or be rescued for a few days, the team is at the mercy of the murderer. Anna needs to solve the case before the murderer takes another victim.
This was a good one. The wildfire and aftermath made for a high level of stress and tension in the book. The situation of the characters felt very urgent, and I read with bated breath. I felt very invested in the storyline and was constantly worried as to what would happen next. I think Anna is a great character, and their were good secondary ones as well. I'm looking forward to the next book in the series.
This was a good one. The wildfire and aftermath made for a high level of stress and tension in the book. The situation of the characters felt very urgent, and I read with bated breath. I felt very invested in the storyline and was constantly worried as to what would happen next. I think Anna is a great character, and their were good secondary ones as well. I'm looking forward to the next book in the series.
June 13, 2014
]
I always enjoy Nevada Barrs ' work, despite the fact that I haven't been reading about National Parks Ranger Anna Pigeon's exploits, in sequential order. This is one of her earlier works, number four in the series. California's Lassen Volcanic National Park is the setting, and Anna is there, high in the mountains, serving as a medical technician for crews fighting a major forest fire. There is plenty of interesting information about this extremely dangerous job, the strategies involved to combat almost any challenge a fire can throw at the fire crews, and roles of the support staff who work behind the scenes to make sure the fire crews work under the safest conditions possible, with the required materials. Anna and her crew are well prepared until a rare combination of circumstances creates the horrific, dreaded firestorm. While struggling to evacuate an injured member of the crew, the firestorm occurs. Barr's description is incredibly vivid, and it seemed that I could hear the roar of the flames, the tremendous heat created, and visualize the scrambling of the crew to take cover under their individual protective fire tents. Once the firestorm passes, and the crew members emerge to a ravaged, eerie landscape, only to find that one of their number has been stabbed in the back! With this particularly grisly discovery, Anna's crew is stranded in this devastated area, with bad weather moving in and no help available, even by emergency helicopter, with a murderer amongst them. Barr has essentially created the equivalent of the traditional murder at the isolated manor house, with a set number of suspects, cut off from the rest of society, with motives to be uncovered. Various members of the crew must struggle with the stress of the situation, personal injuries, bad weather, cold, snow, and a scarcity of food, water and medical supplies. Personalities may be at odds, and all of this turmoil takes places among the dangers of hidden pockets of red hot embers, the sulphurous fumes of volcanic pools and bubbling mud pots, and a mountainside landscape ravaged by the firestorm. Having toured the bubbling mud pot areas of Yellowstone, it was not difficult to conjure up the sights and smells Barr wants the reader to imagine. To Barr's credit, such an experience is not necessary to encourage you to turn those pages quickly, to sift through the clues Anna collects as she talks to those around her, and observes their interactions. An interesting, atmospheric and exciting read. Additionally, this book left me with a better understanding of the terrible dangers faced by all of those fire crews we see on tv during the forest fire seasons in Canada and the United States. Anna has done them proud in Firestorm.
I always enjoy Nevada Barrs ' work, despite the fact that I haven't been reading about National Parks Ranger Anna Pigeon's exploits, in sequential order. This is one of her earlier works, number four in the series. California's Lassen Volcanic National Park is the setting, and Anna is there, high in the mountains, serving as a medical technician for crews fighting a major forest fire. There is plenty of interesting information about this extremely dangerous job, the strategies involved to combat almost any challenge a fire can throw at the fire crews, and roles of the support staff who work behind the scenes to make sure the fire crews work under the safest conditions possible, with the required materials. Anna and her crew are well prepared until a rare combination of circumstances creates the horrific, dreaded firestorm. While struggling to evacuate an injured member of the crew, the firestorm occurs. Barr's description is incredibly vivid, and it seemed that I could hear the roar of the flames, the tremendous heat created, and visualize the scrambling of the crew to take cover under their individual protective fire tents. Once the firestorm passes, and the crew members emerge to a ravaged, eerie landscape, only to find that one of their number has been stabbed in the back! With this particularly grisly discovery, Anna's crew is stranded in this devastated area, with bad weather moving in and no help available, even by emergency helicopter, with a murderer amongst them. Barr has essentially created the equivalent of the traditional murder at the isolated manor house, with a set number of suspects, cut off from the rest of society, with motives to be uncovered. Various members of the crew must struggle with the stress of the situation, personal injuries, bad weather, cold, snow, and a scarcity of food, water and medical supplies. Personalities may be at odds, and all of this turmoil takes places among the dangers of hidden pockets of red hot embers, the sulphurous fumes of volcanic pools and bubbling mud pots, and a mountainside landscape ravaged by the firestorm. Having toured the bubbling mud pot areas of Yellowstone, it was not difficult to conjure up the sights and smells Barr wants the reader to imagine. To Barr's credit, such an experience is not necessary to encourage you to turn those pages quickly, to sift through the clues Anna collects as she talks to those around her, and observes their interactions. An interesting, atmospheric and exciting read. Additionally, this book left me with a better understanding of the terrible dangers faced by all of those fire crews we see on tv during the forest fire seasons in Canada and the United States. Anna has done them proud in Firestorm.
February 19, 2025
Didn't love this one as much as her other books, characters weren't fully developed and hard to differentiate. Still, a tantalizing mystery and I always like Anna's pragmatic way of dealing with dire situations. Lots of interesting info on what it takes to fight massive forest fires.
August 18, 2017
"Raw, naked power blooming in red and orange and black. Tornadoes of pure fire shrieking through the treetops, an enraged elemental beast slaking a hunger so old only stones and gods remembered."
Firestorm (1996) is my fourth book by Nevada Barr in her National Parks series featuring Anna Pigeon, the ranger. After Glacier, Carlsbad Caverns, and Mesa Verde, Ms. Pigeon is now serving in Lassen Volcanic National Park as an emergency medical technician helping battle the ferocious Jackknife fire that blazes in that Northern California park.
Ms. Pigeon has been on the front line tending to firefighters wounds and bruises; when the spike camp is in the final stages of disassembly she gets a message about a medical emergency. One of the firefighters has suffered a complicated knee fracture on a steep slope and needs to be evacuated up the hill to a helicopter landing spot. Ms. Pigeon along with a few other firefighters and medical crew embark on the rescue mission and this is when they are trapped by a monster firestorm. They barely survive the hellish flames only to encounter a several-day-long period of catastrophic weather that makes rescue from outside impossible. Not only does the group include severely wounded people and victims of second-degree burns but also - guess what - they discover a murder victim and it is clear that the murderer must be among them. There are even signs that someone has tampered with the crime scene.
Like in Blood Lure and in Blind Descent the "nature" part of the story is superb while the criminal thread is weak. In Firestorm the contrast is particularly strong; I feel I am reading two different books: a great one about the wildfire inferno, about the nature dying and being reborn in the flames, and a mediocre crime story full of fake and unnecessary clues. A compelling portrayal of firefighters' lives on the fire frontline, complicated relationships in the camps, and the government bureaucracy of the National Parks Service and BLM are combined with amateurish, implausible, and just plain laughable investigation that Ms. Pigeon is conducting among the firefighting crew.
We again meet Frederick Stanton, a powerful FBI agent, and Ms. Pigeon's romantic interest. His character is not well developed and the reader will feel his main role in the plot is to produce information about crime suspects, which Ms. Pigeon is then using in her ruminations about who the guilty party is. Other characters' portrayals range from well-drawn to pure caricatures. Ms. Barr's prose is clearly better than in Ill Wind, still a bit florid, but the reader quickly gets accustomed to it.
I really, really like the non-crime part of the novel and wouldn't hesitate to rate it with four stars. I really, really dislike the "investigation" part and would rate it with four times fewer stars. Overall, I certainly recommend the book and readers interested in classical whodunits might like it much more than I do.
Three stars.
Firestorm (1996) is my fourth book by Nevada Barr in her National Parks series featuring Anna Pigeon, the ranger. After Glacier, Carlsbad Caverns, and Mesa Verde, Ms. Pigeon is now serving in Lassen Volcanic National Park as an emergency medical technician helping battle the ferocious Jackknife fire that blazes in that Northern California park.
Ms. Pigeon has been on the front line tending to firefighters wounds and bruises; when the spike camp is in the final stages of disassembly she gets a message about a medical emergency. One of the firefighters has suffered a complicated knee fracture on a steep slope and needs to be evacuated up the hill to a helicopter landing spot. Ms. Pigeon along with a few other firefighters and medical crew embark on the rescue mission and this is when they are trapped by a monster firestorm. They barely survive the hellish flames only to encounter a several-day-long period of catastrophic weather that makes rescue from outside impossible. Not only does the group include severely wounded people and victims of second-degree burns but also - guess what - they discover a murder victim and it is clear that the murderer must be among them. There are even signs that someone has tampered with the crime scene.
Like in Blood Lure and in Blind Descent the "nature" part of the story is superb while the criminal thread is weak. In Firestorm the contrast is particularly strong; I feel I am reading two different books: a great one about the wildfire inferno, about the nature dying and being reborn in the flames, and a mediocre crime story full of fake and unnecessary clues. A compelling portrayal of firefighters' lives on the fire frontline, complicated relationships in the camps, and the government bureaucracy of the National Parks Service and BLM are combined with amateurish, implausible, and just plain laughable investigation that Ms. Pigeon is conducting among the firefighting crew.
We again meet Frederick Stanton, a powerful FBI agent, and Ms. Pigeon's romantic interest. His character is not well developed and the reader will feel his main role in the plot is to produce information about crime suspects, which Ms. Pigeon is then using in her ruminations about who the guilty party is. Other characters' portrayals range from well-drawn to pure caricatures. Ms. Barr's prose is clearly better than in Ill Wind, still a bit florid, but the reader quickly gets accustomed to it.
I really, really like the non-crime part of the novel and wouldn't hesitate to rate it with four stars. I really, really dislike the "investigation" part and would rate it with four times fewer stars. Overall, I certainly recommend the book and readers interested in classical whodunits might like it much more than I do.
Three stars.
February 26, 2018
This is the fourth book in Nevada Barr's mystery series, all set in US National Parks. I am reading the series because they are well done and because it is my puny attempt at activism in these times when our parks are at risk.
Firestorm was especially timely after the horrendous fire season we had in California last fall. In fact, it is set in Northern California's Lassen Volcanic National Park, home to jagged peaks, meadows, lakes, volcanoes, and steaming fumaroles (openings in or near a volcano through which hot sulfurous gases emerge.)
Anna Pigeon, park ranger, has been sent to Lassen as a camp medic and security officer to join the team fighting the Jackknife Fire. (According to the author's website, this is a fictional fire based on one she once worked in her park ranger days in Idaho.) As Anna treats the crew in the medic tent, you get minute knowledge about what these firefighters suffer while battling huge fires. You also learn about the various characters on the team, their talents and their grudges.
After several days of this, a cold front moves in with snow following. The camp is demobilized and all personnel begin to move out, trusting the weather to finish their job. But Anna and her crew are delayed due to the last minute rescue of a firefighter with a broken leg.
Within a couple hours, the erratic winds of a thunderstorm preceding the blizzard turn the ravine where they were stationed into a firestorm. As it explodes in flame, this crew of eight is trapped with only little individual tent-like fire shelters to protect them.
Many hours go by until the fire passes and that is when you learn what it is like to be dependent on these little shelters to stay alive while feeling like one is being baked to death. As Anna and her team members emerge one of them is found dead from a knife stabbed into his back.
At that point the story grows from an extreme adventure tale into a desperate race to determine who committed the murder. There they are in a tiny cabin, with the snow and the cold and no food for over 48 hours before a rescue crew can get to them. Anna is still being the medic but also relentlessly pursues her detective work as security officer. Danger, privation, and fear do their work on them all but of course Anna solves the crime while the clues are fresh just before their rescue arrives.
Great mystery fiction with a fearless heroine alongside the gritty realities of firefighting. When we had the fires last fall I remained glued to the videos and updates from the news and the Fire Department feeds on Twitter, but now I know much more about what really goes on!
September 7, 2015
So far this is the best Anna Pigeon novel I've read. I loved this setting - fire fighters caught in a National Park, fighting a fire and one of them turns out to be a murderer. But which one? Anna spends several days surrounded by people that she can't trust and everyone is suspicious of everyone else. There's a lot of excitement with the fire, too, and I just kept on reading.
May 20, 2021
This is the best Anna Pigeon mystery so far. It's like a locked room mystery, only the cast of suspects are trapped on a mountain after a firestorm swept through, toppling the trees and clogging the road. No food, no medical supplies, no escape. One of the nastiest of the crew is murdered, and Anna has to figure out whodunit before the murderer decides she knows too much.
February 1, 2024
My favorite Nevada Barr I’ve read so far. The way she describes being caught in a wildfire was so creatively descriptive and made it all the more frightening!
July 7, 2025
Anna is a fantastic character - flawed, funny, very very believable. Love all the minutae of the ranger's life too.
March 17, 2016
This 4th Anna Pigeon book finds her working as EMT for a firefighting crew in northern California. After eight days of work, most of the crew is called off as wet weather is predicted. But a firefighter breaks his leg, and Anna and her partner, Stephen, are called down the 30 degree slope to administer first aid. The EMTs and the last few firefighters are half way up the hill when suddenly a "firestorm" occurs, meaning the fire explodes and moves up-hill as fast as a human can run. And run they do (dropping the injured man) and flee over the hill crest and into a dry creek bed where they deploy their 'shake-n-bake' aluminum tents to wait out the fire. This was a particularly harrowing chapter, as Anna felt her baby fingers burning as the fire flashed over the creek and the smoke is so thick she could barely breath. But a few minutes later it was over, and one by one they all emerge from their silver tents to search for the rest of the crew. As the group makes its way down the creek bed, they see one tent still up and the man inside dead with a knife sticking out of his back. He was murdered during the firestorm.
The fire leaves nothing in its wake but ash, and while Anna tries to contact base camp by radio, the wind begins to pick up again, and dead tree branches begin to fall from on high, making it dangerous to be out. The aluminum tents are put together and the 10 survivors huddle together for warmth. In the morning they discover it has snowed six inches, and the ground that had been totally black is now totally white. Help cannot reach them by truck due to the ground littered with tree limbs which need to be cleared away by chain saw and backhoe, and the fog is too thick for a helicopter to come to their rescue. In the midst of this, Anna begins to try to solve the murder, which the help of Frederick Stanton to whom she talks by radio. He's flown in from Chicago and is set up at base camp. It's very harrowing at the high camp, with no food and no heat, little sleep and fear of a murderer in the tent. During the day Anna gets a chance to rest for a few minutes at a pool of hot water fed from the volcanic lake, where mud bubbles and boils. She questions all the suspects after getting their background histories from Fred and slowly narrows the suspects down to three.
The group is told they will have to stay up on the mountain for a second night. This is the night that the truth is revealed.
The fire leaves nothing in its wake but ash, and while Anna tries to contact base camp by radio, the wind begins to pick up again, and dead tree branches begin to fall from on high, making it dangerous to be out. The aluminum tents are put together and the 10 survivors huddle together for warmth. In the morning they discover it has snowed six inches, and the ground that had been totally black is now totally white. Help cannot reach them by truck due to the ground littered with tree limbs which need to be cleared away by chain saw and backhoe, and the fog is too thick for a helicopter to come to their rescue. In the midst of this, Anna begins to try to solve the murder, which the help of Frederick Stanton to whom she talks by radio. He's flown in from Chicago and is set up at base camp. It's very harrowing at the high camp, with no food and no heat, little sleep and fear of a murderer in the tent. During the day Anna gets a chance to rest for a few minutes at a pool of hot water fed from the volcanic lake, where mud bubbles and boils. She questions all the suspects after getting their background histories from Fred and slowly narrows the suspects down to three.
The group is told they will have to stay up on the mountain for a second night. This is the night that the truth is revealed.
February 8, 2015
In this 4th book of a series, U.S. Park Ranger Anna Pigeon is on temporary duty as the security officer and EMT with a group fighting the Jacknife fire in Northern California’s Lassen Volcanic National Park. A weather system promises some rain or snow to quench what is left of the fire, so the crew is dismantling the camp and pulling out. But one man is injured in an accident and Anna and a few others trek to his position to help evacuate the big guy down the mountain. Before they can get to safety, the storm front pushes high winds into the small remaining fires and a firestorm results, trapping them with only their individual safety shelters to protect them. When they emerge two men are dead – but one of them didn’t die in the fire; he’s been stabbed. With few resources, and a several days wait for rescue crews, Anna is alone in trying to figure out who among them is the murderer.
Nevada Barr writes good, suspenseful and intricately plotted mysteries, and this is a good one. I like Anna as a lead character; she’s intelligent, tenacious, strong (in body and mind) and resourceful. Barr includes a little romantic tension with Anna’s long-distance relationship with FBI agent Frederick Stanton, but that’s okay. There are several stereotypical characters – school-bully-turned-cop, weak-indecisive-bureaucrat, good-time-girl-camp-follower – but most of the team are reasonably complicated with strengths and weaknesses that come out under the stress of their predicament.
All told it’s a solid mystery with fast action that kept me interested from beginning to end
Nevada Barr writes good, suspenseful and intricately plotted mysteries, and this is a good one. I like Anna as a lead character; she’s intelligent, tenacious, strong (in body and mind) and resourceful. Barr includes a little romantic tension with Anna’s long-distance relationship with FBI agent Frederick Stanton, but that’s okay. There are several stereotypical characters – school-bully-turned-cop, weak-indecisive-bureaucrat, good-time-girl-camp-follower – but most of the team are reasonably complicated with strengths and weaknesses that come out under the stress of their predicament.
All told it’s a solid mystery with fast action that kept me interested from beginning to end
March 23, 2013
I don't know why but I didn't enjoy this book as much as the previous 3 in the Anna Pigeon series. Anna , who is a Park Ranger, and a team of fire fighters from other services have been caught in a firestorm in California's Lassen Volcanic National Park. I'd never heard of this park prior to reading this book. Anyway, two people and a pet dog end up dead, both by murders covered up by the fire. During the several days that the group is cut off from civilization it is Anna's responsibility as the Park Ranger, to solve the murders, which may or may not be related. I'm not sure what was missing to make this 3 stars instead of 5 but something was. I will probably take a short break before reading the 5th book in this series.
June 29, 2009
Anna Pigeon is trapped with 10 others as a fire goes out of control near Mount Lassen. Anna has been called from her usual posting along with personal culled from many other sources like BLM. Surviving in their personal shelters they survivors are cut off by the destruction the fire wreaks and by the weather that created the conditions allowing the firestorm. The weather continues to develop and brings on snow and close cloud cover blocking air rescue options and creating a locked room mystery setting in the out doors. This is a devilishly complex but realistic setting for the discovery of a murder victim in one of the personal shelters.
May 20, 2018
This was 4 stars until a little over half way when Anna began to ask too many questions and I got very annoyed with her as she needed to shut up! She just can't help herself. Its a wonder she doesn't get murdered with her endless snooping and asking killers detailed questions. She needs to read Zip It!
Sometimes she reminds me of Joe Pickett and he also has a plot when a person falls into the boiling hot springs!
It is very hard to put down!
Sometimes she reminds me of Joe Pickett and he also has a plot when a person falls into the boiling hot springs!
It is very hard to put down!
October 30, 2016
I read this quite a few years ago, but recall enjoying it. These books are always entertaining, with their changing settings and interesting main character, Anna Pigeon. I've read many of them, but probably haven't recorded them all in Goodreads yet. I'll round up to 4 stars from 3.5, since it didn't make my Mystery Top Ten list that year.
September 24, 2016
"There would be nightmares. As Garrison Keillor said: "Guilt is the gift that keeps on giving".
Loved this novel. I love the development of the main character "Anna Pigeon" as the series continues.
Loved this novel. I love the development of the main character "Anna Pigeon" as the series continues.
February 24, 2012
Dullsville.
December 25, 2024
I didn’t recall the plot or the mystery of this book from my first read probably twenty-five years ago, and really had no recollection of what I thought of it. But on re-read I found I enjoyed the story, though the ending almost ruined it. Incredible setting (Lassen National Park area in Northern California) where Anna, working security for a fire, barely escaped alive after shelter deployment and burnover. When she and the others emerge, in an addition to one firefighter dead who had been injured and unable to properly deploy, they find another crew member had been murdered. When a snowstorm blows in preventing rescue from reaching them, events push Anna to try to solve the murder on scene.
As to be expected in this series, the characters are all well developed, there are no one dimensional characters. The protaganist of the series, NPS Ranger Anna Pigeon, like any well developed character (and a real person) Anna has flaws and prejudices. But more broadly, Anna is a very likeable person. I may not agree with her perspective on everything, but that goes for most of my friends in real life, we shouldn't need to agreee with everyone friend on every topic and the same goes for characters in books. Anna is a law enforcement park ranger and takes her duties to protect the people, place, and wildlife seriously, but still likes to enjoy herself in the environment while she performs her job. That comes through well in Barr's writing. She can be abrupt with people when doing her job, and has a somewhat prickly demeanor and reputation, but still puts on a good face when dealing with he public and her colleagues as is expected of a Ranger. She has is a pretty good deductive mind, she is persitant and not afraid to take risks, and deep down she cares about people and her parks. And physically she is in good shape from her strenuous job and lifestyle, and has basic law enforcement training. One weakness of the character seen throughout the series is her unrealistic willingness to cover for those who lie, obstruct, harm, threaten, put her at risk, or even injure her, in some cases others are put at risk and even injured; its ok and forgiven if she ends up liking them. For those who she doesn't like (eg, she disagrees with them politically or with some aspect of their personality) she has no forgiveness. While I can understand willingness to look the other way for minor things, Anna takes it to the extreme in some cases, such as cases where death is involved or other serious crimes, and it just comes off as very unlikely. There is an example of this type of behavior in this book at the end, and it almost ruined the book fo me. I'll explain further below but "blur it” as it contains spoilers.
The other characters get great development and are true to their motivations, ie, we understand why they do things because the author took the time to flesh them out. Anyone can be a villian or a good or bad person. Their politics, religion, looks, etc… aren’t indicative of good/bad, though how Anna perceives them can be based on their beliefs as much as their actions. Just like all of us do despite how many people, especially today, try to deny it.
However... a big miss in this book is FBI SA Frederick Stanton, who was in the two previous books as well though in much smaller roles. He’s a silly character, a bit too over-the-top in his quirkiness to where I found him annoying. And in this book he is heavily featured, second only to Anna. In the previous stories we see everything from Anna’s close third person POV. Here there are alternating chapters frequently from Frederick’s POV and he is even more silly and annoying. The first scene of him in his apartment in Chicago, drinking a cocktail in his bathrobe watching the news with his pet bird perched on his head… just over the top ridiculous, I couldn't even chuckle it was so cheesy. Then he inserts himself into the mystery unrealistically. He works in FBI Chicago and misusing resources to learn what is going on out there because he’s crushing on Anna, he gets his boss to let him fly out to California in another FBI office's turf… because the FBI cares so much about a wildfire… I think not. Anna could have (and more likely would have been assisted by another ranger or local deputy via the radio, but there was no need really for Anna to solve the murder immediately, they just needed to survive to rescue and her poking around really just made things more dangerous. But I suspect including Frederick in the secondary investigator role for offsite work was a trick of Barr's because he was a plausible secondary lead and she could fill more of the novel and he might hold the reader interest more as he worked the case (instead of Anna in those scenes as she had no access to the locations and witnesses needed to make the plotline work) whereas a newly introduced ranger/deputy/FBI agent character at the Incident Command wouldn’t have worked as well; too much action by a new character.
The author uses red herrings to keep us guessing and truly anyone and everyone is a suspect in this story, but Barr lays out enough clues, seen as we look over Anna’s shoulder, that it is mostly solvable just before Anna figures it out. So the tension is there and pacing is great.
The plot/mystery is decent, not her best but it is both hampered and enhanced by the setting. This location is beautiful, and few outside of the region really appreciate it as it is somewhat more isolated that other locations from the big population centers (San Fran, LA) whose residents tend to flock to the Sierra which is more accessible. However, because of the isolation of Anna and the crew, Barr had to twist the plot a little to make it reasonable that Anna had to solve the mystery instead of just waiting out rescue. The setting, deep in the backcountry around Lassen NP was great, Barr does some great descriptive writing here. There is no map provided; I recalled maps in the latter books and recall they were helpful to get a basic visualliztion of spatial relationships as they were described in the book.
The ending/showdown was good, up to where Anna figures it out. After that, her actions were absurd (see more below so I can blur spoilers). It's a series so it's not a spoiler to reveal Anna survives. But what was done well by Barr is Anna’s figuring it out was logical, she did the work to get there and missed on a few occasions due to Barr's red herrings and false trails (literally). The final resolution was rather inplausable and I find if very unlikely Anna would make the decision she did. If that really is her character, then Barr is ruining her with these storylines.
So why two stars? True, based on the absurd ending it does not deserve it, it is so ridiculous. And the reappearance of Frederick Birdhead Stanton was annoying, as was the shifting viewpoint. But the setting really was great, as was much of the story and the plot up to that shitshow ending. It really doesn't deserve 2/5 stars from me but I just can't drop it to 1/5 as I did enjoy reading most of the book.
Why I am rereading now: I had first read this book in the late 90’s, and followed up with the rest of the series, then keeping up as new books were published, my last being Hunting Season in the early 2000s. Then in large part I took a break from fiction, mostly only reading non fiction along with a few favorite author’s novels and short stories until retirement a few years ago when I dove back into fiction. Last year I read Peter Heller’s book The Last Ranger, which was beyond disappointing. But it did make me recall Nevada Barr’s books, so I decided to re-read the first ten books before starting to read her new to me books, the first of those will be Flashback.
As to be expected in this series, the characters are all well developed, there are no one dimensional characters. The protaganist of the series, NPS Ranger Anna Pigeon, like any well developed character (and a real person) Anna has flaws and prejudices. But more broadly, Anna is a very likeable person. I may not agree with her perspective on everything, but that goes for most of my friends in real life, we shouldn't need to agreee with everyone friend on every topic and the same goes for characters in books. Anna is a law enforcement park ranger and takes her duties to protect the people, place, and wildlife seriously, but still likes to enjoy herself in the environment while she performs her job. That comes through well in Barr's writing. She can be abrupt with people when doing her job, and has a somewhat prickly demeanor and reputation, but still puts on a good face when dealing with he public and her colleagues as is expected of a Ranger. She has is a pretty good deductive mind, she is persitant and not afraid to take risks, and deep down she cares about people and her parks. And physically she is in good shape from her strenuous job and lifestyle, and has basic law enforcement training. One weakness of the character seen throughout the series is her unrealistic willingness to cover for those who lie, obstruct, harm, threaten, put her at risk, or even injure her, in some cases others are put at risk and even injured; its ok and forgiven if she ends up liking them. For those who she doesn't like (eg, she disagrees with them politically or with some aspect of their personality) she has no forgiveness. While I can understand willingness to look the other way for minor things, Anna takes it to the extreme in some cases, such as cases where death is involved or other serious crimes, and it just comes off as very unlikely. There is an example of this type of behavior in this book at the end, and it almost ruined the book fo me. I'll explain further below but "blur it” as it contains spoilers.
The other characters get great development and are true to their motivations, ie, we understand why they do things because the author took the time to flesh them out. Anyone can be a villian or a good or bad person. Their politics, religion, looks, etc… aren’t indicative of good/bad, though how Anna perceives them can be based on their beliefs as much as their actions. Just like all of us do despite how many people, especially today, try to deny it.
However... a big miss in this book is FBI SA Frederick Stanton, who was in the two previous books as well though in much smaller roles. He’s a silly character, a bit too over-the-top in his quirkiness to where I found him annoying. And in this book he is heavily featured, second only to Anna. In the previous stories we see everything from Anna’s close third person POV. Here there are alternating chapters frequently from Frederick’s POV and he is even more silly and annoying. The first scene of him in his apartment in Chicago, drinking a cocktail in his bathrobe watching the news with his pet bird perched on his head… just over the top ridiculous, I couldn't even chuckle it was so cheesy. Then he inserts himself into the mystery unrealistically. He works in FBI Chicago and misusing resources to learn what is going on out there because he’s crushing on Anna, he gets his boss to let him fly out to California in another FBI office's turf… because the FBI cares so much about a wildfire… I think not. Anna could have (and more likely would have been assisted by another ranger or local deputy via the radio, but there was no need really for Anna to solve the murder immediately, they just needed to survive to rescue and her poking around really just made things more dangerous. But I suspect including Frederick in the secondary investigator role for offsite work was a trick of Barr's because he was a plausible secondary lead and she could fill more of the novel and he might hold the reader interest more as he worked the case (instead of Anna in those scenes as she had no access to the locations and witnesses needed to make the plotline work) whereas a newly introduced ranger/deputy/FBI agent character at the Incident Command wouldn’t have worked as well; too much action by a new character.
The author uses red herrings to keep us guessing and truly anyone and everyone is a suspect in this story, but Barr lays out enough clues, seen as we look over Anna’s shoulder, that it is mostly solvable just before Anna figures it out. So the tension is there and pacing is great.
The plot/mystery is decent, not her best but it is both hampered and enhanced by the setting. This location is beautiful, and few outside of the region really appreciate it as it is somewhat more isolated that other locations from the big population centers (San Fran, LA) whose residents tend to flock to the Sierra which is more accessible. However, because of the isolation of Anna and the crew, Barr had to twist the plot a little to make it reasonable that Anna had to solve the mystery instead of just waiting out rescue. The setting, deep in the backcountry around Lassen NP was great, Barr does some great descriptive writing here. There is no map provided; I recalled maps in the latter books and recall they were helpful to get a basic visualliztion of spatial relationships as they were described in the book.
The ending/showdown was good, up to where Anna figures it out. After that, her actions were absurd (see more below so I can blur spoilers). It's a series so it's not a spoiler to reveal Anna survives. But what was done well by Barr is Anna’s figuring it out was logical, she did the work to get there and missed on a few occasions due to Barr's red herrings and false trails (literally). The final resolution was rather inplausable and I find if very unlikely Anna would make the decision she did. If that really is her character, then Barr is ruining her with these storylines.
So why two stars? True, based on the absurd ending it does not deserve it, it is so ridiculous. And the reappearance of Frederick Birdhead Stanton was annoying, as was the shifting viewpoint. But the setting really was great, as was much of the story and the plot up to that shitshow ending. It really doesn't deserve 2/5 stars from me but I just can't drop it to 1/5 as I did enjoy reading most of the book.
Why I am rereading now: I had first read this book in the late 90’s, and followed up with the rest of the series, then keeping up as new books were published, my last being Hunting Season in the early 2000s. Then in large part I took a break from fiction, mostly only reading non fiction along with a few favorite author’s novels and short stories until retirement a few years ago when I dove back into fiction. Last year I read Peter Heller’s book The Last Ranger, which was beyond disappointing. But it did make me recall Nevada Barr’s books, so I decided to re-read the first ten books before starting to read her new to me books, the first of those will be Flashback.
May 22, 2020
I'm reminded of an Agatha Christy novel where suspects and the investigator are isolated in a mansion. Here, the isolation is in the Cascades of Northern California near Mt. Lassen Volcanic Park. Twelve firefighters are trapped by a firestorm and then snow and fog. Among the trapped is Ranger Anna Pigeon.
Two deaths occur, one by fire, the other by a knife in the back. Afflicted with injuries, cold, fatigue, and hunger, the remaining members reveal their strengths and weaknesses, their true personalities as tensions grow. We follow the story through the eyes of Pigeon and Frederick Stanton, an FBI agent who is her budding love interest. Able to radio Stanton, she works with him to investigate the backgrounds and motives of the marooned crew.
My interest is particularly piqued by the location, familiar to me. The firestorm reminds me of the Campfire in Paradise, not far from where I live. Barr aptly describes the fire's power and its aftermath. She brings to life the surroundings and how they affect her and the others. And I enjoy the witty exchanges.
I rate the novel 4 stars, however, because despite the powerful writing, an occasional passive sentence knocks the power from the action. Mostly I dislike her habit in this novel of using two names for each of the many characters, so where we might need to remember at least ten names, we are tasked with remembering at least twenty.
As Pigeon and Stanton seek to solve the murder, I wonder where the twist will be, and I hope
the killer isn't a favorite character. The ending when it comes does not disappoint. It is brilliant, bringing a real surprise and satisfaction.
Two deaths occur, one by fire, the other by a knife in the back. Afflicted with injuries, cold, fatigue, and hunger, the remaining members reveal their strengths and weaknesses, their true personalities as tensions grow. We follow the story through the eyes of Pigeon and Frederick Stanton, an FBI agent who is her budding love interest. Able to radio Stanton, she works with him to investigate the backgrounds and motives of the marooned crew.
My interest is particularly piqued by the location, familiar to me. The firestorm reminds me of the Campfire in Paradise, not far from where I live. Barr aptly describes the fire's power and its aftermath. She brings to life the surroundings and how they affect her and the others. And I enjoy the witty exchanges.
I rate the novel 4 stars, however, because despite the powerful writing, an occasional passive sentence knocks the power from the action. Mostly I dislike her habit in this novel of using two names for each of the many characters, so where we might need to remember at least ten names, we are tasked with remembering at least twenty.
As Pigeon and Stanton seek to solve the murder, I wonder where the twist will be, and I hope
the killer isn't a favorite character. The ending when it comes does not disappoint. It is brilliant, bringing a real surprise and satisfaction.
September 25, 2019
If you have ever wondered what it would be like to be stranded on a mountain that is hosting a wild, hellish blaze, this is the book for you! It will take you into the lives of firefighters in a massive California wildfire.
Of course, because it is also part of the Anna Pigeon series, it also includes a murder mystery for her to help solve while fighting all the elements imaginable.
Good series!
Of course, because it is also part of the Anna Pigeon series, it also includes a murder mystery for her to help solve while fighting all the elements imaginable.
Good series!
March 9, 2025
This is the first book in the series set in a park I have been to (Lassen), so that was fun. It didn't have as many landmarks mentioned as the other books, but the fire going through the park was spot on.
April 18, 2025
Another banger but it was hard to keep track of all the names- I don't think I grasped all the characters until the last few chapters. The author switches between their first and last names every sentence and my brain gets confused. Also it was a bit more repetitive but for good reason- Anna is going a bit insane and had to repeat all the details of the murder to keep her grounded
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