Barr tells a story full of vibrant desert life deep in a West Texas national park. Although some of the more specific geological terms flew over my head, she managed to paint a rich picture of the landscape that was a delight to read. Anna is a refreshing main character for a detective series being in her late thirties with plenty of world experience. Unfortunately, the cast was also bogged down with a plethora of men that showed up infrequently and began to run together; none of them popped up long enough to make an impression beyond Anna's initial brief descriptions of them which is a problem since this is a mystery story and everyone is a suspect.

I think the story would have worked better as either a slice of life story about Anna coming to terms with her past and the people she's pushed away or a murder mystery about a lion being framed. As it is, we get a little bit of both with neither reaching a satisfying conclusion; Anna spends too long fumbling around and not enough time solving the mystery while the social plots

are straight up never resolved

.

I had a lot of fun reading it, because I love the aesthetic of park rangers, but I'm torn on whether or not to recommend because the ending fell flat; I'm going with a tentative "yes: read it".