ASH CHILD by Peter Bowen April 2002 ISBN 0312288506 St. Martin’s Minotaur

Gabriel Du Pre. A name like no other in mystery. The hard-drinking, always thinking protagonist of Peter Bowen’s series, featuring the Metis Indians and their terrain, has enraptured this reader from the first outing in Coyote Wind.
This time out the land is very dry. And the fire will come, like the fire of 1910. Practical land owners and tenants will have to fight with the fire fighting service. And our man Du Pre will have a series of murders to unravel even while his mind hears the Coyote Fire Song and puts it to music in his mind. To be played later we’re sure.
In a series that is full of life Bowen has allowed us a glimpse at a community I’d never have seen. In mystery it is one of my favorite places to go and whereas most of my favorites tend to be darker this series is always full of laughter and music even when things get extremely grim for our recurring cast of characters. A must read.

Ruth Jordan