Coyote Wind and Specimen Song: The First Two Montana Mysteries Featuring Gabriel Du Pre

Gabriel Du Pre #1-2

by Peter Bowen

Featuring Montanan cattle-brand inspector and occasional sleuth Gabriel Du Pré, Peter Bowen's spare and lyrical mysteries have always received the critics' highest praise. Now, the first two mysteries in the series, Coyote Wind and Specimen Song , are brought together in one volume.

Genres: Fiction

368 pages, Paperback

First published May 28, 2000

About the author

Peter Bowen (b. 1945) is an author best known for mystery novels set in the modern American West. When he was ten, Bowen’s family moved to Bozeman, Montana, where a paper route introduced him to the grizzled old cowboys who frequented a bar called The Oaks. Listening to their stories, some of which stretched back to the 1870s, Bowen found inspiration for his later fiction.

Following time at the University of Michigan and the University of Montana, Bowen published his first novel, Yellowstone Kelly, in 1987. After two more novels featuring the real-life Western hero, Bowen published Coyote Wind (1994), which introduced Gabriel Du Pré, a mixed-race lawman living in fictional Toussaint, Montana. Bowen has written thirteen novels in the series, in which Du Pré gets tangled up in everything from cold-blooded murder to the hunt for rare fossils. Bowen continues to live and write in Livingston, Montana.

Reviews

[John · Rating 3 out of 5]

Gabriel DuPre is the Jim Chee of the North.

This is Bowen's first two novels in one package. The second is far better (or I've gotten used to the style) than the first. To break it down - 2-stars for Coyote Wind, 4 for Specimen Song.

The reader really doesn't stand a chance to solve the mystery in the first book - no clues are left and, in fact, DuPre 'solves' it only through a drunk visionary/shaman and coyotes who reveal evidence to him. The patois takes some getting used to as well.

The second is much more of a whodunit/thriller.

[Margaret · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars. Different. Gentle in a way. Not your usual mysteries. Completely different setting (Montana, mostly), but kind of reminds me of the Maisie Dobbs series (London, 1920s-30s, into the 40s) in that there is no rush with the pacing, the main character is a calm presence (nothing flashy here), and is respected in the character's community.

[Victoria · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good stories with Native Americans in Montana earlier in the century - probably 1980s or so
2 different books - same characters entertaining.

[Paul · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoy Gabriel Du Pre, cattle brand inspector, musician and a Metis from Montana. Rich guys and corporations, except for his alcoholic, rich buddy, tend to be the bad guys, but Bowen mixes in plenty of history and I love Du Pre's favorite shaman...

[Stephanie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read the first book in one day. Learned about a Montana ethnic group I was previously unfamiliar with. I liked the direct style and main character. Second book was not as strong as the first. Too much going on, and too much time spent outside of Montana. Overall, I'd keep reading Du Pre novels.

[Marsha Gilbert · Rating 5 out of 5]

Okay, now. These are stories to be treasured. I have laughed out loud at DuPre and his family and friends. A true treasure of tales.

[Natalie · Rating 4 out of 5]

All P. Bowen books are entertaining, cranky, magical light reads.

[Kirsty Darbyshire · Rating 2 out of 5]

Ages since I read the first of this series, and this second never really got going for me. Found it odd, bemusing and not very mystery like.

[Peggy · Rating 5 out of 5]

found this series different and interesting-so enjoyed the crazy characters

[Carol and Gary Curtis · Rating 3 out of 5]

Easy read. Interesting story. The dialogue was a bit too "local" for me at times but didn't slow the reading pace much.

[Judith · Rating 3 out of 5]

Actually read Thunder Horse