Stain of the Berry

Russell Quant #4

by Anthony Bidulka

Everyone has their Boogeyman. But who-or what-is scaring Saskatoon locals to death? Private detective Russell Quant is roused from sleep only to fall into a nightmare case when the family of a suicide victim hires him to uncover the real cause of death. But what is real and what is imaginary? Quant works to narrow his list of suspects only to find the number of victims growing. Russell is mystified as the trail of fear connects him to a vast landscape of people, including an elegant potash miner, dubious trailer park denizens, reticent farm folk, the Pink Gopher choir, and a gaseous psychiatrist. Compounding Quant's bewilderment is the complete and perfect disappearance of his once very real friend, Sereena, who has become a ghost he simply can't find. With the Boogeyman always a few paces ahead, Russell struggles to keep the hounds of failure from baying. Travelling from Saskatchewan's summer storms to the menacing Lotus Land of Vancouver, he finally touches down in the Canadian Arctic, where tragic hope resides. Russell returns home to bully attacks, a desperate chase through midnight woods, and a sadistic abduction. As Quant penetrates the truth of the Boogeyman, he finds himself on a perilous suspension bridge between idyllic childhood and grown-up violence.

Genres: Mystery, M M Romance, LGBT, Gay, Canada, Gay Fiction, Fiction

288 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2006

About the author

Anthony Bidulka is the author of the long-running Russell Quant mystery series, two thrillers featuring Disaster Recovery Agent Adam Saint, a stand-alone suspense novel, Set Free, and a stand alone mystery novel, Going to Beautiful (2023 Crime Writers of Canada Award for Best Crime Novel) and the Merry Bell trilogy mystery series. The third and final book in the Merry Bell trilogy, Home Fires Burn, will be released June 2025.

Praise for Anthony Bidulka's books:

“…promises to become one of those that we look forward to each year and put on our shopping lists without waiting for the reviews.”

Reviewing the Evidence:

...Anthony Bidulka has created a whole new genre: Saskatchewan Gothic, which will both chill and warm your heart. Simply wonderful!

Alan Bradley, author of the Flavia de Luce series including The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie

Going to Beautiful...is a testament not only to Bidulka’s skill in plotting and other novelistic stratagems, but even more to the unique setting and the wonderfully textured characters...

Felice Picano, author of Like People in History and Pursued: Lillian's Story, companion to Pursuit: A Victorian Entertainment

...poignant, often funny, always wise…the quiet joy and hopefulness of this novel are gifts readers will value for years to come.
Gail Bowen, author of the Joanne Kilbourn Shreve mystery series including An Image in the Lake

Anthony Bidulka has pulled off a literary coup in Going to Beautiful. Deftly balancing humour and heart...Bidulka hits it out of the park.
Terry Fallis, two-time winner of the Stephen Leacock Medal for Humour


Anthony Bidulka has dedicated his career to writing traditional genre novels in an untraditional way, developing a body of work that often features his Saskatchewan roots and underrepresented, diverse main characters. He tells serious stories in accessible, entertaining, often humorous ways.

Bidulka’s novel Going to Beautiful is the 2023 winner of the Crime Writers of Canada Award for Best Crime Novel. His books have been shortlisted for numerous awards including the Crime Writers of Canada Award of Excellence (three times), the Lambda Literary Award (three times), the Saskatchewan Book Award (five times). Flight of Aquavit was awarded the Lambda Literary Award for Best Men’s Mystery, making Bidulka the first Canadian to win in that category. Going to Beautiful, about a gay man rising from the depths of despair in search of joy on the Saskatchewan prairie, also won the Independent Publisher Book Award as the Canada West Best Fiction Gold Medalist.

In his free time Bidulka loves to travel the world, collect art, walk his dogs, obsess over decorating Christmas trees (it’s a thing) and throw a good party.


Anthony's Books:

The Merry Bell trilogy:
Livingsky (2023)
From Sweetgrass Bridge (2024)
Homefires Burn (2025)

Going to Beautiful (2022)

Set Free (2016)

The Adam Saint books:
When The Saints Go Marching In (2013)
The Women of Skawa Island (2014)

The Russell Quant books:
Amuse Bouche (2003)
Flight of Aquavit (2004)
Tapas on the Ramblas (2005)
Stain of the Berry (2006)
Sundowner Ubuntu (2007)
Aloha, Candy Hearts (2009)
Date With a Sheesha (2010)
Dos Equis (2012).

Reviews

[Julie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Man, I love these books! It's about time someone wrote about a gay private eye who lives in Saskatoon - seriously! I adore Russell's cheeky monkey inner monologue, his thirst for the truth and his prairie-boy views of life, love, the world and murder.
I need to meet Anthony Bidulka for a big-ole hug.

[Rosa · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked this one a lot. Many things has happened in Russell's life since he returned from the infamous Mediterranean cruise... and I love how the character grows in this book... nothing is going to be the same anymore and we face how life could change from one moment to another.
I've grown fond of Bidulka's writing so I'm starting the next one right now.

[Richard Derus · Rating 3 out of 5]

Rating: 3.5* of five

This is by way of being the fourth Russell Quant mystery...and this time set in gay metropolitan Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada almost exclusively! W00T!

The most interesting thread from the previous Russell Quant book, "Tapas on the Ramblas", comes in for its full-bore resolution here. Like Russell, I really really wanted to know what was what with Sereena Orion Smith by the end of that book.

Be careful what you wish for. You'd think we'd have all learned that by the time we're (mumble)five. Buuut nooo! Laddies and gentlewomen, chapters 13 and 14 resolve this plot thread.

I cried **buckets**.

And I must inform you that those chapters contain material that is extremely disturbing. It's not graphic and it's not gratuitous, but it's very hard to read. While integral to the plot, it required me to take some breathers. I do not expect others to be quite so sensitive to this (mysteriously talked around) issue, and I certainly don't want to put anyone off reading the book, but forewarned is forearmed.

As with the previous book, the central hired-to-solve mystery wasn't exactly the same high-stakes riveting stuff as the Russell/Sereena plot...until the end, when it most certainly becomes super-high stakes, and deeply deeply scary. Bidulka gives away the identity of the perp of some really stupid-sounding crimes fairly early on, but the "why" remains elusive and is, in the end, pretty damned unnerving when revealed. It's very commonplace, seemingly harmlessly defused, and in fact the catalyst for a series of terrible events. Terrible. Cringe-inducingly awful events. These are graphically presented. They are not in any way gratuitous. They are, I am so sad to say, things that really do happen in the world, and so are in our newspapers, effectively sanitized by their tidily removed-from-life presence in black ink on newsprint.

I will never look at these crimes in quite the same callous way again. My inurement to them is breached. Damn that Bidulka! Couldn't he have chosen to send Russell, who is after all my future husband once we resolve the whole fictional-versus-actual thing, on the Mystery of the Fluffy Bundy Rabbix That Got Losted or something?!

For readers of the series...highly recommended. For newcomers to Saskatoon...start at the beginning, "Amuse Bouche" but be patient, because the rewards get more satisfying the longer you stick with the books.

[Emanuela ~plastic duck~ · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars.

Spoilerish.

I renounced some of my sleep time to finish this book, and I would like to do it justice, but there are a couple of considerations warring in my head.

I like dark. I like stories when a story, a setting, a character that should be light and sunny brush with the dark. I got this in the story. The mystery plot is about the consequences of thoughtless acts that seem innocuous, something small and innocent that becomes huge and scary. I think that Russell's investigation was more focused than it was in the previous book, it seemed he was more concerned, even if Sereena's disappearance was always in the back of his mind.

My problem is that the story about Sereena - who has always been a larger than life character - has become incredibly big. So big big big that I found myself fighting with my suspension of disbelief. The single parts of the story were believable, but when put together I couldn't help thinking "No. Way."

All Russell's circle of friends and acquaintances was still charming and interesting to read. Their stories are a thread that makes you want to keep reading just to know what happens to them. I wish Russell found someone for him, and there's something promising in this book, I hope. Russell is less carefree than in the previous books, I think he's beginning to face his inner needs.

This series is easy to read and entertaining, but there are slices of evil creeping through. Looking forward to the next.

[Pamela Mclaren · Rating 2 out of 5]

A young woman calls a private eye and then backs out — the things that are happening to her are too strange for anyone to believe. The result is that PI Russel Quant only remembers that the person on the phone call in the very early morning hours was very scared of what, for lack of a word, is her Boogeyman.

Shortly afterward, the woman is found dead and Quant is on the case. But with the available clues so nebulous, even he has a hard time figuring out what is really happening. Worse yet, why.

Add to this mystery, the one of Quant's friend Sereena, who disappeared more than six months ago. He has tried to track her down but that proves elusive too.

So what is a young private eye to do? Quant continues to dig, not always successfully but determinedly. And slowly the scraps of clues start to jell as Quant discovers that the two victims are not the only victims of vicious harassment.

This this is an interesting story on so many levels. It's an interesting mystery but I think it is a bit bogged down with the secondary story (and I'm coming in on book 4, so I don't know a thing about the Sereena story other than I think the author has made it a bit over the top for reality), and then a lot of time is used in explaining that the main character — and nearly every character in the story — is gay or lesbian. The reader can figure out that Quant is a gay man and many of his friends are as well.

So, the mystery is well thought out but I'm not so sure that it couldn't have been told better just laying out the facts. I went from enjoying the story but being frustrated at times. Will have to consider, do I like the mystery enough to try another effort by this author.

[Wayne · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the fourth book in this series by Anthony Bidulka that I have read. It's one of the best murder mystery series I've come across. Russel Quant is the protagonist of the series and the stories are told from his point of view. Sometimes the character who shoulders this much of the weight of a story is not quite able to do so without the reader noticing their weaknesses. Bidulka has created Russel Quant as a character well up to the task of what he needs to do in the series.

If I were to find fault with this particular book, it would be the unexpected trip Russel takes to the Arctic Circle. It was a disruption in the flow of the novel that could have been handled more smoothly. Yes, it sets up what I feel will be a story line in future books. But, the way it was handled was awkward, I'm afraid.

What did I think of this book? Quant attempts to find out who is harassing a group of members of a gay choir, the Pink Gophers. As he acquires the bits and pieces from the choir members that weave together to help him understand the why, how and who of what's happening, I was more than willing to go along for the ride. I was not disappointed. Stain on the Berry is an entertaining book I enjoyed reading. Once I finish this series, I feel sure I will be rereading it at some future time. Highly recommended for mystery buffs.

[Brett Waytuck · Rating 2 out of 5]

I normally enjoy Anthony Bidulka's work but this was a weird combination of guidebook level walking tours and an over the top side plot ... the main story (minus the micro level geographical descriptions) would have been enough on its own

[OkayKim · Rating 1 out of 5]

I don't think there is anything wrong with the author or the story. It's just me. Can't get into it.

[Candy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was different than your average ‘who done it”. Suspenseful, written from the detectives view and from BBC a gay persons view of life. That’s what made it interesting to me.

[Jose F · Rating 5 out of 5]

So far the best of the series - Really, really enjoyed it - Thank you

[Sue · Rating 3 out of 5]

I won a copy of "Stain of the Berry" by Anthony Bidulka, through the Goodreads Giveaaway Contest.

"The Boogeyman is gonna get you!"

Russell Quant receives a early morning phone call from a frantic woman"He coming to get me...I don't know why...but I can't take it anymore."

A few years ago, Russell had left his job as a police constable to go and live in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, and working as a private detective. Curently business was slow in the summer months but by the fall everybody is back at work.Sereena Orion Smith his ex-neighbour has disappeared and was Russell's friend.

Detective Darren Kirsh, from the Criminal Investigations Division, barges in early one morning to Russell's house, telling him to read the paper. Darren is Russells contact in the police department.A young woman, Tanya Cultinare, 31, committed suicide, by jumping from her 8th floor balcony of her building.This is the same mysterious midnight caller who hung up on him several days earlier.Russells' name and phone number were in her cell phone. But Why?

Tanya's elderly parents and son, Warren show up at Russell's office reguesting that he investigate Tanya's death. The police had ruled Tanya's death a suicide.

But when Russell starts to investigate further he finds various things that don't add up.

I enjoy reading mystery suspense thrillers, but the mystery in "Stain of the Berry" was flimsy at best.I was looking for more mystery in this novel, the "whodunit" factor , to satisty my intrigue.For this reason I give this a 3.5 rating.

[Philip · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ok, so I was a fan of Russell Quant from the get-go. He doesn't take himself too seriously (unlike the hard boiled detectives or noir), and he's methodical about what he's doing (as opposed to nosing around digging for information a la Marple). But what I found to be frustrating is that the mystery in Stain of the Berry was flimsy at best. Characters we never meet die, under circumstances that would appear mysterious only to the most novice of mystery readers, and we're supposed to care. Truth of the matter is, we don't. For once, I actually found myself more drawn to the romantic aspects of the story more than I was to the actual mystery. A shame really, cos Quant's an engaging and endearing character. He just needs to be given better cases. Then again, I don't imagine that too much murder takes place in and around Saskatoon, Saskatchewan.

[Writerlibrarian · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fourth book in the Russell Quant Mystery series. Creepier and darker than the first three. The main story deals with people from a choir being harassed and ultimately killed by a mystery boogeyman. Russell follows the clues as the killer becomes more and more bold and dangerous. That plot is interesting and Russell shines throughout resolution. It's also creepy, dark and doesn't end all in roses and joy.

The secondary plot wraps up the whole Seerena's disappearance. It's a little boring and predictable with two minor twists one I hope we will see again.

Overall an entertaining addition to the series. More like 3 1/2 stars

[Brian Collyer · Rating 3 out of 5]

I like my detectives to actually solve the crime. Unfortunately, Russell Quant didn't. Yes, he did get the murderer to expose himself. But, the way in which it was done was disappointing.

The book was also filled with a rather needless subplot about halfway though the book that didn't advance the story in any real way. Rather, it tied up loose ends and advanced the story of future books.

Maybe the reason I was disappointed by the book was due to the fact I had read it out of order and knew some of the things that were going to happen. Being spoiled does take away from the enjoyment of discovery and I wouldn't recommend anyone make the mistake I did.

[Scot · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fourth in the series. This private detective lives in Saskatchewan, has a comp[elling wry sense of humor, and is gay. I like his dogs and some of the distinctly Canadian perspectives and Canadian prairie life details. This installment was a bit uneven but the mystery component got better at the end, and the blend includes elements of jet setting with the filthy rich as well as a variant of a teen age slasher movie psychopathic killer.....so there's something for everyone, I guess, or at least for many.

[Grey853 · Rating 3 out of 5]

I got this book for my birthday, so I was in a hurry to read it. I enjoyed Russell and his group of established characters. I must say I was surprised that it was as serious and as graphic as it was in some parts. There's harassment, assault, attempted rape, and murder. This isn't a light or cozy read.

Since I haven't read the earlier books, the inclusion of the missing Sereena plot was distracting from the main one.

Also, it's got a rather dark ending, one that left me unsettled.

Still, it was an interesting read and I enjoyed it overall.

[Scotchneat · Rating 3 out of 5]

Russell Quant is a detective in Saskatoon who's kinda short on cases and missing an old exotic friend named Serena.

Then a series of deaths links an LGBT choir to an unknown killer who becomes their boogeyman and Russell has to figure out who it is.

I like how Bidulka builds in the traditional thriller storylines with smalltown Canada (Saskatchewan and the Arctic) and strong gay characters. Not great, but pretty good.

[Elizabeth · Rating 4 out of 5]

Russell Quant tackles a puzzling case that starts out with the apparent suicide of a fragile girl but on closer examination reveals that even on the idyllic plains of Canada in the midsummer more than waves of golden grain are spreading out and causing people to sit up and take notice and shiver on the warmest of July days.

[Larry · Rating 4 out of 5]

Best of the series so far. Love the fact that we revisted some former charecters and tied up some loose ends and made some new ones. The twist at the end was totally a surprise and left me really wanting another Quaint novel.NOW

[Shawn · Rating 2 out of 5]

Perhaps I'd have liked it better if I'd read the earlier books. The Saskatoon location is interesting, as are some of the characters, but the mystery is very slight and I suspect that the Sereena plot line seems purely ridiculous to most of the (like me) uninitiated.

[Martha · Rating 4 out of 5]

My favourite so far, creepy mystery.

[Greg · Rating 3 out of 5]

fun mystery

[Antonella · Rating 3 out of 5]

3,5

See review by Emanuela. I'm looking forward to read the rest of the series.

[Lauren · Rating 4 out of 5]

After a few pages, I thought I was going to find the protagonist's voice annoying. But I got over it.

[Drianne · Rating 3 out of 5]

Again, the actual mystery was weak. Glad to see some resolution to the ongoing mysteries (Sereena).

[Angel Pedroza · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am a great fan of this author and his main character.

[Nada Loughead · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love Bidulka's writing style - the 4th in the Russell Quant mysteries. Quick read - perfect!
http://www.bookcrossing.com/journal/1...

[Tammi Grenda · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you like this series you won't be disappointed. The Russell Quant books are an easy read and always enjoyable.