Gabriel Du Pre mysteries by Peter Bowen

[BeccaPrice]

I'm blitzing through the books on my kindle, and am going to try them in audio,
because I love the rhythm of the writing.

Du Pre is a Métis, a combination of the old French Voyageurs, American Indian,
possibly some African American, and maybe some English. His family settled in
Montana, after the Red River Rebellion in Canada, although he still has family
in western Canada.

Audible says about the first book, Coyote Wind:

Montana, "the last best place" of the disappearing American West, is the setting
of Peter Bowen's splendid first mystery novel in a series to feature Gabriel Du
Pre. A cattle-brand inspector and occasional sheriff's deputy, Du Pre moves
easily among the ranchers, cowboys, Native Americans, barflies, dreamers, and
Eastern dudes who populate what's left of the frontier.

In the desolate hills of the Fascelli family ranch, a skeleton has been
discovered. The sheriff needs Du Pre's long experience in Montana to identify
the bones. What Du Pre finds leads him on a search through the history of a
troubled family, a search that brings him closer to a secret from his own past.
Along the way, Du Pre meets a range of interesting folk, some to his liking,
some decidedly not.


it's not just the stories that are compelling for me, or the characters, or the
sense of place, but the rhythms of Du Pre's speech, which is almost Cajun (and
is in fact related to Cajun, although very distantly).

The first book is narrated by Christopher Lane, who according to the sample is
trying to get the accent in his narration. Other books are narrated by Jim
Meskimen, who reads with more of a midwestern accent - that is, to my Michigan
ear, no accent at all. I'll probably get a few of the books narrated by either
narrator, and will report back on which one I like best.

[llcj]

FWIW, the language spoken by the Metis is Michif. Broadly speaking, nouns are derived from French and verbs are derived from Cree.

[Apache]

I have just started the third one and so far it is my favorite. These are great and you will love the characters. I plan to get them all.
Apache

[Mike L]

Du Pre is a Métis, a combination of the old French Voyageurs, American Indian,
possibly some African American, and maybe some English.

FWIW, the language spoken by the Metis is Michif. Broadly speaking, nouns are derived from French and verbs are derived from Cree.

That's fascinating. Thank you both. I've been studying French for over 50 years, but have never looked at the north American versions. I will have to read up on the Métis and on Mischif.

Mike