(2003) Another very good Anna Pidgeon story about posting at Dry Tortugas National Park where illegal immigrant smugglers are trying to get over 300 Cubans into the country via this remote island.

I've loved all of the books in the Anna Pigeon series. Especially enjoyed the history in this one. ( )

When Dry Tortugas National Park came up in conversation last week I remembered that we owned this book in audio format and decided to give it a try.

I can't really say enough good things about this book! I don't know how typical it is of the series. (As I understand it, the personal life of Anna Pigeon, the main character, is often highlighted in the books and that's not typically a plus for me.)

The series aside, on its own merits, this book is definitely 5 stars for me. National Park Service law enforcement officer Anna Pigeon is temporarily stationed at Dry Tortugas after the previous agent in charge had a breakdown upon being left by his girlfriend. Shortly after she arrives all manner of bizarre and illegal events start happening, and the high-action plot is off and running.

Parallel to this story is another, set in 1865 at Ft. Jefferson (which takes up most of the park), a Union military prison at the time. Anna is given a cache of letters written by one of her great-great-aunts who was the wife of the commanding officer. That story line involves, among others, Ft. Jefferson's most famous inmate, Samuel Mudd, the physician who set John Wilkes Booth's leg after Lincoln's assassination. This story line is equally thrilling.

So, we have a super location, a couple of compelling plot lines, and a number of strong female characters. What more could I want? Excellent writing, that's what, and Nevada Barr delivers. She moves smoothly between the third person recounting of Anna's contemporary story and the first person tale related in the 19th century letters.

The icing on the cake is that the narrator is one of my favorites, Barbara Rosenblat. She's SO good with feisty women characters. ( )

Not bad, a little too long. The two stories (one in the present and one after the Civil War) were not intertwined enough for me, and the ending was not that satisfying. But after visiting several forts recently, it was interesting to be able to clearly picture the setting for this novel. ( )

In FLASHBACK, the 11th book in the park ranger Anna Pigeon series, Anna has taken a temporary assignment at Fort Jefferson in the Dry Tortugas off Key West, Florida. One of the things I absolutely love about this series is the way that each book takes you to a different national park, and the setting is described in such exquisite detail that it’s like really being there. This setting was especially fun to read about as Key West is so different to the parks Anna has worked in before. Someone goes missing, requiring a search at sea, some perilous scuba diving investigation, and the remains of an explosion are found. This book is written in dual timelines, with part of the action taking place in flashback through a series of letters Anna reads from the 19th century when Dr. Samuel Mudd (the physician who set John Wilkes Booth’s leg after the Lincoln assassination) was a prisoner there. Very interesting stuff in both timelines. ( )