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A review by octavia_cade
Firestorm by Nevada Barr
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
3.5
This is a very different sort of locked room mystery! Anna's working as an EMT for a firefighting unit when a California park goes up in flames, and she and her crew get caught in an unexpected firestorm. They all huddle separately under their individual fireproof shelters - apart from one guy who, in the midst of all this holocaust, is afterwards found stabbed to death in his personal shelter. It clearly happened during the storm, when anyone wandering about would be incinerated, and while Anna's waiting for the road to be cleared enough for rescue, she's stuck with a small group of people - one of whom has to be the murderer - with no possible way for them to have done it.
It's cleverly written, though I have to admit I prefer the stories where she's a more typical park ranger. Of course, fire is a natural part of many ecosystems, but much of the attraction of this series for me is reading about the different environments and wildlife of the various national parks that Anna is stationed at. There's not a lot of that in charred wasteland! It's still a very nature-based take on a locked room mystery, though, and I can't deny that appeals.
It's cleverly written, though I have to admit I prefer the stories where she's a more typical park ranger. Of course, fire is a natural part of many ecosystems, but much of the attraction of this series for me is reading about the different environments and wildlife of the various national parks that Anna is stationed at. There's not a lot of that in charred wasteland! It's still a very nature-based take on a locked room mystery, though, and I can't deny that appeals.