I wasn't disappointed. Barr is a good storyteller. She also weaves plots together in fascinating ways. Her characters can't rival Kingsolver's in depth or complexity, but they're more than adequate for story telling. This story involves some good old Mississippi boys, a small-time crook, a clergyman-county sheriff, and Barr's protagonist, park ranger Anna Pigeon.

Add to the mix of characters things like Mississippi family secrets, the management of a national park, a woman as a supervisor in a small part of a huge male-dominated bureaucracy, and the problems of an outsider fitting into small town society. Oh, yes, and then there's that naked body found on a bed in the historic house that's in Natchez Trace National Park. There's enough in this book to make you almost forget it's a murder mystery. "Good stuff, Maynard," as the old Malt-O-Meal advertising slogan said.

Next time Nevada Barr writes a book, I'll try to resist long enough for the library to buy it, but I'll be looking for it. For the rest of you, the library now ha a copy and the paperback edition must nearly be on the book shelves at your favorite bookstore. Go for it!