April 3, 1995
Barr lands another successful entry in the solid series featuring Anna Pigeon, the down-to-earth National Park Service ranger last seen in A Superior Death (1994). The daily problems at Mesa Verde National Park are mostly straightforward, although Ted Greeley, the contractor installing a water line, tends to irritate folks (especially the park archeologist, incensed about Greeley's indifference to buried Anasazi artifacts), and Patsy Silva, a park secretary, is getting ``weird'' messages from her ex-husband, who has joined Greeley's crew. The summer takes on darker hues when ranger Stacy Meyers panics so badly during the evacuation of an asthmatic child that he is useless. Soon afterward, Stacy vanishes; his corpse is found tucked away in the park in a scene of death that is ``pathologically neat.'' Anna is assigned to assist Frederick Stanton, the deceptively ``vague and bumbling'' FBI agent sent in on the case; as they match wits with an unknown adversary, their working relationship takes on warmer tones than at their last meeting. Despite being troubled by memories of her late husband and her increasing fondness for alcohol, Anna (usually) displays that common sense and appreciation for nature that makes her such good company. Literary Guild and Mystery Guild selections.