While exploring the great outdoors, we have encountered drunkards with loud speedboats, a-holes who pump their window-shaking bass late into the night, screaming children on wheelie shoes and proles who can't be bothered to transport a used condom or spit cup to the nearest trash can. Guess we can at least be thankful that, unlike fictional park ranger Anna Pigeon, we've never stumbled upon dead bodies. Writer Nevada Barr draws on her own experiences working in national parks to create Pigeon's character, who in a series of murder mysteries puts together the clues to bring miscreants to justice. Pigeon's latest adventure, Borderline, is set on a rafting trip gone awry in the desert wilderness of Big Bend National Park. Barr signs and discusses her latest book at 6:30 p.m. Friday at Barnes & Noble, 7700 W. Northwest Highway. Call 214-739-1124.
Fri., April 10, 2009