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Gabriel Du Pre #13
Nails
“Fiddler, father, widower, cowboy and lover, Du Pré has the soul of a poet, the eyes of a wise man, and the heart of a comic” (The New York Times Book Review).
Gabriel Du Pré’s precocious granddaughter, Pallas, has returned from her Washington, DC, boarding school, and trouble seems to have come along for the ride. Du Pré’s girlfriend’s son, Chappie, is also back from serving in Iraq, minus one leg and one eye. As the family tries to help him adjust to civilian life, the town is invaded by a fire-and-brimstone fundamentalist sect, whose preacher is hell-bent on imposing his own beliefs on the easygoing people of Toussaint, where even the most pious prefer to keep God to themselves.
Du Pré is content to ignore the evangelists, until a mountain hike turns up the body of a little girl. Although he has no hard evidence, instinct tells him that the fundamentalists may be to blame. Du Pré hunts the countryside for the young girl’s killer, wishing as always that the outside world would leave his beloved Montana alone.
In this “admirable, highly original” series, “Du Pré, a Métis Indian, ignores the speed limit, smokes hand-rolled cigarettes and drinks whisky like it was water. He also plays fiddle like an angel, takes care of his friends and defends the weak with equal passion” (Publishers Weekly).
Nails is the 13th book in The Montana Mysteries Featuring Gabriel Du Pré series, but you may enjoy reading the series in any order.
Gabriel Du Pré’s precocious granddaughter, Pallas, has returned from her Washington, DC, boarding school, and trouble seems to have come along for the ride. Du Pré’s girlfriend’s son, Chappie, is also back from serving in Iraq, minus one leg and one eye. As the family tries to help him adjust to civilian life, the town is invaded by a fire-and-brimstone fundamentalist sect, whose preacher is hell-bent on imposing his own beliefs on the easygoing people of Toussaint, where even the most pious prefer to keep God to themselves.
Du Pré is content to ignore the evangelists, until a mountain hike turns up the body of a little girl. Although he has no hard evidence, instinct tells him that the fundamentalists may be to blame. Du Pré hunts the countryside for the young girl’s killer, wishing as always that the outside world would leave his beloved Montana alone.
In this “admirable, highly original” series, “Du Pré, a Métis Indian, ignores the speed limit, smokes hand-rolled cigarettes and drinks whisky like it was water. He also plays fiddle like an angel, takes care of his friends and defends the weak with equal passion” (Publishers Weekly).
Nails is the 13th book in The Montana Mysteries Featuring Gabriel Du Pré series, but you may enjoy reading the series in any order.
240 pages, Kindle Edition
First published February 21, 2006
99 people are currently reading
108 people want to read
About the author
Peter Bowen
51 books75 followersPeter 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.
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.
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Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews
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July 12, 2017If I were teaching writing and wanted to illustrate how to use dialogue to "show not tell", I would use Peter Bowen along with Elmore Leonard. Bowen can illuminate a scene with a single word or phrase. You will know and care for these characters.
November 9, 2025
Another Du Pré masterpiece from Peter Bowen. There is a story, but for me with this series the enjoyment is always with the characters and how they deal with each other and with the outsiders who pass through each book.
May 16, 2011
First Line: Du Pré looked east.
A family member has returned from Iraq missing a leg, an eye, and his grip on reality. His hellion of a granddaughter, Pallas, has returned from her studies in Washington, D.C., and a vanload of fundamentalist Christians has arrived in Toussaint, Montana. Du Pré is pretty sure he's going to have his hands full for a while.
Graffiti on the door of Father Van Den Heuvel's church and a panicked phone call from an unidentified girl cause people in the town of Toussaint to be worried, and when the nude body of a young girl is found by the side of the road, Du Pré and the others know it has something to do with the newly-arrived fundamentalists. The trick is in finding out how and why.
It is depressing when a much-loved series of books comes to an end, but in many ways, Nails is a fitting end to the story of Gabriel Du Pré and the people of Toussaint, Montana.
Throughout the series, Father Van Den Heuvel has been seen as a lovable but almost fatally clumsy man-- a figure of fun. In Nails, we are given a chance to see him fleshed out, and it becomes clear why the townspeople love him.
Gabriel Du Pré lives where he should-- in a land of fiercely independent people who take care of their own and who take responsibility for their own actions. He is the furthest thing from politically correct. He ignores the speed limit, smokes hand-rolled cigarettes, and drinks whisky like most people chug down bottled water. But he also plays fiddle like an angel, takes care of his friends, and defends the weak. These are his passions, and he serves them well.
Throughout the book are little stories that don't do much to advance the plot, but they make me smile and love these characters even more. These people are not rednecks. They are living the life they want to live and raising their families. Their children are scattered around the globe, serving in the military, working for oil companies, studying art.
A friend read one of these books. I had carefully told her about the non-PC elements because I didn't want her to have any rude shocks. When she was finished reading, she started to rant about child abuse and the myriad other things she found wrong. Well... she's thirty years younger than me. She's come to believe that parenting is in effect wrapping children in cotton batting so nothing can hurt them and giving them everything they want. When I read about Du Pré and Madelaine's methods, it feels familiar. I see lots of love, and I see people raising children to be responsible and to work for what they want. If this makes me an old fart, then that's what I am.
Nails is touched with sorrow, showing a small town that's dying around the edges. As a local schoolteacher says, "These days, if you don't have an education and often enough if you do, you work for nothing and you get nothing for a life of work." This book, more than all the others, shows how ignorance and fear beget violence.
Franklin Delano Roosevelt knew exactly what he was talking about when he said, "The only thing we have to fear is fear itself." Peter Bowen reminds us all that there are still people who do not fear to do what is right, and I cherish his portrait of them.
A family member has returned from Iraq missing a leg, an eye, and his grip on reality. His hellion of a granddaughter, Pallas, has returned from her studies in Washington, D.C., and a vanload of fundamentalist Christians has arrived in Toussaint, Montana. Du Pré is pretty sure he's going to have his hands full for a while.
Graffiti on the door of Father Van Den Heuvel's church and a panicked phone call from an unidentified girl cause people in the town of Toussaint to be worried, and when the nude body of a young girl is found by the side of the road, Du Pré and the others know it has something to do with the newly-arrived fundamentalists. The trick is in finding out how and why.
It is depressing when a much-loved series of books comes to an end, but in many ways, Nails is a fitting end to the story of Gabriel Du Pré and the people of Toussaint, Montana.
Throughout the series, Father Van Den Heuvel has been seen as a lovable but almost fatally clumsy man-- a figure of fun. In Nails, we are given a chance to see him fleshed out, and it becomes clear why the townspeople love him.
Gabriel Du Pré lives where he should-- in a land of fiercely independent people who take care of their own and who take responsibility for their own actions. He is the furthest thing from politically correct. He ignores the speed limit, smokes hand-rolled cigarettes, and drinks whisky like most people chug down bottled water. But he also plays fiddle like an angel, takes care of his friends, and defends the weak. These are his passions, and he serves them well.
Throughout the book are little stories that don't do much to advance the plot, but they make me smile and love these characters even more. These people are not rednecks. They are living the life they want to live and raising their families. Their children are scattered around the globe, serving in the military, working for oil companies, studying art.
A friend read one of these books. I had carefully told her about the non-PC elements because I didn't want her to have any rude shocks. When she was finished reading, she started to rant about child abuse and the myriad other things she found wrong. Well... she's thirty years younger than me. She's come to believe that parenting is in effect wrapping children in cotton batting so nothing can hurt them and giving them everything they want. When I read about Du Pré and Madelaine's methods, it feels familiar. I see lots of love, and I see people raising children to be responsible and to work for what they want. If this makes me an old fart, then that's what I am.
Nails is touched with sorrow, showing a small town that's dying around the edges. As a local schoolteacher says, "These days, if you don't have an education and often enough if you do, you work for nothing and you get nothing for a life of work." This book, more than all the others, shows how ignorance and fear beget violence.
Franklin Delano Roosevelt knew exactly what he was talking about when he said, "The only thing we have to fear is fear itself." Peter Bowen reminds us all that there are still people who do not fear to do what is right, and I cherish his portrait of them.
November 27, 2017
Wow! This installment was excellent, and very timely, even though it was written eleven years ago. There's a group of rich folks racing - and betting - on their horses; these are legal races on the prairies, but the betting is not. Turns out, the betting is the least of the issues that Du Pre will be dealing with. There are not-so-secret gatherings of these rich people, and what they want is for the country to go back "to the way it was" - before the government started getting involved, the Mexicans started taking the jobs, the Communists were here, etc. They all carry guns, they have money, and they want to start a revolution of sorts. Du Pre and his good friend Booger Tom are asked by the FBI to infiltrate the group, leading to their very-rich friend Bart purchasing and providing the horses, and to Du Pre's own granddaughter Lourdes acting as jockey.
Of course, there's also a dead body or two that show up, and that's a whole other kettle of nastiness. And again, something completely believable, as there are many people who prefer to stay as off-the-grid as possible due to religious beliefs. That part of the story was so sad, and so realistic, that it seems almost prophetic of Bowen to have written about it in the mid-2000s.
Great series. Reading the last installment now, hate to finish it, as Bowen is probably in his 80s now, and definitely slowing down.
Of course, there's also a dead body or two that show up, and that's a whole other kettle of nastiness. And again, something completely believable, as there are many people who prefer to stay as off-the-grid as possible due to religious beliefs. That part of the story was so sad, and so realistic, that it seems almost prophetic of Bowen to have written about it in the mid-2000s.
Great series. Reading the last installment now, hate to finish it, as Bowen is probably in his 80s now, and definitely slowing down.
March 23, 2019
While in the midst of the story I kept asking myself whether I was reading poetry. After I finished the book I looked, and sure enough,
Peter Bowen is also a poet. All of Bowen's books are amazing in their characterizations, Metis flavored dialogue and storylines. My greatest fear is that he will stop writing.
Peter Bowen is also a poet. All of Bowen's books are amazing in their characterizations, Metis flavored dialogue and storylines. My greatest fear is that he will stop writing.
September 19, 2021
This is the first one I've read.
While I am loving I can't abide the cursing or foul language. If I'm going to pay for a book I can't pay for those words. The story line is quite well thought out and interesting. I'll check the library to see if my card is still good 🤔. The people are interesting, the setting is great. But God's and f words take away instead of adding too.
While I am loving I can't abide the cursing or foul language. If I'm going to pay for a book I can't pay for those words. The story line is quite well thought out and interesting. I'll check the library to see if my card is still good 🤔. The people are interesting, the setting is great. But God's and f words take away instead of adding too.
July 6, 2024
Very interesting group of characters and situations. As usual, Mr Bowen had more than one mystery to solve and many surprises along the way. I am listening to my CD collection of his mysteries and totally enjoying them as much as the first time hearing the excellent tales.
Kenalea Johnson
Kenalea Johnson
February 6, 2021
So well writen, with many strengths and few faults. Enjoy.
August 24, 2022
Disturbing story
January 5, 2023
Another great story from this author.
June 15, 2015
My only complaint about this book is that it was written in 2006, and there has not been another Du Pre book since. Bowen describes the Montana Metis culture - the language, the customs, the people - so richly and with such warmth and humor in these books. Gabriel the part time deputy and fiddle player, Madelaine his woman and his wayward granddaughter Pallas, and old Benetsee the shaman are all wonderful characters. To say nothing of Van Den Heuvel the klutzy priest/geologist, Bart the millionaire/heavy equipment operator and Pigeon and Harvey, the two FBI agents.
The relationships are complex and have continued to evolve since the first book in 1994. The stories are well plotted - this one is about a group of fundamentalist Christians who show up in Toussaint at the same time as an unidentified dead girl.
The books are as much love letters to Montana as they are terrific stories.
The relationships are complex and have continued to evolve since the first book in 1994. The stories are well plotted - this one is about a group of fundamentalist Christians who show up in Toussaint at the same time as an unidentified dead girl.
The books are as much love letters to Montana as they are terrific stories.
February 21, 2014
It was a pleasant surprise to discover the last book in the Gabriel Du Pre series of Montana mysteries. It was a fun read and reminded me of my days in Helena, where a ditch is a drink with water and the barro pit is the area at the side of the road. Du Pre is one of those regional mystery series that capture the flavor of a particular state, while introducing you to a family of engaging characters and experiences.
July 29, 2011
Any Gabriel Dupree mystery by Peter Bowen is a literary gem, and this novel is no exception. Aided by a wonderful cast of eccentric family and neighbors, Dupree again unravels a knot of murder, greed, and human folly. I particularly enjoyed the prominent role played by the loveably klutzy priest, Father Van Den Heuvel, in this book.
December 1, 2012
When a new preacher and his straitlaced clan move to Toussaint, a young girl turns up dead and another is scared speechless. Gabriel Du Pre struggles to find a connection. He gets a glimpse into a shadowy cultist underworld of forgotten victims. It has been a blast rereading these novels. I hope the author shares more Montana mysteries with us soon.
November 4, 2025
Re-read this one as well. Such a good read!
November 23, 2012
Always excellent. No new books in a long time--I do not know why.
November 28, 2020
reread today
this is an excellent story. a wonderful series
best read in order. Last read 2015. Re-read 2020. Still good.
this is an excellent story. a wonderful series
best read in order. Last read 2015. Re-read 2020. Still good.
September 22, 2018
A very good series of books.
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December 2, 2012Gabriel Dupre
May 11, 2016
This was another great installment in this series. I enjoyed this and definitely recommend.
March 28, 2017
Excellent series with great characters. Hope author writes more in series.
Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews