Long Son

"I hate it when them places go," said Madeline. "All the stories are gone, too." Peter Bowen does a masterful keeping the stories from going. Du Pre, his beautiful lover Madeline, family and friends Metis, descendents of French voyageurs and their Indian wives, in the mean damn Montana Du Pre loves. This one is of retribution, of old families, of honor, of Du Pre's fiddle and the old songs, of a youngster wanting Du Pre to extend to her the torch of musical raconteur, of FBI agents stuffy and zany. Find a youngster and start him/her on this for a little-known era of history, of local color, of excellent writing about a beloved subject. The child will bless you for it. And aren't books for sharing as well as loving? You were born to make the world a better place. Here's one way to do it.

The history of ranching around northern Montana towns like Toussaint is violent, frequently illegal, and, often, a desperate struggle to survive. The Messmer family has had more than their share of badness and bad luck. The current heir, Larry Messmer, has decided t sell of the ranch and its trappings wholesale, with a great deal of disregard for the community around him. He is a singularily unpleasant man, and it surprises Gabriel Du Pré not one but when Larry turns up dead. This isn't the type of case Gabriel relishes investigating. Messmer had no redeeming qualities and sudden violent death is an old family habit. But it quickly becomes apparent that more is going on than the demise of a ranch. But one group of people suspect Du Pré of the murder, so he has little choice. Now the possibilities cover everything from money laundering to revenge for the crimes of a previous generation. All of this with Gabriel in the middle - shot at, controlled by his women, and hassled by Benetsee, a shaman who seems to remember everything at his own convenience. Once again, Bowen pits a contemporary story against the old legends and customs of the Metís. They are the Indians of the northern borders here since before the French and The English, created out of a blend of the tribes around them. Some would deny them a heritage, but Bowen quickly makes it clear that this is a rich and talented people. One can't help but wish that the Montana of Peter Bowen really existed in all its unspoiled and unexpected splendor. Peopled by modern warriors and musicians, as well as folks to corrupt they could curdle milk. Not a world I would be likely to survive in, but one whose freshness is a perpetual seduction.

Sometimes a family can live like an unhealed sore in the body of a community, threatening to infect the innocent, generation after generation. In the case of the Messmer family, evil skipped a generation then returned full force to destroy what remained of the good.This sixth Gabriel Du Pré mystery begins at an auction on the Messmer family ranch, about forty miles west of Toussaint. The current owners died in a road accident and the one remaining son is selling almost all of the moveable property. The FBI wants Du Pré to keep an eye on the ranch and the surviving son, but he resists the request of Harvey Wallace, aka Harvey Weasel Fat, Blackfoot and FBI agent:"'I am old, tired, want to drink, sleep, play a little music,' said Du Pré. `You call, I get no sleep, drink too much, don't play music, maybe get shot at, something. Maybe I hang up, you call back I am gone, no one knows where.'"Du Pré doesn't disappear but his friend, the Shaman Benetsee does (at least, temporarily). Something evil is afoot on the Messmer ranch, something so dangerous that Du Pré's long-time mistress, Madelaine decides to pay a visit to her Turtle Mountain kin. Du Pré, who is on the villains' hit list bunks up with his friends Bart and Booger Tom.My problem with this Du Pré mystery is that "Long Son"s plot loses needed focus about half way through. The villains become more generic, as does their evil-doing. Du Pré puts his tracking skills to work at the ranch, and later at Benetsee's cabin, but his heart isn't really in the search---especially when it becomes clear that one of the villains has saved Du Pré's life.Even as the plot tangles in on itself, the author, Peter Bowen moves from strength to strength in allowing his readers to experience the haunting, intensely familial, whisky-soaked lives of his Métis characters. `The Song of Genevette' is an old Métis ballad whose verses Du Pré must complete in order to find the murderer. It also leads him into the heart of the evil that seeped down through generations of Messmers, and caused their ultimate doom.

Gabriel Du Pré is definitely one of my favorite characters in fiction...as is Bart Fascelli. Anyone familiar with Bowen's writing will be right at home with Long Son. Readers looking for an introduction to Bowen would be better off starting with Notches or Wolf, No Wolf.The story is, as usual, wandering. Readers who like to try and solve the mystery beforehand will be tested not by the complexity of the mystery but by the diversity of its elements. In the end, it's good Bowen, if not his best Du Pré work. The stories of the Métis are, as usual, well worth the read in and of themselves.Regarding comments by Kirkus and other reviewers, a couple of items. First, the dialect is authentic, if only to a specific population of Montanans. Just because you don't recognize it doesn't make it nonexistent. Also, Montana does have a daytime speed limit. So I'm not sure where that criticism comes from.Kirkus objects to the "wandering plot" and "casually obscene" conversation. I don't find that the plot wanders any more than Bowen's normal wont, and my daily conversations are no more "casually obscene" than Du Pré's. Maybe it's just where I'm from.Good writer, good read. Money well spent.

I have read and enjoyed all of Peter Bowen's novels. LONG SON is enjoyable for its unique writing style, the colorful language, the Montana setting, and the very likable characters.