Bitter Creek

Bitter Creek is likely the top of the Du Pr series . . . Lively and absolutely fascinating (Jim Harrison, author of Legends of the Fall). Lt. John Patchen has come to Montana to persuade Chappie Plaquemines, his former gunnery sergeant in Iraq, to accept the Navy Cross. First, however, Patchen must find the wounded marine, who was last seen drinking heavily in the Toussaint Saloon. With the help of Gabriel Du Pr, whos romantically involved with Chappies mother, he locates him soon enough, disheveled and stinking of stale booze. But a sobering visit to a medicine mans sweat lodge reveals a much greater mystery: The unsolved case of a band of Mtis Indians who were last seen fleeing from Gen. Black Jack Pershings troops in 1910, before disappearing. Strange voices within the sweat lodge speak of a place called Bitter Creek, where the Mtis encountered their fate. To find it, Du Pr tracks down the only living survivor of the massacre, a feisty old woman whose memories may not be as trustworthy as they seem. But when Amalie leads Du Pr to Pardoe, an out-of-the-way crossroads north of Helena, he senses theyre about to uncover long-buried secrets. Discouraged by the US military with their lives threatened by locals whose ancestors may have played a role in the murders, Chappie, Patchen, and Du Pr bravely pursue the truth so the victims of a terrible injustice might finally rest in peace. Bitter Creek is the 14th book in The Montana Mysteries Featuring Gabriel Du Pr series, but you may enjoy reading the series in any order.