Wolf, No Wolf (Gabriel Du Pré Series #3)

A half-Indian, half-French deputy with "a shrewd mind and wry sense of humor" investigates a case of homicide on the range (The New York Times Book Review).

Two men have been cutting fences at the ranches of Toussaint, Montana, loosing thousands of dollars' worth of cattle to use as target practice for their .22 rifles. Are they thieves? Pranksters? Local cattle inspector and sometime deputy Gabriel Du Pré guesses they're environmentalists, agitating for the reintroduction of native wolves...