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Natchez Trace Parkway - Books

From the Publisher:
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 SandM 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. Author Biography: Nevada Barr is the author of nine previous Anna Pigeon mysteries, including the New York Times bestsellers Blood Lure and Deep South. She e was most recently a ranger on the Natchez Trace Parkway.

Synopsis:
The Barnes and Noble ReviewWith tight prose that bleeds authenticity, Nevada Barr is known for her powerful Anna Pigeon novels, whose chapters breeze by at high speed and offer readers fascinating glimpses at the history, beauty, and administration of the national parks of the United States. Story threads draw together layers of conflict and social relevance, revealing the hidden sides of both protagonists and villains within a compelling plot.In her tenth outing, park ranger Anna Pigeon must investigate a murder at a tourist spot on Mississippi’s Natchez Trace National Parkway. The corpse bears marks possibly made in an SandM act, and one clue appears on a nightstand in the form of a Bible with certain verses circled in red. Making things harder for Anna is the involvement of the dead man’s brother, Raymond Barnette, an undertaker who fears what would happen if the facts of the case got out to his neighbors. It turns out the Barnette family has been hiding other dark secrets for generations, so they’re quite good at obscuring the truth. Anna finds herself a bit out of her element as racial tensions, a jealous deputy, and a group of poachers add to the complications—even as her romantic life begins to heat up.Distinguished by a carefully driven style, Hunting Season moves with a rapid stride that propels readers into the tale. Barr knows her characters and their situations, and she understands how true investigative procedure can form the essence of a narrative. She manages to use the natural ambiance of the lush Deep South to underscore events and create suspense, and as elsewhere in her work, it’s the ring of truth that makes thisnovel so very entertaining. Hunting Season is a book that deserves wide attention, as Nevada Barr again demonstrates that she is one of the most noteworthy voices in the field. (Tom Piccirilli)

From The Critics:
People MagazineReaders 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. Publishers WeeklyAfter 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 2001 Cahners Business Information. Library JournalAnna Pigeon, who has already starred in nine mysteries for Barr, encounters what appears to be murder by SandM ritual at a historic plantation deep in the heart of Mississippi. Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information. Kirkus ReviewsAfter a season out west among killer bears (Blood Lure, 2001), Anna Pigeon, who’s made her reputation by keeping on the move, is back as District Ranger in Mississippi’s Natchez Trace National Parkway. The Natchez Trace is every bit as beautiful as ever, and insubordinate male underlings like Randy Thigpen (Deep South, 2000) still resent her every bit as much. What’s new is the crisis in her romance with Claiborne County Sheriff Paul Davidson, an Episcopal priest who’s separated, though not divorced, from his calculating wife, and the most embarrassing corpse she’s ever been called away from somebody else’s wedding to examine. Good ol’ boy Doyce Barnette, smothered and stripped to his Fruit of the Looms, has been deposited on Grandma Polly’s decorous bed at the former working plantation Mt. Locust, looking just like a beached whale with a weakness for kinky sex. The revelation is bound to heat up relations among the poker-playing buddies who solemnly alibi each other for the night Doyce died, and the race for Adams County Sheriff, since Doyce’s undertaker brother Ray, who’d hoped to replace Clintus Jones, now has to endure this final affront. Digging deeper, however, Anna finds more dark secrets, from a century-old land grab to a much more recent band of poachers. As usual, the most dangerous species in the park turns out to walk on two legs.

Our Price: $6.99

Guide to the Natchez Trace Parkway
F. Lynne Bachleda

From the Publisher:
A unique journey through the heart of the Deep South, The Natchez Trace Parkway traverses 444 miles from Natchez, Mississippi, across the mighty Tennessee River in northwestern Alabama, to its northern terminus just shy of Nashville, Tennessee. For travelers planning a visit or already on the way, Guide to the Natchez Trace will help them discover all that the historic byway has to offer. From milepost to milepost, discover an ancient trail blazed hundreds of years ago by Native Americans that, in the early nineteenth century, became a trekking road for river boaters, who had sold their goods and vessels and were now headed back to central Tennessee and beyond.Visitors can drive the entire length, sampling the hundreds of scenic areas, restaurants, inns, exhibits, recreation areas, and other sites along the way. Motorcyclists will want to cruise the entire length as well, but will especially savor the hundreds of miles of meandering road between Natchez and Tupelo. For an even more intimate experience, Guide to the Natchez Trace shows where to hike on over 60 miles of National Scenic Trail, where to camp, and gives tips on bicycling the parkway’s scenic length.Whether exploring a few miles or a few hundred miles, visitors will enjoy it most with the Guide to the Natchez Trace.

List Price: ~~$$14.95~~ Our Price: $13.45

Deep South
Nevada Barr

From the Publisher:
March 2000 As Nevada Barr’s growing cult of readers knows, each Anna Pigeon novel is set in a different national park. Steeped in suspense, the fast-paced, brilliantly crafted Deep South brings Anna to the Natchez Trace Parkway in Mississippi, the very same national park in which the author herself was most recently a ranger. On the Natchez Trace, the kudzu is thick and green, the woods are dark and full of secrets, and the ghosts of violence hover as Anna discovers a gruesome murder with frightening racial overtones. Now she must set aside all thoughts of personal safety to find the killer. Deep South proves that "like the parks and monuments she writes of, Nevada Barr should be declared a national treasure" (The Bloomsbury Review).

Synopsis:
I’ve mentioned before that Nevada Barr’s novels are rich with old-fashioned literary values. Too much mystery fiction today depends on gimmicks of one kind or another -- chapters that are 31 words long; looping italicised locutions to indicate the mind of the killer; totally dramatic presentations with virtually no narrative, as if the reader would be put off by it. Barr reminds me of the literary masters of the past because she takes a wonderfully formal approach to her fiction. She plots extremely well, her scenes inform the senses as well as the mind and heart, and she knows the importance of back story to the essence of good fiction. We are what we were. In addition, she understands pacing. Before the place description (which in Deep South is especially gorgeous) gets too long, she alternates it with some short, punchy humorous scenes. And if the book threatens to get static, she gives us one of her superb action scenes. Deep South is set just where its title says. It’s a little more sociological than usual -- Barr has a nice eye for the differences above and below the Mason-Dixon line -- and a little darker in the way the central crime relates to the theme of the novel. And, as always, Barr gives us a workaday sense of ranger life and the pleasures of bonding with nature. Barr gets better and better; richer, cleverer, deeper, and ever more uniquely herself with each book. In an eminently readable and unpretentious way, she is moving her novels ever closer to mainstream. --Ed Gorman

From The Critics:
Laurie Davie - Romantic TimesIn Deep South the landscapes of the various national parks that Anna, and Barr, have worked in ---their sights, sounds, and smells, the very texture of the air...are like vivid characters in the series, as well as Anna’s inspiration and sustenance. Read just one of these gripping, witty, and beautifully written mysteries and you’ll want to read more. KLIATTTo quote KLIATT’s review (in this issue) of the Recorded Books audiobook of this title: Barr’s eighth novel follows her heroine, National Park Ranger Anna Pigeon, on to the Natchez Trace in Mississippi, where unhelpful male colleagues are the least of her problems. When the body of 16-year-old Danielle Posey is discovered the morning after the prom with a noose around her neck draped in a Klan hood, Anna must use all her wits to find the murderer among a large group of likely suspects. Was it a Klan murder? After all, the white victim had a black boyfriend and her family members are virulent racists. Was it her white football hero prom date, angry at rejection? Was it a local minister who committed suicide shortly after the girl’s gory remains were discovered? Anna survives a brutal beating at the hands of the killer and finally finds the unusual motive to the crime. Highly recommended, with caveats for high school listeners. Obscenities, racial slurs, and violence are present but not gratuitous. KLIATT Codes: SA—Recommended for senior high school students, advanced students, and adults. 2000, Berkley, 352p, 18cm, $6.99. Ages 16 to adult. Reviewer: Janet Julian; English Teacher, Grafton H.S., Grafton, MA, March 2001 (Vol. 35 No. 2) Library JournalSoon after National Park Service Ranger Anna Pigeon moves to the Natchez Trace Parkway in Mississippi, she discovers the body of a white girl in a remote area of the park. The body has been draped in a sheet and noosed--a twisted reference to Klan killings of the past. As Anna starts to investigate, she faces insubordination from her employees, resentment from the victim’s family and friends, and lack of cooperation from the locals who frown upon a Yankee female playing a male role. Anna’s life and investigation nearly skid out of control when she discovers that the victim had a secret black lover, a potential witness commits suicide, and the still-at-large killer threatens her. In this eighth Anna Pigeon mystery, Barr (Liberty Falling) paints a luminous picture of the geography and the people of the Natchez Trace. Anna is a delight--a tough, independent, funny, and slightly jaded middle-aged woman in a man’s profession. Highly recommended for all public libraries. [Previewed in Prepub Alert, LJ 11-1-99.]--Karen Anderson, Superior Court Law Lib., Phoenix Copyright 2000 Cahners Business Information. School Library JournalYA-This eighth mystery in the series, set in the Natchez Trace Parkway, is a real disappointment. When the body of a 15-year-old girl dressed for her prom is found half buried along the old portion of the trail, U.S. Parks Ranger Anna Pigeon must deal with sex discrimination and racial problems as well as adjust to the intricate culture of a small Mississippi town in order to solve the case. The story lacks the exciting plot and tension of some of the series’ previous bestsellers such as Firestorm (1996) and Blind Descent (1998, both Putnam). Copyright 2000 Cahners Business Information.| Publisher’s WeeklyBarr produces another suspenseful and highly atmospheric mystery, illuminated even in this now setting by her trademark lyricism in writing about the natural world.Read all 9 "From The Critics" andgt;

Our Price: $6.99

Guide to the Natchez Trace Parkway
F. Lynne Bachleda

Natchez Trace: Two Centuries of Travel
R. C. Bildart

Our Price: $17.95

Deep South
Nevada Barr

Natchez Trace Historic Trail in American History
William R. Sanford

Annotation:
Traces the history of this ancient trail used originally by Native Americans, describes its use by travelers returning north from New Orleans, and includes information about it as a national reserve.

From The Critics:
Children’s LiteratureAt the conclusion of the American Revolution, a simple trail stretching from Tennessee to Mississippi became one of the busiest commercial avenues in the newly formed nation. Originally a series of Native American pathways, the Natchez Trace was used by travelers from across the land. In an age when steamboats did not exist, it was improbable to fight the current of the Mississippi River and head on back north via that watery thoroughfare. Instead, merchants, traders, trappers and travelers often chose a land trail after shipping their wares south. Thus, the 450-mile long Natchez Trace, or trail, became a preferred means of heading back toward Nashville. Fraught with dangers such as swamps, deep rivers and bandits, the Natchez Trace was not a path for the fainthearted. However, for a fifty-year period stretching into the 1830s, the Natchez Trace was a vibrant part of American history. This illustrated book charts the history of the Natchez Trace. Also included are suggested ways in which the modern historic trail can be journeyed. However, while the subject matter is of interest, the narrative is somewhat disjointed and lacking in focus. This is a book that can serve as a resource for modern vacationers but may have a limited audience among younger readers. 2001, Enslow, $20.95. Ages 10 to 14. Reviewer: Greg M. Romaneck School Library JournalGr 5-8-Each of these easily accessible volumes provides background material on the early history of its respective area, focusing on archaeological information. The books also trace the development of these important routes, explore the people who traveled them, and comment on the clash of cultures as Euro-Americans encountered Native peoples. Each author carefully points out the contributions of the different groups who traveled these routes during different centuries and reminds readers of the significant contributions of the indigenous people who were often displaced by explorers and settlers. These routes connected cities, provided paths for commerce, and were vital links for people and their story is fascinating. El Camino Real, which is discussed in Mission Trails, eventually linked the missions on the coast of California; the Natchez Trace was an ancient Indian trail that later played an important part in the lives of Andrew Jackson and Meriwether Lewis. These well-researched, readable texts are illustrated with black-and-white photographs and small maps (with no scale). The texts are straightforward and somewhat dry but motivated students who are looking for report material will find them useful. Students looking for something with more visual appeal will find James Crutchfield’s The Natchez Trace: A Pictorial History (Rutledge Hill, 1985), with its glorious photographs, more to their liking. Solid, serviceable additions.-Dona J. Helmer, College Gate School Library, Anchorage, AK Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information.

Our Price: $26.60

America’s National Park Roads and Parkways: Drawings from the Historic American Engineering Record (The Road and American Culture Series)
Timothy Davis (Editor)

From the Publisher:
The roads within America’s national park system reveal a wide range of technological, aesthetic, and philosophical concerns. Their design and construction epitomize the central challenge of national park management: how to balance environmental protection with public access. The Historic American Engineering Record (HAER), a division of the National Park Service, has spent more than a dozen years documenting the history of this vital aspect of the national park experience.America’s National Park Roads and Parkways brings together 331 measured and interpretive drawings commissioned by HAER to illustrate the physical characteristics, design strategies, construction practices, and visitor experiences of roads in national parks from Acadia to Zion and parkways from the Blue Ridge to the Natchez Trace. Also included are non--Park Service projects that utilized similar design strategies, including the Bronx River Parkway and the Columbia River Highway. The book documents thirty-one projects, explaining how roads shape visitor perceptions, highlighting key characteristics of individual park road systems, and connecting their design and construction to the broader history of American engineering and landscape architecture.More than a documentary record of historic design and construction practices, this book has practical applications for engineers, landscape architects, and cultural resource specialists in guiding design decisions, interpreting historic sites, and informing contemporary debates on preservation and environmental protection.

List Price: ~~$$55.00~~ Our Price: $44.00

Hunting Season
Nevada Barr

Bicycling the Natchez Trace
Glen Wanner

From the Publisher:
The Natchez Trace Parkway stretches 450 miles from the hills of Nashville, Tennessee to the rich farmlands of Natchez, Mississippi. Originally an Indian path, the Natchez Trace became the road that opened the forested wilderness of the Deep South to settlers, soldiers, boatmen and outlaws. Administered by the National Park Service, this modern-day Parkway entices cyclists from around the world. Plan your tour of the Natchez Trace and learn its fascinating history with this easy-to-use guide book. Also included are several day excursions and overnight tours which link the Parkway with peaceful rural roads leading to quaint towns, antebellum homes, and Civil War battlefields.

Our Price: $15.95

The Natchez Trace: A Pictorial History
James A. Crutchfield