Product Description

"Readers familiar with Barr's entertaining national park mystery series know that Anna rarely finds tranquility in God's country. Her fans can only be grateful that there are still plenty of national parks left for Anna Pigeon to visit." (People)

When Anna answers a call to historic Mt. Locust, once a producing plantation and inn on Mississippi's Natchez Trace Parkway and now a tourist spot, the last thing she expects to encounter is murder. But the man Anna finds in the stand's old bedroom is no tourist in distress. He's nearly naked, and very dead, his body bearing marks consistent with an S&M ritual gone awry. On a writing table nearby is an open Bible, ominous passages circled in red.

It seems the deceased is the brother of Raymond Barnette, local undertaker and a candidate for sheriff, who wants to keep any hint of kinkiness out of the minds of the God-fearing populace. Ray may be hiding a house full of secrets in the old family homestead, but before Anna can start her investigation, she's waylaid by malevolent poachers, peevish coworkers, and a suddenly turbulent romantic life. And when hidden agendas and old allegiances are revealed, it's suddenly Anna's life that's on the line.

Tightly plotted, brilliantly suspenseful, and beautifully written, Hunting Season offers solid evidence that mankind can be as unpredictable and dangerous as the great outdoors.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #43769 in Books
• Published on: 2003-02-04
• Released on: 2003-02-04
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 352 pages

Amazon.com Review
When the body of Doyce Barnett turns up in unsavory circumstances in Mississippi's Natchez Trace National Park, district ranger Anna Pigeon finds her investigation stymied at every turn. The dead man's brother, an undertaker with a secret that's been kept by three generations of his family, will do anything to protect it, even if his cover-up puts Anna's life in danger. Her own deputy, jealous because she got the job he wanted, seems to be sabotaging her case in order to advance his political ambitions. A bunch of Mississippi good old boys who've been poaching on park territory are gunning for her, and something strange is going on in a slave cemetery that's also in her bailiwick.

In this, her 10th outing, the prickly, ever-likable Ranger Pigeon puts all the pieces together in a lively, well-paced mystery that evokes two dimensions of the Deep South: its lush beauty and its tangled racial history, dimensions that, as Anna herself puts it, are "both a balm. History because its sins had already been committed, nature because she was supremely indifferent to the petty hysterias of the human race." --Jane Adams

From Publishers Weekly
After an interlude in Montana and Canada in Blood Lure (2001), Anna Pigeon returns to the Mississippi Natchez Trace Parkway of Deep South (2000) in Barr's 10th book to feature the peripatetic national park ranger, though with its haphazard plot and fitful action it's not one of the author's best. The feisty Anna, now district ranger of the Port Gibson District, is still adjusting to her supervisory position and dealing with her resentful male staff. Her quiescent love life has blossomed with Paul Davidson, an ordained Episcopal minister and the sheriff of neighboring Claiborne County. When the nude body of Doyce Barnette turns up at Mt. Locust, a historic plantation and inn in the Natchez Trace Parkway, the dead man appears to have been the victim of a ritual killing, but it doesn't fit with his prosaic lifestyle. Anna works with the local sheriff, Clintus Jones, on a slippery case with a few motiveless suspects and fewer clues. Although it's hunting season, there doesn't seem to be a connection; the body shows odd marks and the cause of death is vague. Barnette's brother, an undertaker with political ambitions, is helpful but curt, his mother belligerent and uninformative. After Anna receives a couple of threats, she and Clintus discover they're investigating two different cases, and Anna finds out she has an enemy within the park service. As usual, the writing is first-rate, with vivid characters and atmospheric background. Even when she's not at the top of her form, Barr outshines most other authors in the mystery genre. National author tour. (Feb. 18)Forecast: Some fans may be disappointed that Barr has stopped moving her heroine around the national park system, but Anna's ongoing romance with Paul should attract new readers and keep existing ones happy.
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal
Anna Pigeon, who has already starred in nine mysteries for Barr, encounters what appears to be murder by S&M ritual at a historic plantation deep in the heart of Mississippi.
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Customer Reviews

Trace Evidence
I have mixed feelings about Nevada Barr's Hunting Season. On the one hand, I wanted to see Ranger Anna Pigeon end up somewhere new rather than the Natchez Trace Parkway. I like to revisit National Parks that I have personally visited or learn about a park I've never been to through each new Anna Pigeon novel. The fact that Hunting Season might be considered Deep South Part Two made it seem a less enticing read at first. On the other hand, it was nice to see the more detailed character development that a return visit to a location allowed AND it is realistic to have Anna stay in one place for longer than she normally seems to. Ultimately, the novel was very exciting and it kept me up to the wee hours of the morning several nights in a row. Local politics, poached deers, unmarked graves, shifting loyalties, folk art, and lots and lots of driving up and down the Natchez Trace Parkway all play a roll in this dark, damp mystery. This isn't the best Anna Pigeon novel nor is it a perfect 5 stars, but it was far enough past 4 stars to give it the full 5.

Back to the Natchez Trace
For the first time, Ms. Barr revisits (�Deep South�) a site she has covered before. This time it is autumn in Mississippi, and the mood as well as the weather is darker and more unpredictable.

Anna Pigeon has been promoted to District Manager, and though she likes the salary raise, is not quite sure of herself in her managerial tasks. Throughout the book, she is exquisitely patient with the mostly subordinate Randy Thigpen, and deeply compassionate toward her other ranger, Barth Dinkus, who has grown up in segregated Mississippi and is a troubled, frequently unhappy man. Anna is confronted with a dead man in his under shorts laid out on Grandma Polly�s bed in the historical home that has been renovated on Park Service property. First appearances indicate he might have been involved in some sado-masochistic game that went wrong. Investigating the murder in cooperation with the Adams County Sheriff, Anna finds little cooperation from the murdered man�s friends and family. Even the dead man seems to stymie the investigation. He is sadly the completely forgettable man. The most common comment about him is �there weren�t any harm in him� when trying to describe him.

There are many threads to this mystery, maybe a few too many, and it does get mired down in the middle. There is a scene where Anna is seemingly pursued by a group of good ole boy hunters in the dark that is chilling in its grotesque imagery. When Anna�s car gets methodically destroyed, Barr is brilliant in making sure we are sickeningly aware that the mysterious destroyer is using the car for a substitute for Anna herself. The finale is slam bang absolutely marvelous action.

I liked Anna�s quirky musings better than ever. She doesn�t do romance too well, but this makes her more endearing. �Hunting Season� is very good Barr. The imagery and locale descriptions are excellent as always and most of all, she puts a laser beam of knowledge in her character developments. Worth the price in hardback.

Barr's first repeat locale disappoints -- dull at times
According to my notes, this is the ninth novel in the [Park Ranger, now district manager] Anna Pigeon series, of which we admit to being big fans. It is however the first to reprise both the Natchez Trace location (all the others were set in a different National Park each time) and many of the characters from her prior offering, "Deep South". Indeed, Barr in real life is a ranger in the Natchez Trace, so one might wonder if she bowed to convenience in serving up another story from her every day stomping grounds. Interestingly, the plot is a little "lazy" as well, with most of the whole middle of the book little but mental ramblings on Anna's part that got a little boring to us after a while. Most of the real action is in the first and last tenths of the book, so it's a little yawny in between. Plus the outcome was not really all that shocking if you followed the circumstances a little more carefully than did our leading lady for two-thirds of the book.

Barr is known for fine writing and her awesome descriptions of the very unusual locales in which she sets her stories. Her heroine is very real to life, an early forty-ish, non-yuppie, who doesn't have snappy clothes, snappy cars, boyfriends galore, drink white wine (actually, Anna is a recovering alcoholic), or jog or swim many miles each day keeping the body well-honed. She's more like us -- plodding along doing the best we can, with some griping and whining along the way! Assuming "Hunting Season" isn't the end of the road, let's hope for a return to the form of the first eight in the series on Barr's next outing.