It's fall in the Sierra Mountains, and Anna Pigeon is slinging hash in Yosemite National Park's historic Ahwahnee Hotel. Four young people, all seasonal park employees, have disappeared, and two weeks of work by crack search-and-rescue teams have failed to turn up a single clue; investigators are unsure as to whether the four went AWOL for reasons of their own - or died in the park. Needing an out-of-park ranger to work undercover, Anna is detailed to dining-room duty; but after a week of waiting tables, she knows the missing employees are only the first indications of a sickness threatening the park.
Her twenty-something roommates give up their party-girl ways and panic; her new restaurant colleagues regard her with suspicion and fear. But when Anna's life is threatened and her temporary supervisor turns a deaf ear, she follows the scent of evil, taking a solo hike up a snowy trial to the high country, seeking answers. What waits for her is a nightmare of death and greed - and perhaps her final adventure.
"Barr's trademark pleasures [are] evocative natural descriptions, mounting suspense, and Anna Pigeon's never-say-die spirit." - Kirkus Reviews
The latest in the Anna Pigeon mystery series is read by Joyce Bean, who focuses on clarity, rather than expression. Although she offers a pleasant narration, the listener notices a tone of nervousness. Fortunately, Bean shines in her vocal characterizations, and Anna's latest assignment at Yosemite National Park, where she is working undercover at the Ahwahnee Hotel, includes ample dialogue among a diverse cast of characters. From foul-mouthed campers to an alcoholic park ranger, Bean's depictions sparkle with expression, driving forward the mystery of missing park employees. Most memorable is her vocalization of a feisty head waitress who has more than five-star luncheons on her mind. J.J.B. (c) AudioFile 2004, Portland, Maine
About the Author
Nevada Barr is the award-winning author of thirteen previous Anna Pigeon mysteries, including the New York Times bestsellers Hard Truth and High Country. She lives in New Orleans.
