Amuse Bouche

Rating: 3.5* of five

The Book Report: Harold Chevell, an A-list Saskatoonian gay man, has decided to marry his lover Tom in a private ceremony at their beautiful McMansion near the South Saskatchewan River. Trouble is, Tom's disappeared, and no one who knows the couple can resist speculating as to why. Enter gay ex-Saskatoon cop Russell Quant, whose late uncle left him a legacy that has enabled him to start his own PI business.

Harold's instructions to Russell are specific and vague: Find Tom. Find out what happened. Go wherever you need to go. Money doesn't matter, Tom does. And Russell, being no one's fool, takes the job, the money, and the next flight out of small-prairie-city Saskatoon to the fleshpots of Paris!

Russell chases lead show more after lead, goes to the many and various places that Harold and Tom were to have gone on their honeymoon, and in the end, solves the mystery, though no one can claim to be happy about that.

My Review: Well well well! What have we here? A sexy-but-doesn't-know-it PI who is a) gay and 2) financially stable plus c) a dog-lover?! Sign me up! I'll be getting married just as soon as I can figure out how to liberate him from being fictional.

This is a first novel, and there are things that show that fact up. I don't think any of them, like small plot points that don't add up, or characters developed but not used much, are fatal to the pleasure of reading the book. The small Canadian prairie city of Saskatoon was, until this book hit my eyes, merely a snicker-inducing name on a map. Thanks to Bidulka's very amusing Irish-Ukrainian Russell, I now want to book a trip there (in the fall, winter sounds too cold and I hate summer no matter where I am) to view the fleshpots of Saskatchewan's second city. (There's a sentence I'd've bet you money I'd never have cause to write.)

What's next? A series of mysteries set in Skookumchuk, British Columbia? I hope not...I need *some* hilarious names to giggle at, and that's one of my all-time favorites. show less

A light amusing read with a likeable protagonist in the form of Russell Quant, private eye. There seem to be complaints that this isn’t a gay romance, but I never thought it was or should be, least not in the first book. Fast-paced entertainment. The ending for me, unfortunately, didn’t come as a surprise.

Russell Quant is a gay man and a private detective in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. A wealthy man, Harold, comes to Russell to find Harold’s runaway fiancee, Tom, who left Harold at the alter. It appears Tom went on their honeymoon to France without Harold. So Russell heads to France; later things become much more complex.

I really liked this. It might have helped that I grew up in Saskatchewan and my brother lives in Saskatoon, so at least some of the names of places are familiar, as were some of the descriptions. There were bits of humour spread throughout that had me laughing out loud. I’m happy to see this is a series and I plan to continue. Note that I listened to this book, though not the official audio book, but even with the show more computerized-sounding voice, the story (and setting) kept me very interested. show less

The story took forever to become engaging, with chapter 14 finally taking the reader into something intriguing. While the set up of the mystery is a required aspect of such novels, there were flawed aspects with overly descriptive paragraphs that didn't add to the plot. It was also evident from the moment the MC (Russel Quant) landed in France that he was deceptively being misled in his chase after an elusive character who had abandoned his lover on their wedding day.

The final chapter takes the reader into an intimate scene which I supposed was to reassure the reader that Quant was going to be okay in finding love. However, a number of other characters seemed neglected in the finish, who were initially important players in the plot. show more So ~ an intriguing story that takes too long to get off the ground, a not-surprising reveal about the murder victim, and plot aspects feeling unfinished. show less

I read Flight of Aquavit by Bidulka earlier this year but as it was the second book in his Russell Quant series I am delighted to have read the first installment. I thought this wasn't quite as good but it was certainly a fine read. Bidulka captures Saskatoon very well but I also enjoyed his descriptions of France where this case took him. I especially liked the sounds of Cliousclat situated in the Rhone Valley. Yet another spot for my bucket list!

Russell has just celebrated his first year in business by wrapping up "The Case of the Missing Casserole" (neighbours to a Saskatoon woman in an Arizona RV park had taken her favourite casserole dish when they left and the woman hired Russell to track them down). It wasn't long though before show more his first really big case came along. He was hired by a prominent Saskatoon businessman to find his missing partner (and I don't mean business partner) who had left the man standing at the altar. This entailed following the missing groom to France where the one groom was taking the honeymoon that both of them were supposed to be on. Although Russell doesn't manage to find the missing man he does have some great meals, including his first encounter with amuse bouche, and visits some lovely spots. When he receives a message from the missing person that makes it clear he doesn't want to be found his client calls him off the case. Russell isn't quite done with his sleuthing and keeps on talking to people back in Saskatoon. Then when the missing man's body shows up in a vacation spot south of the city Russell is hired again to find out who killed him. There are plenty of red herrings but Quant has an epiphany that leads him to the murderer.

I hope that Quant finds a steady guy for himself. I was really hoping that Father Len, a Ukrainian Catholic priest and brother to the victim, was going to be the one but they are maintaining a platonic friendship in this book. I guess I'll just have to track down some of the other books to find out more about Quant's love life. show less

When a groom doesn't turn up for the wedding but appears to have gone off on the honeymoon in France by himself, PI Russell Quant is hired to track him down and demand an explanation.

I love Russell's first person narrative voice in this one even though I have no real reference points for the clothes, food, and wines he talks about.

More like a 3 1/2 stars. Canadian writer. Story is set in Saskatoon of all places. Russell Quant, ex cop, is working as a PI. Bidulka paints vivid images of his city and the people. So Russell is gay, big deal. The strength of the novel is the plot and clues the reader is given along the way. I liked Russell, I liked his friends and how he goes doing his business. I liked how Bidulka built up the suspense and finally had Russell put two and two together. A very nice surprise. Will read the next novel in this series.