The Rope, by Nevada Barr

This is a prequel to the series, and takes place in Glen Canyon where Anna has gone to try to escape after the death of her husband. Then she gets sort-of kidnapped and trapped for a couple of days in a deep hole in the desert. Creepy--had a little bit of trouble with the idea of her being at all willing to going underground in Carlsbad Caverns (in a later-in-life book written about 10 years ago, which cured me of EVER doing any spelunking!).

Anyway, this is how Anne ends up as a Park Ranger. Not sure how effective it is in explaining that, but it's wonderful to find out a bit more about what she was like as a young, pretty woman. A redhead? Who knew? :-)

High Country, by Nevada Barr (on CD)

I've read this before (in book form), but it was fun to listen to it again. Barbara Rosenblat is so good at reading and imbuing books with life. And I love Anna Pigeon for her forthrightness.