The Tumbler
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4.5 • 22 Ratings
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- $7.99
Publisher Description
"Truly mysterious—informed by Western legend, steeped in Indian superstition . . . Riding with Du Pré is some kind of enchantment" (The New York Times Book Review).
A rumor circulates around academic circles that the long-lost journals of Meriwether Lewis are in the possession of a hard-bitten Montana fiddler named Gabriel Du Pré. A few years ago, the Métis Indian led a documentary film crew down the Missouri River to commemorate the bicentennial of the famous Lewis and Clark expedition, but he won't say whether or not he has the journals. Only Benetsee, Du Pré's mysterious spiritual guide, has any idea where the journals are, and only a fool would try to make Benetsee talk when he doesn't feel like it.
It's quite possible, though, that billionaire Markham Millbank is a fool. His money cannot persuade Du Pré, and so he begins to consider other forms of pressure. When two of Du Pré's friends are kidnapped, the fiddler faces a tough decision: Hand over the journal or risk innocent lives to keep it out of the wrong hands . . .
The Tumbler is the 11th book in The Montana Mysteries Featuring Gabriel Du Pré series, but you may enjoy reading the series in any order.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Distinctive characters and the rich Montana setting lift Bowen's Gabriel Du Pr adventure, the 11th (after 2003's Badlands) to feature the Metis-Indian tracker. Billionaire Markham Millbank wants to buy the journals of explorer Meriwether Lewis, allegedly found by Du Pr while looking into the disappearance of some Missouri River boaters in 2001's Cruzatte and Maria. Du Pr refuses either to acknowledge or produce the priceless material, and scornfully tosses to the ground envelopes filled with money he receives from Millbank. An increasingly ominous cloud hangs over the Toussaint Saloon, where Du Pr hangs out and sometimes plays the fiddle. When a fellow musician and a friend's niece are attacked, Du Pr must admit the seriousness of the situation. Nosing around between fiddling, drinking "ditchwater" highballs and receiving counsel from his wise longtime love, Madelaine Placquemines, Du Pr is soon at the heart of a murder case that's not what it seems. The author's prose including unusual punctuation and speech rhythms may take some getting used to for the uninitiated. Yet the lure of Du Pr and his cronies is not in Bowen's sometimes elliptical language but in the texture of the storytelling, soaked in folklore, mysticism and wry humor in the face of human folly. FYI:Bowen is also the author of Kelly and the Three-toed Horse (2001) and three other titles in his Yellowstone Kelly series.
