One
morning Du Pre finds
Lieutenant Patchen parked outside his
girlfriend Madeleine's
house. Patchen is
looking for Chappie,
Madeliene's son.
He and Chappie, were
wounded in Iraq, and
Patchen has come to convince Chappie,
to accept the Navy Cross. With Du Pre's help, Chappie is located, but
he's suffering from a night of serious drinking. Du Pre takes both
men to the sweat lodge where voices are
heard calling out 'Bitter
Creek.'
Du
Pre learns that Bitter Creek is a ballad describing a massacre of
Metis, people of mixed
heritage often French and Cree. Du Pre, a Metis himself, discovers a
frail old woman who claims to be the only survivor
of the massacre, and they begin the hunt to locate Bitter Creek.
The
book is filled with colorful characters from Du Pre, a renowned
fiddler, to Booger Tom, foreman on the ranch owned by Bart and his
wife Pidgeon. The mystery
is not so much what happened as why someone today wants to keep the
facts secret.
This
is not the first book in the series, so there is background you don't
get in this novel. However, I didn't find it hard to follow the plot.
The author gives background on the characters, but doesn't include a
lot of backstory. This keeps the story moving quickly.
I
very much enjoyed the book. The characters' comments on daily life,
war and religion are marvelous. It's worth reading the book just to
get to know these people. The is not a story with a great deal of
violence or
police procedures. I recommend it primarily for the view of history
and the descriptions of Montana.
I
reviewed this book for Amazon Vine.
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