Specimen Song

A Gabriel Du Pre Mystery, Book 2

By: Peter Bowen

Narrated by: Jim Meskimen

A serial killer follows Du Pré from Washington, DC, back to Montana

A lost and frightened horse plods down the National Mall, startling the crowd. When Gabriel Du Pré spots the confused animal, the connection is immediate, for neither of these creatures belongs in the sweltering heat of a DC summer. Du Pré, a Métis Indian from the wilds of Montana, calms the horse and leads it to the nearest policeman. Du Pré is in Washington to play his people’s music for a Smithsonian festival, but after leading the horse to safety, he encounters a murder instead.

The dead woman is Cree Indian, come down from Canada to sing in the festival. Du Pré tries to put her death out of his mind and returns to Montana, but more killings follow: each time with a primitive weapon, each time foretold by a local shaman. As the body count rises and the killer closes on Du Pré, the lawman vows to never again make the mistake of leaving Montana.

©1995 Peter Bowen (P)2012 Audible, Inc.

Meskimen inhabits Dupré, and Bowen's whole world

I've liked the Peter Bowen Montana mysteries for a long time, but these new recordings by Jim Meskimen outdo the old ones by a long long mile. Meskimen 's reading is head and shoulders better than the earlier versions—he allows us to see how good the writing is in these plain prairie tales, complicated by mystical interruptions from the venerable Benetsee. Bowen's humour comes shining through here, and so does the genuine clean air of that Montana landscape. Very highly recommended.

Hit this one out of the park

I loved this book. It was entertaining and informative. The characters were interesting and realistic. Will read more in the series.

Good, but read after the first book!

This is another great Gabriel Du Pré mystery. It is a continuation of the first volume, with the same characters: Benettsee the seer/shaman, Booger Tom, Madeleine the girlfriend, and his daughters who adore him.

This book starts out in Washington, DC, where Gabriel Du Pré has come to perform his fiddling music which emerges from his Indian/French heritage. He is anxious to return to Montana where he feels at home on the land, in his comfortable routines, but he has not even left yet when the first murder occurs. The rest of the story weaves in interesting Indian lore, showing the marvelously simple connections to what he feels makes his life worth living.

BUT WARNING to reader: read previous book first, unless you don't mind that the author has included one line of explanation about Du Pré's past that is a complete spoiler for the first mystery. I know that authors often do this, by way of letting a new reader know what has occurred in the past. But if you happen to read one out of order, it can be very discouraging to realize that you probably won't feel like reading the one you missed.

Both books are good, extremely interesting with the lore of the west, the French/Indian heritage and the wonderful characters that people these stories. the narration is very good in both.

Is this Unabridged?

The amount of jumping around combined with the shortness of this book makes me wonder if it was an abridged version. Hard to follow. Seemed incomplete. I was disappointed as I really enjoyed the previous book in this series.

Still loving the series

Love all the characters. Love the descriptions of the terrain. Story was gripping. Love the magic.