A Montana Mystery Featuring Gabriel Du Pré

Montana, "the last best place" of the disappearing American West, is the setting of Peter Bowen's splendid first mystery novel in a series featuring Gabriel Du Pré. A cattle-brand inspector and occasional sheriff's deputy, Du Pré 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 Pré's long experience in Montana to identify the bones. What Du Pré 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 Pré meets a range of interesting folk, some to his liking, some decidedly not.