Specimen Song

Gabriel Du Pre #2

by Peter Bowen

Gabriel Du Pre is sweating, suffocating, and feeling not a little foolish at the Folk Life Festival in Washington, D.C. Far from his native Montana, he has flown east at the invitation of a fellow from the Smithsonian who admires Du Pre's fiddle playing and his Metis Indian heritage. Plus, the gig pays five hundred and expenses.
Du Pre's much-prized native instincts come in handy when a runaway horse disrupts the festival - but then he finds himself being questioned by police, for the horse belonged to a young Cree woman from Canada who has been found murdered. To complicate matters, the Smithsonian man, Paul Chase, asks Du Pre to record some of his old voyageur ballads for the museum's archives. Du Pre returns to Montana feeling that he has left behind unfinished business and has sold a precious part of himself.
Thankfully, Du Pre finds Montana unchanged and his lover, Madelaine, anxious to make up for lost time. But then Paul Chase calls again: Will Du Pre join him and a group of others on a canoe trip through Canada, following a portion of the old fur-trade route where the voyageurs sang their songs? The prospect of an authentic wilderness experience holds little appeal, but Du Pre figures he may learn something, and so agrees. What he discovers on the trip - about Chase, his companions, and himself - leads Du Pre on a Journey through history and native myth, toward the truth about a murderer.

Genres: Mystery, Westerns, Fiction, Native American, Crime, Mystery Thriller, Indigenous

201 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1995

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

[H (trying to keep up with GR friends) Balikov · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was attracted by Gabriel Du Pré's world in the first book, Coyote Wind. In fact, I gave it 5 stars https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Du Pré, as everyone seems to call him, is a native Montanan, a cattle inspector to pay the bills and a traditional fiddler to be true to his muse and his heritage. Yes, he’s a throw-back in some ways, or as he describes himself: “I am a two-lane man in a four-lane age. And they are welcome to it.”

This is more of a thriller than the first book. There is a sociopathic killer on the loose and he is hunting The First People of Canada. Du Pré is in DC and Canada more than he is back home…..he is out of his comfort zone. He has to rely of the visions of an old friend.

“I am not thinking this expedition will make it, thought Du Pré.”

There is actually more than one expedition in this tale and there is a distinctive p.o.v. that forces the reader to consider various aspects of technology in a different context. A strong plot compliments both the action and the manner within which things play out.

“Du Pré sighed. He thought he should have been told, then he thought it didn’t matter….Hmm, Du Pré thought, am I being used or being spared? Either way, I don’t much like it.”

Brown is a fine storyteller. His language is direct but his descriptions give us a nice feel for the wild beauty of Du Pré’s part of Montana. This book has the extra factor of covering several wilderness areas of Canada in that same fashion.

[Steve · Rating 5 out of 5]

I don't know if many people would enjoy this mystery series, but those who get it will love it as much as I do. Gabriel Du Pre is a French-Indian fiddler, a cattle brand inspector, and sometimes investigates for the local police in a small Montana town. He's politically incorrect, profane, and keeps a bottle of whiskey under the front seat of his car. The mystery aspect of this book plays second fiddle to the descriptions of Du Pre, his friends, and eastern Montana. Du Pre is deeply connected to his ancestors; each chapter is a history lesson, a geography lesson, and a moment of Zen. And the supporting cast is remarkable, too. You should give this book a try.

[Todd · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another well written Montana "mystery" with an intriguing cast and a lot of history thrown in.

Du Pré does some traveling in this book, a music festival in DC, where a Cree woman is murdered and a couple canoe trips in Canada.

Du Pré's women (his term not mine) have a strong influence on his actions and play a huge part in these stories. The woman murdered in DC is the first of several and Du Pré feels it's someone he knows and somehow feels responsible for ending it.

[Sofia · Rating 4 out of 5]

These are growing on me and becoming a comfort read. And yes I do know that that says a lot about me comfort in the crime genre, but hey I'm just a simple complicated girl.

[Blaine DeSantis · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love this author and this series!!! Sometimes one cannot figure out why you are attracted to a writer, but for me it is a locale (Montana), good use of Canadian/French/Indian culture, a gritty hero (Gabriel Du Pre), unique plots and short readable chapters. This is book two of the Montana Mysteries series and Du Pre just grows on me. Here he starts out in Washington DC where he is performing as a fiddler at a major cultural event sponsored by the Smithsonian. He spots a crazed horse, leaves the stage to calm it down, and shortly thereafter the police discover a dead body. From there we head up to Canada and back to DC, back to Canada, etc. with his Montana girlfriend, daughter and local vision/seer friend Benetsee being his usual cryptic and sometimes missing self. It all ties together into a really good book about stopping a serial killer who preys on Indians. Good book, did figure out the killer about 50 pages before the end, but how the ending is resolved is really pretty neat!! I cannot find this series at a local library so I get them when when are on sale for my Kindle, and so far I think I have purchased 7 or 8 of this series and really am happy that I have become a fan of Peter Bowen, Gabriel Du Pre and the Montana Mysteries.

[Paula · Rating 3 out of 5]

Again, not much of a mystery or a thriller, much more a character study.

Bowen's words meander over the pages so that I mutter to myself, "Just get to the point, will you?" and then I fall back into the narrative, perhaps experiencing Benetsee time.

[Randy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Gabriel Du Pre, the Metis part time lawman is back along with his colorful cast of characters. Madeline, his lady, his two daughters, Jacquleine and Maria, his rich recovering friend, Bart, and old Benetsee, the hard drinking old Metis Prophet who sees things before they happen.

In this one, a serial killer is at work in the D.C. area and Du Pre is in town at the invitation of a representative from the Smithsonian, Paul Chase, to play at a festival for nearly forgotten music from all over the country.

He's playing his fiddle on stage when screams interrupt and he spots a scared horse bolting in the crowds and rushes to talk it down, in his calm coyote French. It belongs to a young Cree woman, one of the singers from Canada, and she's found stabbed with a stone knife, the tip broke off in her wounds.

The second woman is choked with a cord made of seal skin. Also of Indian blood. The third victim, another Indian woman, is killed with a war club.

Du Pre returns home to Montana, agreeing to record some of his songs for Chase for preservation in the Smithsonian.

Then Chase calls again, inviting him on a canoe trip along the old trade routes in Canada, Not wanting to go, he finally agrees when old Bentesee urges him to go. It doesn't take long for him to realize Chase is nothing more than a rich glory hog. The whites on the trip keep to themselves, not speaking to the Indian members and barely speaking to Du Pre and the guides. They bail after three days, then Chase suddenly shows up at the end when the newspapers are there for interviews.

Over the next months, the murders continue. Two small girls, stabbed, aman stabbed. Du Pre, who hates flying, makes several more trips to D.C., talking with police. Chase has involved him when it comes out he was dating the first victim, he claiming it was Du Pre, who doesn't even know what the woman looked like.

Benetsee seems to be encouraging him to find the killer. You will know him when you see him. It's already become apparent to Du Pre that he's met the killer at some point. Chase? He doesn't seem to have the smarts for such. Still. Another at that first festival likely.

Gabriel Du Pre is one of the most original characters I've read in a long time. I've read two now and look forward to more.

[Techauthor · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great series

I really enjoy God mysteries with characters that start to feel like distant family. A new entry from the author is like a visit with special people. This series is like that.

Even better, I'm coming onto it late. I just finished this book (#2) and have many more to go. I'll do one more for now but don't binge-read the series. I think I'd rather savor this.

Start with book one, the introductions will help make sense of things.

[Sandi · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not really my favorite type of plot but found this enjoyable because of the various settings and the Native American lore that was mixed into the narrative.

[Jack · Rating 5 out of 5]

Audible Audiobooks Library 📚: 6 Stars
March 18, 2019;
November 13, 2021;
August 20, 2022

[Shoe · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.25 stars
Second book in the series, but my first. It won't be my last!

Rich details of the Métis, from the music being fiddled to the history of the voyageurs tasked with portaging heavily fur-laden canoes down cold rivers in gloomy forests, make this book stand out from any other mystery I have ever read. I will remember this long after I have forgotten 100 others.

"They were paddling in to shore to make the first camp when Du Pré had a thought, one coming out of his buried mind into the light. He had once heard a song that went "La Ronge, Le Vieux..." but he couldn't remember the rest. A lot of the voyageurs' songs must have been maps. They were illiterate. They had to move through a flattish country that had no high, unmistakable landmarks. Songs were easy to remember. So somewhere there was or had been some songs which described the landscape the entire length and breadth of the fur trade, all of it."

The main characters are unique and well-developed, with dry senses of humor that had me chuckling along throughout.

If you're looking for the oh-so-overplayed sex scenes that some other authors overindulge in, you aren't going to find them here. (YAY!!) You will find a good bit of foul language, though it is in context and keeping with the characters and not seemingly used for any shock value.

I read the Kindle version, and there were some simple errors that should have been caught by an editor. For example: drought instead of thought. Relatively few overall, but more than a couple with several fairly close together near the end of the book brought my rating down from 4.5 stars.

[M · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting book about Métis Indian culture, w a serial murder sub-subplot. Paranormal touches throughout.

3.5 stars

This short book is an author’s love story about life and lands (mostly desert & prairies) of rural NW Montana, plus Canadian rivers and exploring upstate New York. I enjoyed the murder subplot, which becomes more important later in the book. I would’ve preferred the author spend more time on the murder storyline.

Gabriel Du Pré—half Métis Indian protagonist—lives in very, very rural Montana. He goes to Washington, DC. to play his fiddle at the Smithsonian’s Folk Arts Festival—during which a Cree woman is stabbed to death. Lead investigator is DC Detective Sergeant Michelle Leuci, because Du Pré goes home before the serial murderer gets going. The murders are grisly and unsettling, and the skilled killer uses primitive Native American weapons. At first Du Pré is a long distance consultant, who—in turn—seeks out Benetsee, a medicine man/seer/prophet who seems to know everything. I loved reading about Benetsee and the paranormal that surrounds him.

The characters are what kept me reading and listening—especially Benetsee; Madeline (Du Pré’s lover); and Maria Du Pré (daughter) who’s off to a New England college.

I have the Kindle and Audible versions, and I highly recommend the audiobook for the superb narrator, Jim Meskimen, who gets 5 stars. Truth is, had I read the Kindle version, I’d have skipped the loooong canoe trips.

[Monica · Rating 4 out of 5]

Du Pre and Bart on an airplane, off to a Smithsonian music festival. Bart is smitten with a DC cop. Then Du Pre is persuaded to record a group of the old songs before they get forgotten. Then to take part in a canoe expedition in Canada, retracing the voyageurs’ trade route. Another murder. And another. Each time the weapon is a native piece, and the likely suspect looks to be Paul Chase, the Smithsonian staffer who got Du Pre involved in the first place.
The details of the canoe trip, the voyageur history, the interactions between the native people, the white folks in the group and the press that follows the trip everywhere is fascinating. The killer seems intent on keeping Du Pre involved, even though he just wants to go home and back to his life. And the old shaman Benetsee won’t let Du Pre do that until the murders stop. I particularly like the characters in this series – Du Pre and his woman and his daughters, Bart the impossibly rich rancher who has stopped drinking and found himself, and Benetsee, who has the answers to everything, if only you can find him and decode them.

[Eugene · Rating 4 out of 5]

🍷🍷
You will either like this book (a lot), or you won’t like it at all. The cover blurb says, “The best of Tony Hillerman meets Zane Grey…” but I think it’s more like, “Tony Hillerman, Timothy Leary, and Mickey Spillane whisper in Peter Bowne’s ear until he creates Gabriel Du Pré and his milieu.” This is only an approximation of the delights in store for those who venture into these pages, but it’s a reasonably good thumbnail description; Zane Gray would certainly never have survived the experience!
These books seem too complex to distill into a short review, but basically Du Pré ventures East to a fiddlers’ contest in Washington DC, of all places. And that leads to a canoe trip down a Canadian river, and a few brushes with grisly murders…but when the focus of murder becomes Native Americans, our Métis hero decides strong action is called for (the Métis are a mongrel mix of “French, Cree, Chippewa, and a little English none of them want to admit to.”) Anyway, the action is partly out in the open, but a good bit is interior - in Du Pré’s mind, and it’s a fascinating place to visit. You’ll like it or not, I loved it!

[Grace · Rating 4 out of 5]

My grandmother sent me the first book in the Gabriel Du Pre series during Covid. I was in the mood for something a bit lighter and more engaging so I came back for round two.

I think the thing I most love about these books so far is the strong setting and the language. Don't ask me about the mysteries; I don't remember what all went down in the first one (wish I did, as it is mentioned a few times in this book - it's not important to the plot but it comes up) and although I guessed who our murderer was at some point this time around, I also didn't really understand this one. The women characters come off a bit flat to me, but likable, and I get the feeling they might round out more as the series progresses. Or maybe not, I don't know.

Anyway, the language, the strong setting, Du Pre as an extremely likable old fogey (he's not actually old) all combine for a very pleasant easy read.

[Steve · Rating 4 out of 5]

Du Pre fiddles in Washington, DC, far from his Montana home and comfort zone. While there, he is a good position to deal with a horse spooked when its rider finds a body. This brings Du Pre into contact with local officer Lt. Michelle Leuci, who catches Du Pre's friend Bart's eye.

Du Pre and Bart head home and go on a Canadian rafting trip with other Indians and the man who ran the DC festival, Chase. But with another death, Du Pre is drawn in. The story alternates between Montana and DC as things get worse.

This is the second in the series and can stand alone but has more depth if you've read the first one, Coyote Wind. The secondary characters are terrific, notably old man Benetsee who brings a unique 'sees things' to the story, Madelaine, Du Pre's love interest, and Du Pre's daughter Maria. Worthwhile reading for mystery, characters and Indian ways. My eye is already on book three.

[L · Rating 5 out of 5]

Bowen tackles a significant social issue--the murder of Native Americans. He manages the racism and politics involved with a deft, never heavy or preachy, hand. We go with Du Pre as he moves between rural Montana (his own stomping grounds), other rural areas, and the dreaded cities; he even travels by air, hating every bit of that experience. Bowen has a keen eye for what to many of us are relatively mundane social and cultural aspects of our lives, and highlighting these without harping on them.

Du Pre is quite an interesting character, though Benetsee--shaman & heavy drinker who moves about the area rather like a wisp of smoke--is right up there with him. There are other great characters in this series, all of whom become living, flesh & blood people in Bowen's work.

Oh, yes. There also is a great mystery here.

[Stven · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed the atmosphere in this story. The ancien French cadences of this Méti Indian narrator and his cohorts echoed the Cajun voices I lived amongst in Louisiana, and that he was a fiddler playing the tunes of generations past added to my feeling of familiarity with him and his community. I liked the down-to-Earth practical wisdom about the weather, the wildlife, the woodworking, the women, and I liked the old man Benetsee who had some ineffable mystic connection to any and everything going on. So I'd read another one gladly.

What didn't quite work, for my tastes, was the arc of mystery-clues-revelations. There didn't seem to be much investigation or deduction going on. Maybe I'll read another one or two and that won't seem important to me.

[Kim Johnson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Gabriel Du Pre is a Metis who is a jack of all trades whether he is investigating for the local police, inspecting cattle brands, or playing his fiddle. He enjoys life as a Metis in a small town where he is well respected. He lives life as he sees it with a proud dignity and a strong will to see justice served. He loves the Metis culture and promotes it in his music and his dress. His two daughters his soulmate and his friends and spiritual guides, take some control of his life while letting him be independent.
The mystery is solved by Gabriel Du Pre but not without trouble.
I love this book and I will read the complete series.

[Jane K. Stecker · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely Riveting

This is the second book in the Gabriel Du Pre series. Gabriel was invited to play Metis music at a Smithsonian Festival. Simple, right? Not for Gabriel Du Pre. A murder is committed and everything goes crazy from there. Peter Bowen knows his Montana land and people but he also shines a light on the Eastern Canadian wilderness and its First Nations people. I don’t think I have ever met a character as engaging as Gabriel Du Pre. I wish he really existed. You will too.

[M. Sprouse · Rating 5 out of 5]

Previously, I had read the first and third novel of the Gabriel Du Pre series. Book number two, Specimen Song is by far the best of the three. It has more of a "soul" than the other two, making you think with plenty of "homespun wisdom". It moved quickly and I really enjoyed the different locales especially the canoe trips. I'd have liked to seen more ink related to the canoe trips. "Specimen Song" was more of a true mystery that the first book of the series. A very strong recommendation if you're looking for something a little different that's exciting and engaging.

[Marcia · Rating 4 out of 5]

This installment has all the elements that make Coyote Wind so satisfying — plenty of history and cultural info on the Métis; great protagonist in du Pre; a little supernatural help; wonderful narrator in the audio version. My only disappointment was the multiple location changes — they were distracting, and I didn’t see how they added to the plot or characterizations or themes of the story. Despite this, I’m moving forward to the next in the series. The characters are charming and the history interesting.

[Kitty Collins · Rating 5 out of 5]

Some good music yeah!

I love the way Gabriel DuPre' speaks and thinks. I wish I could meet him and Bart and Madeleine and especially Benetsee. It amazes me how the around storyline and the music and the history intertwine.

[Janet Martin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nicely performed story that has a lot of facts about the Metis included--I found it fascinating, but couldn't justify a 5 star rating due to the fact that I never really understood the villain's motivation. I do enjoy the main character and his unique viewpoint--will soon pick up episode 3.

[Veronique · Rating 3 out of 5]

Une enquête qui s'étire lentement. C'est surtout l'occasion de découvrir un monde à la fois familier et surprenant, celui de l'Amérique profonde, des red-necks et des descendants des Amérindiens.
A lire en écho aux romans de Louise Erdrich.

[Ruth · Rating 4 out of 5]

4. This story has a great blend of action and mysticism which really appealed to me. I liked the main character and the author has successfully worked in some seemingly easy humour. Fortunately I have the next book in the series in my TBR pile.

[Jon Finkel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Funny, offbeat, writing that stays with you. Highly recommended

[Charlie · Rating 2 out of 5]

After reading the book I still don't know what the point was.

[Rick Bostian · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked it

[Barbra · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the second book in the series, and I am hooked. I will certainly start looking for the next book in this series.