Featuring Montanan cattle-brand inspector and occasional sleuth Gabriel Du Pré, Peter Bowen's spare and lyrical mysteries have always received the critics' highest praise. Now, the first two mysteries in the series, Coyote Wind and Specimen Song, are brought together in one volume.

This wide-ranging collection of essays addresses a diverse and expanded vision of Montana literature, offering new readings of both canonical and overlooked texts. Although a handful of Montana writers such as Richard Hugo, A. B. Guthrie Jr., D'Arcy McNickle, and James Welch have received considerable critical attention, sizable gaps remain in the analysis of the state's ever-growing and ever-evolving canon. The twelve essays in "All Our Stories Are Here" not only build on the exemplary, foundational work of other writers but also open further interpretative and critical conversations. Expanding on the critical paradigms of the past and bringing to bear some of the latest developments in literary and cultural studies, the contributors engage issues such as queer ambivalence in Montana writing, representations of the state in popular romances, and the importance of the University of Montana's creative writing program in fostering the state's literary corpus. The contributors also explore the work of writers who have not yet received their critical due, take new looks at old friends, and offer some of the first explorations of recent works by well-established artists. "All Our Stories Are Here" conveys a sense of continuity in the field of Western literary criticism, while at the same time challenging conventional approaches to regional literature.

The first three novels in a contemporary western mystery series featuring a half-Indian cattle inspector and “character of legendary proportions” (Ridley Pearson). Officially, Gabriel Du Pré is the cattle inspector for Toussaint, Montana, responsible for making sure no one tries to sell cattle branded by another ranch. Unofficially, he is responsible for much more than cows’ backsides. The barren country around Toussaint is too vast for the town’s small police force, and so, when needed, this hard-nosed Métis Indian lends a hand. In Gabriel Du Pré “Bowen has taken the antihero of Hemingway and Hammett and brought him up to date . . . a fresh, memorable character” (The New York Times Book Review). Coyote Wind: Newly discovered plane wreckage in the desert leads Du Pré to a hidden crime stretching back a generation. “Gabe’s rhythmic, regional voice and his sly wit take the novel to another level.” —Booklist Specimen Song: In Washington, DC, to play his fiddle for a Smithsonian festival, Du Pré pursues a serial killer who’s targeting Native Americans. A “plain-spoken, deep-thinking Montana cattle inspector” takes on a serial killer in DC. —The New York Times Book Review “Bowen’s prose is often droll and his characters well-etched.” —Publishers Weekly Wolf, No Wolf: When two activists agitating for the reintroduction of wolves into Montana’s high plains are murdered, Du Pré finds himself caught in the cross fire between ranchers, environmentalists, and FBI agents. “Fiddler, father, widower, cowboy and lover, Du Pré has the soul of a poet, the eye of a wise man, and the heart of a comic.” —The New York Times Book Review

This highly accessible, lively and informative study gives a clear and comprehensive overview of recent trends in American crime fiction. Building on a discussion of the immediate predecessors, Bertens and D'haen focus on the work of popular and award-winning authors of the last fifteen years. Particular attention is given to writers who have reworked established conventions and explored new directions, especially women and those from ethnic minorities.

In Montana, Indian lawman Gabriel Du Pré investigates the murder of a man who recently inherited a ranch in the district. Suspected is a settling of scores between drug dealers.

Gabriel Du Pré's Aunt Pauline has a list of husbands and ex-husbands and future husbands even she herself has trouble remembering. So Du Pré isn't exactly surprised when she shows up in Toussaint complaining that her current man, a lovable roughneck named Badger, has run off. His longer-than-usual absence has Pauline worried, and Du Pré promises to look into exactly what sort of trouble he has gotten himself into. No one quite imagines, least of all Pauline, that the first thing Du Pré will find in his investigation is Badger's body, lying in a remote part of the Montana wilderness with a bullet-hole in the base of his skull. Du Pré has a hunch his old friend and foil Harvey Wallace will be interested in the case-after all, Gabriel Du Pré's Montana is teeming with just the sorts of people that tend to interest Wallace's employers, the FBI, and the odds that Badger got mixed up with them seem inordinately high. The trail leads straight into the teeming underworld of illegal, remote brush races involving a ragtag bunch of traveling horsemen, with many thousands of dollars wagered upon each race. Forced to go undercover to determine how Badger met his end, Du Pré finds his own horse and jockey to bet on in another complicated, fascinating outing for Montana's favorite Métis son. Peter Bowen's tough, rough-edged, likable hero rides again in Stewball, an intricate installment in a classic series by one of the genre's quirkiest and most beloved practitioners.

Two highly acclaimed mysteries are now available in one volume, featuring Montana cattle-brand inspector and occasional sleuth Gabriel Du Pr.