Track of the Cat, (Conclusion)

Anna’s list of suspects has narrowed considerably, and maybe Mr. or Mrs. Seasoned Mystery Reader has guessed by now who the “bad guy” is, but it is disguised very well.  Having found Craig dead in what appears to be yet another “accidental death” our number one suspect is now gone.  “Craig’s name was still on the top of it [the suspect list].  Neatly, Anna drew a single line through the letters.”  And, of course, we don’t find out until the final scene who the bad guy is.  Might I be inclined to give it away here? Nah!! 

Anna gets to meet the ever-so-charming-and-easy-to-hate Erik Walters, Christina’s ex.  She learns enough through their conversation to be able to check on his whereabouts only to discover another air-tight alibi.  Focusing now on Karl – who, for a while seems like a sure bet – she discovers what he’s been up to; and finds it to be innocent enough in a rather charming passage which takes place in his little hidden valley.  She follows him to it partly up a stone box canyon wall with handholds he has made himself.  “Twenty feet up she remembered reading that the Anasazi had often planned their stone ‘ladders’ so an enemy, starting out on the wrong foot, would find himself halfway up without a grip, unable to ascend or descend.” 

Her visit to Jerry Paulsen, uneventful as it is, gives her just the clue she needs to fill in the picture for her; but like many a crafty mystery writer before her, Barr chooses to withhold it from her readers until the ending scene.  She does manage to make the Paulsen character very compelling in a rather short scene; we feel we know all we need to know about him from his quirky behavior toward Anna. 

After another phone visit with her psychiatrist sister – always a treat – we come to the beginning of the final scene.  This sequence has an almost mystical quality about it as Anna stakes out what she hopes is the next crime scene, assuming that her hunches are all correct.  There is a meditative quality, a “becoming one with nature” aspect that helps wrap up a story which partly strives to help us see the stark beauty of that part of the world.  It certainly works for this reader.  “Once above the escarpment the moon dwindled rapidly in size but its light flowed unabated through the dry clean air, caught the iridescent shells in the ancient reef-become-mountains and the salt crystals of the long dead sea.”  This almost poetic writing has been in evidence throughout the book, and has added immensely to the pleasure of reading it. 

The ending explains all, without the usual posturing of an oh-so-clever detective running down the list of conclusions she had reached, or a lot of verbalized explanation of how the mystery was solved.  Anna simply tells the “bad guy” what she knows he was up to and he, thinking he has the upper hand, simply admits it is true.  The tables are turned on the bad guy, not by sheer luck, but by real bravado and smart moves on Anna’s part – another refreshing change from the usual formulaic ending of many mysteries.  And the ending is wickedly prosaic, with Anna leaving the bad guy helpless where he is, and implying that maybe she would come back to rescue him – but maybe not…  Over all, a very satisfying read, and one sure to bring the reader back for more!




April is Dean Koontz month! It's also the one-year mark of this book club which began last April with Koontz's 77 Shadow Street. This April we'll be reading his Odd Thomas, in anticipation of the release of the movie Odd Thomas on April 5th. Please join us in reading this immensely popular work of supernatural suspense!  The first segment will be Chapters 1-13.  Enjoy!

Track of the Cat, (Chapters 11-16)

This is one of those books that starts out good and just keeps getting better.  As a Mystery, it doesn’t suffer the all-too-common flaw of degenerating into a steady stream of questioning witnesses and suspects, as I was initially afraid it would.  In other mysteries I’ve read recently, I would find myself wishing for an extreme plot twist to occur, just to break us out of that too-familiar mold.  Beginning with chapter 11, that is precisely what happens here! 

Anna goes on a routine exploratory hike of a more remote area of the Guadalupe National Park; just part of the job.  But, do rangers really take hikes like this alone?  One would think they would team up in pairs, at least, in case someone is accidentally injured.  They do radio in their positions from time to time, but it seems odd that they wouldn’t use the buddy system.  What “befalls” Anna (excuse me) is precisely why going it alone seems a bad idea.  Her tumble down a mountainside, stopping just short of a 200-foot fall, and her subsequent struggle back up to the trail is harrowingly told.  At first this event seems to be completely unconnected to the story we’ve been reading so far.  Only several chapters later, after she recovers from the experience and has taken some leave from her job does she go back and discover the nature of the trap that had been laid for her. 

All through this section, she feels alone in her suspicion that the first death was a murder instead of a cougar attack.  She even begins to doubt her sanity. Colorful writing bears this out: “There were days Anna doubted she was in West Texas at all, days it seemed as if she must be in the Psych Ward at Columbia Hospital suffering from the delusion that she and all her fellow inmates were park rangers.”  And, “More than once, since she’d fled New York, Anna had feared for her sanity.  Often she saw things others did not.  Maybe because she was more clear-sighted than most.  Or had less to lose by seeing the truth.  Maybe because those things were not there.”  These observations point up one of the downsides to being so closely in touch with nature in such a harsh and barren environment.

 

The harshness of the area is aptly described in the search for Craig Eastern’s whereabouts.  “So much moisture was sucked up by heat and wind that it was almost impossible to keep hydrated.”  “Climbing out of the air-conditioned cab, Anna was hit by the heat.  For a few seconds, it felt delicious.  Then the caress grew heavy, gluing her clothes to her body.”  Most people I know, even those who live in this part of the country can’t relate to that “delicious” feeling.  For them, to perspire is to be uncomfortable.  Me?  Sometimes, I’ll get into my car in the middle of the summer, shut the door, and just enjoy those few minutes of “becoming one with the heat.”  Maybe I should be doubting my sanity too! 

The delightful personification of the animals continues.  On the somewhat darker side: “The horses plodded on [through the brutal heat] with the fatalism of all slave races.”  But elsewhere, the horses are described as almost child-like in their reactions to various events of the story - beautifully done.  Barr only gives us a taste of this writing here and there, reminding us of the age-old entertainer’s adage, “Always leave your audience wanting more” – no wonder she has such a loyal following among mystery readers!




April is Dean Koontz month! It's also the one-year mark of this book club which began last April with Koontz's 77 Shadow Street. This April we'll be reading his Odd Thomas, in anticipation of the release of the movie Odd Thomas on April 5th. Please join us in reading this immensely popular work of supernatural suspense!

Track of the Cat, (Chapters 6-10)

As has occurred to me many times before, I find myself a bit distracted by the “formula” aspect of reading a Mystery.  It’s that transition from the part of the book (typically the first quarter, more or less) that produces the scenario and the corpse or other foul play, to the predictable gathering of evidence and accumulating of clues section, usually involving seeking out witnesses and suspects and asking endless questions.  Sometimes the entire remainder of the book is like this until the mystery is cleared up at the very end.  I suspect that the biggest challenge in writing a mystery novel is not creating a clever, interwoven plot, as might be supposed, but in constructing it in such a way as to disguise as much as possible the Standard Formula. 

In the hands of a really good mystery writer, this structure is smoothed over with good character development, setting description, and sub-plotting; and this book is a good example of that.  Too much sub-plotting leads us to wishing the author would get back to the story already.  Track of the Cat is very sparing with it; we hardly sense it at all.  Anna is so relatable, and is so obviously uncomfortable with “detective work” that we don’t get jaded on her attempts to find out what’s going on.  Her flash of insight leading to the discovery of the hiding place of the sensitive photos is something we can see ourselves experiencing. 

The introduction of Lesbianism as a major factor in the plot is a bold stroke.  One imagines the elder mystery fans muttering, “Oh, my,” and returning the book to the shelf.  But it doesn’t come off as an attempt to be edgy, or to shock the more genteel reader.  Even when our heroine begins to have doubts about her own sexual inclinations, we can choose to be appalled or intrigued.  Or, better yet, we can simply accept that it’s part of the human condition and that this points up her complexity as a human, makes her even more real. 

Some authors are particularly good at depicting the animals in the story as bona fide characters.  Dean Koontz, for instance, has endeared us to many wonderful canine characters.  Here, Anna’s cat, Piedmont, and the horse, Gideon seem as real as the other secondary characters, (although the cat allowing itself to be “draped” around Christina’s shoulders within minutes of them having met seems a little far-fetched.  Nice kitty!).  Anna’s habit of talking out loud to herself – surely this is a common quirk among outdoorsy forest ranger types – is mitigated by her aiming her thoughts at Gideon as she rides.  The personification of the horse seemingly understanding (“Gideon wouldn’t dignify that with an answer and Anna went on with her musings”.) is good fun.

 

I suppose at this point in the book I should be trying to guess “who done it” but I’m still just enjoying the flow of the story; maybe I’m just not a seasoned mystery reader yet.  The weight of evidence seems to point to Craig as of now.  But isn’t part of the fun of reading mysteries the idea that the truth is not always so obvious?  There’s no butler in this story, so he’s off the hook.  Is this one of those stories that ends with us finding out that the person we least expected is the culprit?  Sorry, but I’m not struggling to refrain from peeking at the back of the book to see who the murderer is; I can wait.





April is Dean Koontz month!  It's also the one-year mark of this book club which began last April with Koontz's 77 Shadow Street.  This April we'll be reading his Odd Thomas, in anticipation of the release of the movie Odd Thomas on April 5th.  Please join us in reading this immensely popular work of supernatural suspense!

Track of the Cat, (Chapters 1-5)

"There hadn’t been a god for many years."…"God was dead.  Let Him rest in peace.  Now, finally, the earth was hers with no taint of Heaven."  If I were going to try to be a successful fiction writer, I would want my debut book to begin with lines as powerful, captivating and “edgy” as this.  From the beginning, all the praise I’ve heard about this author appears to be true.  (I also think I read somewhere that she is actually quite religious, that this is her art speaking, not her.) 

This, as Barr’s debut novel, reads like one written by a seasoned pro.  She doesn’t seem to be trying to impress us or dazzle us.  She takes her time and allows the characters – especially Anna, the heroine – to be human and naturally vulnerable.  She gives us enough background on Anna’s past experiences and incidentals about her current life to develop the character without sidetracking from the thread of the story.  Keeping the plot simple and easy to follow, she’s not trying to be too clever with the story line.  All the while, we’re treated to some very nice, thoughtful writing, with real depth.   

“Any excuse to drag out the hunting rifles was a good excuse in Texas.  Texans were the best hunters in the world.  They were born to it, believed in it, almost like a religion.  Hunting and football, not opposable thumbs and the ability to laugh, were what separated Man from the apes.”  This is, of course, West Texas she’s talking about, really more like the New Mexico and Old Mexico that it’s sandwiched between – not the more “genteel” Austin, or even Dallas that most of us are more familiar with.  Yet, this colorful description is not all that exaggerated, and most Texans readily recognize the type! 

When asked about his seven millimeter Browning hunting rifle and whether he hunts big game: “I used to,” Harland answered and Anna could tell he was uncomfortable with the subject.  “I bought that line about it being a 'challenge.'  When I found out a bull elk had an intelligence level equivalent to that of an eighteen-month-old toddler, I kind of lost my taste for it.”  Those of us who have always been a little uncomfortable with the idea of killing things for fun – oops, I meant “hunting as sport” – can totally relate.  These rangers, probably true-to-type for the most part, care about preserving the natural habitat and food chain of the area they protect.  

This author has a very loyal following, which is what attracted my attention to begin with, and I can see why she does.  Anyone who likes the outdoors, wild open places, environmental awareness, horses, wildlife of all kinds and mysteries will be drawn to this author like a magnet.  The prose is everything I had been led to believe it would be.  Her novels mostly center on the various national parks around the U.S., a different one for each story.  That is an added bonus that, along with her strengths as a writer, will definitely keep me coming back.



Next week: Chapters 6-10