Tumbler, The (Gabriel Du Pre, 11)

Gabriel Du Pr , the old Montana fiddler at the center of Peter Bowen's atmospheric, engrossing series set in the dirty, dusty Montana that's rarely featured in travel brochures, has a knack for finding trouble. Or rather, trouble has a knack for finding him. There's a rumor going around that Du Pr and his old sorceror friend Benetsee have come across a parcel containing the lost journals of Lewis and Clark, and outsiders, drawn by the spirit of the legendary explorers, are beginning to invade Toussaint.

Du Pr won't say whether he's got the journals or not, preferring his usual routine of cigarettes, a whiskey ditch or two and a few fiddling gigs up and down Montana's highways to getting involved in this controversy. Benetsee isn't talking, either, but when a journalist goes a little too far in trying to get the story of the lost journals, and the two men's friends and family are put squarely in the face of danger, Du Pr doesn't have much choice but to wade in and set things right.

The Gabriel Du Pr mysteries have become required reading for fans of the vanishing West, and Peter Bowen's storytelling talent continues to thrive in The Tumbler, a dazzling entry in what has become a classic series.